NASCAR Draft Kit: 2025 Xfinity Rankings

This article is part of our NASCAR Draft Kit series. 

1. Austin Hill – No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet – Thanks to four big victories on intermediate and superspeedway ovals, Hill was once again in the running for champion in 2024. The Richard Childress Racing driver stacked up 20 Top-10 finishes in another strong campaign and would finish last season an impressive fourth in the overall driver standings. After two four-win seasons it's time for Hill to step up and go for that first Xfinity Series championship. His team will mostly return intact, but with a new crew chief for 2025. Chad Haney takes over calling the shots for the No. 21 Chevrolet team. He replaces Andy Street and will look to quickly form some chemistry with Hill. Haney has three decades of experience as a car chief and mechanic and will now transition into the crew chief role. This team and driver situation is set up for success and Hill should once again cash in on multiple victories and contend for another title.   
2. Justin Allgaier – No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet – After 14 seasons of toil Allgaier finally cashed in on his first Xfinity Series championship in 2024. The veteran driver would race to just two victories during the campaign but he would also chalk up 20 Top-10 finishes per his norm. Allgaier's heater late in the playoffs would be the key and a clutch runner-up finish in the season finale at Phoenix would seal his first championship. With close to 500 series starts and 25-career wins, he is the most tenured of the regular Xfinity Series drivers. Despite being 38-years-old, we don't see Allgaier slowing down anytime soon. He's finished in the Top 5 of the driver standings in each of the last six seasons and Allgaier has had multi-win campaigns in all of those except one. Late last season he signed a contract extension through 2026 that will keep him contending for championships for the foreseeable future.  
3. Sam Mayer – No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford – Stewart Haas Racing closed their doors at the conclusion of 2024, but the new team born from that is the Haas Factory Team. They were a very competitive outfit last season with four combined wins and 38 combined Top-10 finishes between both Cole Custer and Riley Herbst. Those two drivers have moved onto the Cup Series and in comes Mayer to carry the baton. The 21-year-old prospect has spent the last two seasons stacking up seven victories and 32 Top-10 finishes with JR Motorsports. Mayer will now pair with crew chief, Jason Trinchere, and get a shot at contending for a championship in the No. 41 Ford (formerly the No. 98 Ford). This young driver has the ability to win on intermediate ovals, short tracks and road circuits and that makes Mayer a very dangerous competitor in terms of the championship picture.  
4. Sheldon Creed – No. 00 Haas Factory Team Ford – Creed is one of the more seasoned young drivers in the series with now over 100 Xfinity Series starts to his credit. He posted career-best numbers in 2024 with his former Joe Gibbs Racing team. Creed nabbed a stellar 16 Top-5 and 23 Top-10 finishes en route to a career-best sixth-place finish in the final driver standings. However, he has yet to cash in on his first-career series win. Creed moves to Haas in the upcoming season and will pilot the Ford Mustang that Cole Custer drove to two wins and 23 Top-10 finishes last year. Jonathan Toney will guide Creed at crew chief and the two will almost certainly scratch the win column for the first time. We also expect Creed to be relevant in the championship chase of 2025. His driving style allows him to be strong and competitive on all styles of ovals and tracks.
5. Taylor Gray – No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – Gray makes the jump from the truck series to the Xfinity Series in 2025. The young driver is coming off a 14 Top-10 finish and sixth-place points finish with TRICON Garage last season. Gray now takes over the No. 54 Toyota that was Chandler Smith's No. 81 Toyota last year. Smith drove the car to two victories and 22 Top-10 finishes before a fifth-place finish in the points. Veteran crew chief Jason Ratcliff will join Gray in the No. 54 Toyota and put his talent to work. Gray has won all through the lower divisions of ARCA Menards racing and should prove to be a quick study behind the wheel of a strong Gibbs' Toyota. It should be just a matter of short time before he finds the win column in the Xfinity Series and puts his name into championship contention.  
6. Jesse Love – No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet – Love's rookie season was an unquestionable success last year. He raced to one win and 18 Top-10 finishes as well as a surprising five pole positions. The 20-year-old driver seemed very comfortable on superspeedways as well as short tracks and road circuits. Love grabbed an impressive win at Talladega and a runner-up finish at Phoenix. The Richard Childress Racing youngster will look to up the ante in 2025 and he'll do it with much of the same team returning at the No. 2 Chevrolet. We expect to see Love win more races and improve his week-to-week consistency as he matures.  That means more Top-10 finishes, a better average finish and if the breaks fall his way a possible challenge for the 2025 Xfinity Series championship.
7. Brandon Jones – No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – This team was easily the most dominant outfit of 2024. The multi-driver rotation cashed in on a staggering nine combined victories (John Hunter Nemechek 2, Aric Almirola 3, Ryan Truex 2 and Christopher Bell 2). They also stacked up a strong 23 combined Top-10 finishes throughout the season. Jones has returned to Joe Gibbs Racing to take over this ride. Over the past two seasons Jones saw his career take a couple steps back. The move to JR Motorsports did not payoff and he saw his performance suffer through two winless campaigns in the No. 9 Chevrolet. For 2025 he returns to Joe Gibbs Racing and the organization that helped him to five victories and dozens of Top 10's between 2019 and 2022. We don't expect the No. 20 team to be utterly dominant like they were last season, but they'll contend for wins and many Top 10's under Jones' guidance.
8. Sammy Smith – No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet – Smith once again produced results for JR Motorsports in 2024. The young driver didn't advance as far into the championship hunt as he would have liked, finishing 11th-place in the final standings. However, Smith would nail down his second-career victory and nab a respectable 16 Top-10 finishes. He would make the No. 8 Chevrolet team very competitive in that regard. His crew chief situation has not been announced at the time of this writing. Adam Wall was in that position for most of last season, but he would finish the campaign with Phillip Bell in the last 10 events. We'll need some clarification on this prior to the start of the season to get a sense of where this team and driver are going. At 20-years-old Smith has budding potential and could easily climb the driver standings in 2025.    
9. Christian Eckes – No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet – Eckes makes the move from full-time truck to the Xfinity Series full-time in 2025. The seasoned young driver piled up nine-career victories and 73 Top-10 finishes in his 114-start truck series career. Now Eckes will look to move up to the next division in NASCAR and continue to carve out his reputation and career. He joins Kaulig Racing for 2025 and takes over the championship contending team of the No. 16 Chevrolet. AJ Allmendinger piloted this car last season to one victory and 18 Top-10 finishes, coming home an impressive third-place in the championship battle. Certainly, those would be lofty goals for Eckes coming into his new team, but we don't expect to see much drop off as he does have extensive experience on his side. Eckes is a former ARCA Menards Series champion and has shown the ability to win races at nearly every level that he has competed in.
10. Connor Zilisch – No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet – The 18-year-old talent is making the move to full-time Xfinity Series racing in 2025. Zilisch made some part-time forays into both the trucks and Xfinity last season and had quite a bit of success. In his four Xfinity Series starts he grabbed one win (Watkins Glen) and three Top-5 finishes. Zilisch has won at every level that he's raced and that includes sports cars. He racked up impressive wins at both Daytona (Rolex 24) and Sebring in IMSA. Zilisch is a gifted road racer but he also is getting better by the day on NASCAR ovals. He makes a tantalizing prospect in the JRM No. 88 Chevrolet in the upcoming season just on potential alone. The young driver is a head turner and should have Rookie of the Year honors in the bag.
11. Justin Bonsignore/Other Drivers – No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – Whelen Modified star Bonsignore has signed to drive five events for Joe Gibbs Racing in the No. 19 Toyota. The veteran driver has 45-career victories and four championships in that racing series. He'll look to challenge for a win in his five starts this season with this strong race team. The rest of the driver lineup has not been named at the point of this writing. However, you can likely expect a good dose of Cup Series regulars mixed in with young prospect drivers. This team only nabbed six Top-10 finishes in 2024 with their multi-driver lineup, however, we expect much better results this season as the team will likely feature drivers like Christopher Bell, John Hunter Nemechek, Aric Almirola and others. The No. 19 Toyota team should get back into the win column in 2025.
12. William Sawalich – No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – The young prospect gets the big promotion to the No. 18 Toyota and the Xfinity Series this season. Sawalich made just three starts in this division last season with little opportunity to impress. However, he did grab a surprising pole position in the season finale at Phoenix. Sawalich is coming off two impressive seasons of racing in the ARCA Menards Series where he captured 13 combined victories and 25 Top-10 finishes spread across 27 starts. That utter domination is what has quickly propelled him up the NASCAR ladder. Joe Gibbs Racing has signed him to make a bid for Rookie of the Year and fill the seat of one of the team's high-profile rides. He has been a short track specialist to this point in his career, so we expect immediate results on those ovals. However, we also expect some inconsistency and struggles as he learns the ropes on other NASCAR tracks.  
13. Nick Sanchez – No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet – Sanchez is another fast-track prospect driver who'll get a shot at full-time competition in the Xfinity Series in 2025. The 23-year-old Floridian is coming off two strong truck series campaigns where Sanchez racked up a couple victories and better-than 50-percent Top-10 rate over two seasons. Big Machine Racing has signed him to drive the No. 48 Chevrolet team's seat and replace the outgoing Parker Kligerman. Kligerman posted 15 Top-10 finishes with this team in 2024 and finished a respectable 10th-place in the final driver standings so it is a competitive outfit. Sanchez will look to take them to the next level and grow his experience and performance in the process. He has little experience in this division of NASCAR with just eight starts, so there will be some learning curve to be expected.
14. Carson Kvapil – No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet – The 21-year-old prospect broke into the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2024 with a part-time schedule at JR Motorsports. Kvapil would earn three Top-5 and four Top-10 finishes in those nine starts and make a pretty good impression. JRM has decided to field a full-season entry for Kvapil in 2025 and he'll pursue the Rookie of the Year award. He doesn't have an extensive background in NASCAR to this point, but he's won and raced extensively in late model stocks. Kvapil will look to jump quickly up the development ladder with this move to the Xfinity Series. At the point of this writing, we don't know the crew chief yet for the No. 1 team, so that is one variable in play. However, this team is well-funded and the sponsorship looks pretty solid. Kvapil will make a competitive bid for ROTY honors in the upcoming season.
15. Daniel Dye – No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet – Dye is another young driver who is switching from part-time to full-time in the Xfinity Series this season. He made 10 starts for Kaulig Racing in the No. 10 Chevrolet last season and earned some respectable results. Dye would collect two Top-10 and three Top-15 finishes in those 10 starts and post a 20.2 average finish. He has less than 50 starts in the truck series and just a dozen starts in the Xfinity Series. Dye has a lot to learn still but is a good raw talent. He has to learn how to win not just be consistent. He seems to have the consistency down but has been missing the ingredients to win at the various stages of his development. Dye will grow with this team as he takes on his first full slate of races, but the learning curve could be steep at times. He'll make his presence known in the ROTY chase, but not a top contender to win.  
16. Ryan Sieg – No. 39 RSS Racing Ford – Sieg had a nice rebound season in 2024. The veteran driver marched to nine Top-10 finishes and shaved nearly five spots off his average finish over his poor 2023 campaign. It would all result in a respectable 13th-place finish in the final driver standings. Sieg will look to continue improving and continue seeking that first-career victory in the upcoming season. While a win may be a long shot for this driver and team, double digit Top 10's is certainly an attainable goal. Sieg even finished runner-up three times last season, so even breaking thru for that first win is not completely out of the question. RSS Racing will continue to run Fords in the upcoming season and we don't expect many changes to this small race team. Sieg's consistency is one of his defining traits. He may get upstaged by the bumper crop of young drivers this season, but Sieg still carries plenty of fantasy racing worth.    
17. Parker Retzlaff – No. 4 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet – Retzlaff has turned some heads with his competitive racing in the Jordan Anderson No. 31 Chevrolet over the past two seasons. The young driver nabbed 11 combined Top 10's in those two campaigns and finished a career best 16th-place in the driver points in 2023. Now Retzlaff moves onto Alpha Prime Racing for 2025. He'll fill the seat of the team's No. 4 Chevrolet, which was a car piloted by multiple drivers last season and attained very little in the way of results. This will be a big opportunity for Retzlaff to shine and at the same time elevate this growing race team. Joe Williams comes in to handle the crew chief responsibilities and brings his five seasons and 163 starts of Xfinity Series experience to the table. This team will have its limitations but Retzlaff's abilities are the clearest and most important asset.  
18. Kris Wright – No. 5 Our Motorsports Chevrolet – After two seasons of part-time Xfinity Series racing, Wright is finally ready for his first full-time ride in this division of NASCAR. He'll take over the No. 5 Chevrolet of the rapidly growing Our Motorsports team. This is the same team that employed multiple drivers last year to attain just two Top-10 finishes over the entire season. However, this is the same organization that powered Anthony Alfredo to seven Top 10's and a respectable 15th-place finish in the driver points. We believe that is the potential for Wright with this team. He'll be paired with veteran crew chief, Dan Stillman, and his nearly 250-starts of experience and five-career wins as crew chief. It is a situation set up for immediate growth and rising potential. Wright is 30-years-old and very coachable. He's capable of posting his best performance of his NASCAR career in 2025.
19. Josh Williams – No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet – The first season with Kaulig Racing didn't quite yield the results expected of this veteran driver and this capable race team. Williams nabbed just four Top 10's last season and finished 18th in the final driver standings. Much more was expected but it didn't materialize. Nonetheless, the team signed him to a multi-season deal in 2023 and will once again field Williams in the No. 11 Chevrolet in 2025. Williams big issue that he needs to work on in the coming season is DNF's. He logged seven of those disappointments last year and it overshadowed his four Top 10's and inflated his average finish to 21.7. We expect modestly better results from Williams in the upcoming season but no dramatic reversals.
20. Harrison Burton – No. 15 AM Racing Ford – After three seasons of full-time racing in NASCAR's top division, Burton returns to the Xfinity Series in 2025. The young driver parted ways with Wood Brothers Racing at the end of last season and will look to continue his racing career in the lower division. Burton spent three seasons racing in this division in his development prior to joining the Cup Series. In those 75 starts Burton earned four victories and 49 Top-10 finishes with Joe Gibbs Racing. He returns to the Xfinity Series for a much smaller team, AM Racing. Burton's experience and skill will count for something, but he'll confront the full schedule with a less-equipped team than what he's typically used to. The No. 15 Ford team raced to just two Top-10 finishes last season, but they'll have more upside with Burton under the wheel.
21. Brennan Poole – No. 44 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet – The veteran driver returns to the team where he recorded two Top-10 and seven Top-15 finishes last season. Poole will once again pilot Alpha Prime's No. 44 Chevrolet for the full slate of races in the upcoming season. The 20.0 average finish he posted last season was a big improvement over his prior season in 2023 at JD Motorsports. Poole's crew chief has not been announced at the time of this writing, but he had this success last season with Frank Kerr. He has over 150 starts of experience in this division of NASCAR with two-career victories to his credit. Kerr and Poole should make a good combination once again and inch their way up the standings ladder. Poole registered a respectable 16th-place in the final driver standings last season, and that's good mark to expect for 2025.    
22. Dean Thompson – No. 26 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota – Thompson promotes from the truck series and takes over a No. 26 Toyota that has enjoyed a good deal of success over the last several years with various drivers. This team collected five Top-10 and 10 Top-15 finishes with a lineup of multiple drivers. Thompson gets the full slate of races in the upcoming campaign after making only two starts in the car last year. The 23-year-old driver has enjoyed limited success in the truck series over the past three seasons and will look to make a smooth transition to the next level in NASCAR development. The No. 26 SHR team is headed up by crew chief Kris Bowen and has good sponsorship and resources in place. Thompson can have a successful first season of Xfinity Series racing with this team.
23. Jeb Burton – No. 27 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet – Burton returns to the team that he's raced for the last three seasons. He'll once again pilot the No. 27 Chevrolet for Jordan Anderson Racing. Burton achieved three Top 10's and six Top 15's with this outfit last year. He'd come home 19th-place in the final point standings as a result. While DNF's were not a problem for Burton, being fast enough and competitive enough to crack the Top 20 was a problem at times. Short tracks and superspeedways were definitely Burton's sweet spot and should be tracks of interest in 2025. The veteran driver has had better campaigns in recent seasons so we view his 2024 performance as the floor. Burton certainly has a much higher ceiling. 
24. Blaine Perkins – No. 31 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet – He ended his relationship with RSS Racing at the conclusion of last season. It was a struggle-filled campaign with no Top-10 finishes and a distant 27th-place ranking in the driver standings. Perkins heads to Jordan Anderson Racing for 2025. He'll take over the No. 31 Chevrolet that Parker Retzlaff piloted to four Top 10's and a 21st-place finish in the points. Perkins doesn't have the skill nor experience of Retzlaff so those are probably lofty goals for 2025. Still, Perkins should increase his performance and production with the move to this team. It will be a more competitive situation for him. Perkins has just 75 starts of Xfinity Series experience so there's plenty more to learn and room to grow.  
25. Jeremy Clements – No. 51 Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet – Clements returns for his 20th season of racing in the Xfinity Series in 2025. The owner/driver of the No. 51 Chevrolet logged one Top-10 finish last season and ended the campaign 20th in the overall driver standings. Clements has had better seasons in the recent past, but his two-season trendline has been going in the opposite direction. We would credit much of this to the Xfinity Series growing younger and more competitive during this time. The 40-year-old driver will get a new crew chief in the upcoming season in Kase Kallenbach and the two will look to reverse Clements' recent luck. This driver and team limped through the final races of 2024, so they have their work cutout in the early part of the upcoming season.       
26. Kyle Sieg – No. 28 RSS Racing Ford – It has not been confirmed at the point of this writing, but it is expected that Sieg will return to the No. 28 Ford team for 2025. He's piloted this car for the past three seasons. Last year he attained one Top-10 finish and 10 Top-20 finishes, coming home a subpar 24th-place in the overall driver standings. However, Sieg did accomplish his career best average finish of 23.0 last season. That's a sign of some improvement and a hopeful indicator going forward. Intermediate and larger ovals, especially superspeedways seem to be this team's strength. That's noteworthy in fantasy leagues as Sieg could pay dividends on those ovals in the deeper driver tiers.   
27. Ryan Ellis – No. 71 DGM Racing Chevrolet – Ellis comes over from the No. 43 team of owner Tommy Joe Martins and takes over the seat of the No. 71 Chevrolet of DGM Racing. Last season Ellis earned a career-high points finish of 23rd-place with seven Top-20 finishes. The 35-year-old driver now has over 130 starts in this division of NASCAR and he's still seeking his first-career Top 10. Ellis will look to log that first Top 10 with a capable DGM Racing squad. This team collected six combined Top 10's between their two cars and multiple drivers, so there's plenty of upside here. We don't have any word on who will be crew chief of this team, but they have a full sponsorship lineup and appear to be well funded for the 2025 campaign. Ellis should push to new heights in the upcoming season.
28. Matt DiBenedetto – No. 99 Viking Motorsports Chevrolet – Viking Motorsports signed DiBenedetto to a contract extension and breaks apart from RSS Racing to run as an independent team in 2025. They had been the No. 38 Ford last season but will change to the No. 99 team and field Chevrolets in the upcoming season. DiBenedetto achieved three Top-10 finishes with this team in 2024 in mostly a full slate of races. His sweet spot appeared to be intermediate ovals and superspeedways, but the veteran driver also did well in a couple short track events. DiBenedetto's near-100 starts of Xfinity Series experience and near 250-starts of Cup Series experience are a valuable commodity for this small race team. We'll soon see if the move to independence and Chevrolet was the right call for Viking Motorsports.  
29. Unknown Drivers – No. 42 Young's Motorsports Chevrolet – At the point of this writing, the No. 42 team have not named their driver for the 2025 campaign. Leland Honeyman drove this car very competitively last season racking up two Top 10's and 12 Top 20's and coming home a very respectable 22nd-place in the final driver point standings. We've slid this team a bit down the pre-season rankings due to the unknown driver, but they have a quite capable team and with the right driver the ability to climb the driver rankings. This is a team to watch closely leading up to the start of the season and their pending driver announcement.
30. Unknown Drivers – No. 91 DGM Racing Chevrolet – The No. 91 team have not named their driver for the season at the point of this writing. However, they employed Kyle Weatherman mostly and a handful of other drivers last season to good effect. Weatherman has moved on, but the team garnered four Top 10's last season under his and the other drivers' guidance. There's good potential here as DGM Racing has shown some improvement and growth. We've ranked this team a bit lower than their ceiling, but the right driver or drivers could move this team up the rankings. We'll have to wait until later in the pre-season to see who this team tabs in the No. 91 Chevrolet for 2025.
31. Leland Honeyman/Thomas Annunziata – No. 70 Cope Family Racing Chevrolet – This is a new team for the upcoming season. Derrike Cope has started a new Xfinity Series race team with his No. 70 entry. George Church will call the shots at crew chief and Cope has tabbed Honeyman as the primary driver. He'll take on 17 starts in the seat of the team's Chevrolet. He scored two Top 10's last season and a respectable 22nd-place points finish with Young's Motorsports. He'll share the driver's seat with Annunziata will also make select starts with this team. Cope will rely on a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing to field quality race cars and look to make a good entry into this division of NASCAR in the upcoming season. 
32. Garrett Smithley – No. 14 SS-Greenlight Racing Chevrolet – The veteran driver takes over the No. 14 of SS-Greenlight Racing for the upcoming season. Smithley made 22 combined starts last year spread between multiple teams. He achieved just one Top-20 finish during the campaign. However, he looks hopefully at his new opportunity in the No. 14 Chevrolet. This car earned one Top-10 and six Top-20 finishes with their multi-driver lineup. Jason Miller will call the shots at crew chief and look to guide Smithley and his 180 starts of Xfinity Series experience to better results in 2025. He used to finish 18th-to-20th in the standings earlier in his career when he'd take on the full schedule, so Smithley certainly has that potential if this team can live up to their end of the bargain.
33. Kyle Larson/Chase Elliott/Other Drivers – No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet – Hendrick Motorsports will return to the Xfinity Series in 2025 with their part-time entry in the No. 17 Chevrolet. No plans have been announced at the point of this writing, but this car appeared in 10 events in 2024. Larson would grab an impressive win at COTA and Elliott would visit victory lane at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It's a team with a lot of resources and a lot of capability. However, their part-time schedule limits their overall impact. The six combined Top-10's among their driver rotation is noteworthy. We should see a good dose of the various Cup Series Hendrick drivers in this car in the upcoming season and they will get results when they decide to race.   
34. Ross Chastain/Shane van Gisbergen – No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet – This is the second part-time team to show up in the rankings. JR Motorsports is converting their strong No. 9 Chevrolet team from a full-time to a part-time team in 2025. Chastain and van Gisbergen will field this car in just nine total events so the footprint for success is very small. However, the upside is worth considering in weekly fantasy lineup leagues. Brandon Jones piloted this car to eight Top-10 finishes and four pole positions last year. Chastain and van Gisbergen will be an upgrade in the driver's seat. Under the guidance of these two drivers, the No. 9 Chevrolet team has a good chance to return to victory lane in the upcoming season, especially on the road circuits.
35. Greg Van Alst/Mason Maggio – No. 35 Joey Gase Motorsports Chevrolet – Multiple drivers piloted this team to just three Top-20 finishes last season. They'll tab Van Alst and Maggio for most of the team's starts in 2025. However, we wouldn't rule out other drivers wiggling in there and taking some additional starts. Gase's team will look to improve on last season with improved consistency and better finishes. The team racked up a staggering 10 DNF's and four DNQ's, so there's a lot of room for improvement. This small team faces many challenges and not the least of which is their sponsorship and funding. These two drivers also lack a lot of Xfinity Series experience that could be somewhat helpful.