Since the postseason’s inception in 2016, the NASCAR Xfinity Series has decided its champion through an ‘elimination-style’ Playoff format, that has a 12-driver field battle it out over a course of seven weeks through three rounds, with the champion being named in the Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway.
Last season, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs became the sixth different driver to win a NASCAR Xfinity Series title in the Playoff Era (2016-Present), joining Daniel Suarez (2016), William Byron (2017), Tyler Reddick (2018, 2019), Austin Cindric (2020), and Daniel Hemric (2021). Gibbs also became 32nd different NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion all-time (1985-2022).
Following the regular season finale at Kansas Speedway last weekend, the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series 12-driver Playoff field is set and ready to jump into the postseason this Friday, Sept. 15 in the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
This season marks the first-time Bristol Motor Speedway has hosted the Playoffs’ opener in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the first-time it has hosted a postseason race in the series. Bristol Motor Speedway is the fifth different track to host the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs’ first race, joining Kentucky Speedway (2016-2017), Richmond Raceway (2018-2019), Las Vegas Motor Speedway (2020-2021) and Texas Motor Speedway (2022).
NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs Race No. 1 – Race Winners
| Date | Track | Playoff Race Winners |
| Saturday, September 24, 2022 | Texas | Noah Gragson |
| Saturday, September 25, 2021 | Las Vegas | Josh Berry |
| Saturday, September 26, 2020 | Las Vegas | Chase Briscoe |
| Friday, September 20, 2019 | Richmond | Christopher Bell |
| Friday, September 21, 2018 | Richmond | Christopher Bell |
| Saturday, September 23, 2017 | Kentucky | Tyler Reddick |
| Saturday, September 24, 2016 | Kentucky | Elliott Sadler |
In total six different drivers have won the first race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs, led by Christopher Bell with two victories (both at Richmond) in 2018 and 2019.
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Twice a non-Playoff driver has won the postseason opener in the NASCAR Xfinity Series – Tyler Reddick in 2017 at Kentucky Speedway and Josh Berry in 2021 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Interestingly, the winners of the first race of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs have never gone on to win the overall championship later that same season. But they did get a shot at it because all of the winners of the first Playoff race, if they were a Playoff contender, have all made the Championship 4 Round the same season of their win – Elliott Sadler (2016), Christopher Bell (2018, 2019), Chase Briscoe (2020) and Noah Gragson (2022).
Catch the start of the Xfinity Series Playoff action at Bristol Motor Speedway with practice and qualifying from 2:30 p.m. – 4 p.m. ET on the USA Network.
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Next Race: Food City 300
The Place: Bristol Motor Speedway
The Date: Friday, September 15
The Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
The Purse: $1,675,370
TV: USA, 7 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 159.9 miles (300 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 85),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 170), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 300)
Clinch Scenarios: Bristol Motor Speedway
When it comes to the clinch scenarios in the first race of a round in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs, the math can be pretty easy – just win. None of the 12-driver Playoff field have clinched a spot in the Round of 8 heading into this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway and their only way of clinching a spot this weekend is to win their way in.
Already Clinched
No drivers have clinched a spot in the eight-driver field of the next round.
Can Clinch Via Win
The following drivers would clinch on their win alone: John Hunter Nemechek, Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer, Sam Mayer, Chandler Smith, Josh Berry, Sheldon Creed, Jeb Burton, Sammy Smith, Daniel Hemric, Parker Kligerman
Only two former NASCAR Xfinity Series Bristol Motor Speedway winners are active this weekend, and only one is a current Playoff driver: Justin Allgaier (2010) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2004). But three drivers entered this weekend in the Food City 300 (Sept. 15 at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) have won at Bristol in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series in their careers: Chandler Smith (2021), Sam Mayer (2020) and Brett Moffitt (2019).
| NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff Outlook Following Race No. 26 | ||||||
| Rank | Driver | Points | Race Wins | Stage Wins | Playoff Pts | + / – Cutoff |
| 1 | John Hunter Nemechek | 2,049 | 6 | 9 | 49 | 43 |
| 2 | Austin Hill | 2,039 | 4 | 4 | 39 | 33 |
| 3 | Justin Allgaier | 2,026 | 2 | 8 | 26 | 20 |
| 4 | Cole Custer | 2,017 | 2 | 5 | 17 | 11 |
| 5 | Sam Mayer | 2,015 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 9 |
| 6 | Chandler Smith # | 2,009 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 3 |
| 7 | Josh Berry | 2,009 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 3 |
| 8 | Sheldon Creed | 2,008 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 2 |
| 9 | Sammy Smith # | 2,006 | 1 | 1 | 6 | -2 |
| 10 | Jeb Burton | 2,006 | 1 | 1 | 6 | -2 |
| 11 | Daniel Hemric | 2,003 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -5 |
| 12 | Parker Kligerman | 2,002 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -6 |
Spotlighting the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff Field
This season marks the eighth running of the Playoffs in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and this season’s postseason 12-driver field is one to remember.
Drivers from seven different organizations have qualified for the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs, led by JR Motorsports with three contenders (Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer and Josh Berry), followed by Joe Gibbs Racing (John H. Nemechek and Sammy Smith), Richard Childress Racing (Austin Hill and Sheldon Creed), and Kaulig Racing (Chandler Smith and Daniel Hemric) with two each, and Stewart-Haas Racing (Cole Custer), Jordan Anderson Racing (Jeb Burton) and Big Machine Racing (Parker Kligerman) with one each.
All three official engine manufacturers have earned spots in the 2023 Xfinity Series Playoffs, led by Chevrolet with nine cars in the postseason, followed by Toyota with two and Ford with one.
This season’s Playoff contenders include one former series champion (Daniel Hemric, 2021) and two current Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidates (Chandler Smith and Sammy Smith). Below is a quick look at the 12 Playoff drivers heading into Bristol this weekend:
(Note: Drivers are listed in Playoff standings order)
John Hunter Nemechek (No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota)
The current NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs point standing leader, John Hunter Nemechek, heads to Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend up +43 points on the Round of 8 cutline. This season marks the second time Nemechek has competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs (2023, ’19).
This year, Nemechek has posted two poles, six wins, 13 top fives and 19 top 10s in 26 starts.
At Bristol, Nemechek has made three Xfinity Series starts putting up two top-five finishes. His career average finish at Bristol is 7.0.
Austin Hill (No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet)
Austin Hill currently ranks second in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff point standings as he heads to Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend, up +33 points on the Round of 8 cutline, and just 10 points back from the standings lead. This season marks the second time Hill has competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs (2023, ’22).
This year, Hill has collected three poles, four wins, 15 top fives and 19 top 10s in 26 starts.
Hill made his Xfinity Series career track debut last season at Bristol Motor Speedway; the Georgia native started 15th and raced his way up to a third-place finish.
Justin Allgaier (No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet)
Justin Allgaier currently ranks third in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff point standings as he heads to Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend, up +20 points on the Round of 8 cutline, and 23 points back from the standings lead. Allgaier leads the NASCAR Xfinity Series in Playoff appearances with eight; he has participated in every postseason since its inception into the series in 2016 (2023, ’22, ’21, ’20, ’19, ’18, ’17, ’16) – the only driver to accomplish the feat.
This season, Allgaier has posted two poles, two wins, 11 top fives and 15 top 10s in 26 starts.
At Bristol, Allgaier has made 22 Xfinity Series starts amassing one pole, one win (2010), 10 top fives and 14 top 10s. His career average finish at Bristol is 11.4.
Cole Custer (No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford)
Heading into Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend, Cole Custer currently ranks fourth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff point standings, up +11 points on the Round of 8 cutline, and 32 points back from the standings lead. This season marks the fourth time Custer has competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs (2023, ’19, ’18, ’17).
This year, Custer has collected four poles, two wins, 10 top fives and 16 top 10s in 26 starts.
At Bristol, Custer has made six Xfinity Series starts putting up two poles, two top fives and four top 10s. His career average finish at Bristol is 13.2.
Sam Mayer (No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet)
Rolling into Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend, Sam Mayer currently ranks fifth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs point standings, up nine points on the Round of 8 cutline, and 34 points back from the standings lead. This season marks the second time Mayer has competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs (2023, ‘22).
This year, Mayer has posted four poles, two wins, 10 top fives and 16 top 10s in 26 starts.
At Bristol, Mayer has made two Xfinity Series starts putting one top five and two top 10s. His career average finish at Bristol is 6.5.
Chandler Smith (No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet)
Arriving at Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend, Chandler Smith currently ranks sixth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs point standings, up three points on the Round of 8 cutline, and 40 points back from the standings lead. Chandler Smith is one of four drivers this season making their NASCAR Xfinity Series career debuts in the Playoffs, alongside Sheldon Creed, Parker Kligerman and fellow rookie Sammy Smith.
This season, Smith has collected three poles, one win, five top fives and nine top 10s in 26 starts.
This weekend, Smith will be making his NASCAR Xfinity Series track debut at Bristol Motor Speedway. Though this weekend will be his first start in the Xfinity Series at Bristol, he does have four NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series starts at .533-mile track posting one win (2021) and three top fives.
Josh Berry (No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet)
Josh Berry currently ranks seventh in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs point standings as he heads to Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend, up three points on the Round of 8 cutline, and 40 points back from the standings lead. This season marks the second time Berry has competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs (2023, ‘22).
This year, Berry has posted two poles, nine top fives and 15 top 10s in 26 starts.
At Bristol, Berry has made two Xfinity Series starts posting one top-10 finish (seventh in 2022). His career average finish at Bristol is 21.0.
Sheldon Creed (No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet)
Heading into Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend, Sheldon Creed ranks eighth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff point standings, up two points on the Round of 8 cutline, in the final transfer spot on points. Sheldon Creed is one of four drivers this season that are making their NASCAR Xfinity Series career debuts in the Playoffs, alongside Parker Kligerman and rookies Chandler Smith and Sammy Smith.
This season, Creed has collected one pole, five top fives and 11 top 10s in 26 starts.
Last year, Creed made his Xfinity Series track debut at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he started 22nd and finished 37th.
Sammy Smith (No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota)
Arriving at Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend, Sammy Smith ranks ninth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff point standings, two points back from Sheldon Creed in the eighth and final transfer spot on points. Sammy Smith is one of four drivers this season making their NASCAR Xfinity Series career debuts in the Playoffs, alongside Sheldon Creed, Parker Kligerman and fellow rookie Chandler Smith.
This season, Smith has collected one win, four top fives and 10 top 10s in 26 starts.
Last season, Sammy Smith made his Xfinity Series track debut at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he started sixth and finished 14th.
Jeb Burton (No. 27 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet)
Jeb Burton currently ranks 10th in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff point standings as he heads to Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend, back two points from the Round of 8 cutline. This season marks the second time Burton has competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs (2023, ’21).
This year, Burton has collected one win, one top five and five top 10s in 26 starts.
At Bristol, Burton has made seven Xfinity Series starts posting one top-10 finish. His career average finish at Bristol is 21.0.
Daniel Hemric (No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet)
Daniel Hemric, the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion, currently ranks 11th in the Playoff point standings as he heads to Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend, back five points from the Round of 8 cutline. This season marks the fifth time Hemric has competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs (2023, ’22, ’21, ’18, ’17) – third-most all-time.
This season, Hemric has collected five top fives and 13 top 10s in 26 starts.
At Bristol, Hemric has made seven Xfinity Series starts posting two top-five and five top-10 finishes. His career average finish at Bristol is 10.7.
Parker Kligerman (No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet)
Parker Kligerman rolls into the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs point standings as the No. 12 seed, six points behind Sheldon Creed in eighth. Kligerman earned the final spot in the Playoffs in the regular season finale last week at Kansas, and this week enters postseason for the first time in his career.
This season, Kligerman has collected seven top fives and 13 top 10s in 26 starts.
At Bristol, Kligerman has made seven Xfinity Series starts posting three top-10 finishes. His career average finish at Bristol is 15.5.
Short track ringers to watch for this weekend
This weekend’s Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway (Sept. 15 at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is the sixth race on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule that will be competed on at facility that qualifies as a short track (1-mile in length or less), joining Richmond, Martinsville, New Hampshire, Dover and Phoenix. With five similar sized tracks in the books already, who has had the most success at those events so far this season?
The first thing you notice when looking back at the five short track events already run this season, is Toyota drivers have won four of the five events – Sammy Smith (Phoenix-1), John Hunter Nemechek (Martinsville, New Hampshire) and Ryan Truex (Dover) – the lone exception was Chandler Smith’s (Chevrolet) win at Richmond.
John Hunter Nemechek is the only driver this season to finish inside the top-10 in all five of the previous short track races this season. Five additional drivers have finished inside the top-10 at four of the five short track races this season – Austin Hill, Chandler Smith, Daniel Hemric, Sammy Smith and Josh Berry.
The top five in average finish in the five short track events run this season are John Hunter Nemechek (3.0), Chandler Smith (6.2), Sammy Smith (6.6), Josh Berry (6.8) and Austin Hill (7.8).
NASCAR Xfinity Series, Etc.
Two-time Xfinity champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. returns to the series at Bristol – This weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, NBC Sports analyst Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be trading in the mic for the driving gloves as he will attempt to make his NASCAR Xfinity Series 2023 season debut. This weekend will be the two-time champion’s 145th start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and his 13th at the .533-mile track.
In Earnhardt’s previous 12 Xfinity Series starts at Bristol, he has put up two poles, one win (2004), seven top fives and nine top 10s. His last start at Bristol was in 2017, where he started 17th and finished 13th. His average finish at the high-speed half-mile is a solid 6.9.
Earnhardt Jr. will be piloting the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet this weekend at Bristol, and he will be working with crew chief Jason Stockert.
