Chasing Glory: Key Contenders in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs

Xfinity Series Playoff Grid - Photo Credit: NASCAR Xfinity Series

The NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs begin this Saturday at Kansas Speedway. Twelve drivers will look to etch their names in NASCAR history and claim the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship. Cole Custer looks to join the likes of Dale Earnhardt Jr, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, and Tyler Reddick as the 4th driver to win back-to-back NASCAR Xfinity Series titles, while the eleven other drivers look to attain their first title. A rigorous final seven races await these drivers, so here’s who we think will be drivers to look out for. 

Sheldon Creed

Photo Credit: Chris Graythen - Getty Images

Sheldon Creed has been the model of consistency during the second half of the season. From Sonoma until Bristol, Sheldon has only finished worse than eighth three times with six top-three finishes in that span. While many are counting him out due to his lack of victories, we have seen drivers like Ryan Newman, Matt Crafton, and Daniel Hemric make it to the Final Four in this playoff format without having any wins to that point, so while difficult, we can see a scenario where Sheldon makes a deep playoff run. 

Jesse Love

Photo Credit: Nigel Kinrade Photography

As rookie years go, Jesse Love is having a solid one. He won at Talladega earlier this season and has accumulated thirteen top-ten finishes. He has quietly been solid this year and we would not be surprised to see him make it into the Round of Eight. The reigning ARCA champion could be in for a big playoff run, as it's not the first time he's faced the pressure of fighting for the title. We have seen rookies win the Xfinity Series championship before, could Jesse be the next? 

Sam Mayer

Photo Credit: Chris Owens

It is crazy to think that in the span of a season, Sam Mayer has gone from a championship favorite to someone who many people say will be knocked out in the first round. He was a surprise in the Final Four last year, just months after winning his first career race. Now, Sam Mayer is a multi-time winner this season with wins at Texas and Iowa, he also leads the playoff drivers in DNFs with seven on the year. The momentum is not with the number one team right now, with only three top tens since his win in Iowa. Can Sam Mayer come up clutch in the playoffs and show us that he can be that driver we saw last season once again?

Riley Herbst

Photo Credit: James Gilbert - Getty Images

After missing the playoffs in 2023, Riley Herbst returns to the Xfinity Series postseason.  Scoring his first career win at the playoff race in Las Vegas last year was a little bittersweet, but this year he won at Indianapolis to clinch a playoff berth. Herbst has not finished better than tenth in the Xfinity Series standings in his career, being stained by early playoff exits.  2024 has been a standout year for Herbst, showing a lot more speed and looking like a contender more often. Could 2024 be the year that Riley Herbst finally makes a deep playoff run? 

Parker Kligerman

Photo Credit: James Gilbert - Getty Images

Parker Kligerman is one of the best stories in the Xfinity Series garage, from running part-time in the Craftsman Truck Series for years to making his second Xfinity Series playoffs in as many years. Big Machine Racing is regarded as a smaller team compared to their playoff counterparts of JR Motorsports, Stewart-Haas Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing, Richard Childress Racing, and Kaulig Racing, so for them to even make the playoffs is a success for that team. With that in mind, who’s to say that the team cannot go out and continue to aim higher. Kligerman is a very good plate track and road course racer, with Talladega and the Charlotte ROVAL in the first round, some solid races could propel that forty-eight team into the Round of Eight. 

That's not to say that these are our championship favorites, but these are some drivers that we believe can outperform expectations. Could we see any of these five drivers make deep playoff runs and exceed the expectations that have been put on them? We believe so. Make sure to tune into the Xfinity Series playoffs on the CW to see who ends up winning the 2024 Xfinity Series championship.