NASCAR
Who Will Rise Up Among the Xfinity Series Championship 4 Finalists?
32 weeks and thousands of miles of competition have whittled the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series down to four title contenders. Going into Saturday’s season finale from Phoenix, do any of these drivers stand out as championship favorites? Here’s an in-depth look at the seasons in review for each of the Championship 4. It is definitely tough to attempt any handicapping for this winner-take-all desert duel.
John Hunter Nemechek
By far the fastest car throughout most of 2023, John Hunter Nemechek leads all drivers with seven wins. The most recent trip to victory lane for the No. 20 was five weeks ago at Texas. That day marked JHN’s second postseason triumph. Like many seasons, Joe Gibbs Racing has been the gold standard on a weekly basis. The Toyota powerhouse look to cap out a very successful year with a championship. Nemechek bests the series in laps led (1017), top-fives (17), and average finish (8.9). Even with the consistent top-tier speed, Nemechek knows the battle is still very much ahead.
“This is what you dream of and what you work all year for,” Nemechek said. “Our goal at the start of the season was to win the championship. We’ve had an incredible season so far. We’re excited about this opportunity and we’re ready for it. Phoenix is a track I really enjoy. It has been a great place for Joe Gibbs Racing for a long time. So we are going there with a lot of confidence. Now it’s up to us to do our best to get the job done.”
The Toyota driver graduating up to the Cup Series deservedly enters championship weekend as a favorite. Nemechek’s No. 20 will likely unload as the fastest car in Phoenix and be the one to beat. If this team has any blemish this season, it is in minor execution flaws where they beat themselves. A lot of opportunities for small mistakes remain open though. Nemechek is the only chance JGR has at a third-straight Xfinity Series title.
Justin Allgaier
Heading out west with the hottest hand and perhaps the highest confidence is Justin Allgaier. Fresh off a Martinsville victory, Allgaier goes to what he considers his best track on the circuit. Martinsville was the fourth checkered flag in a very topsy-turvy year for Allgaier. The two-time Phoenix winner has not seen Arizona victory lane in four years though. The 7 is riding a streak of three-straight season finale top-10s however, giving Allgaier added optimism.
“We know what awaits us this weekend,” Allgaier said. “This entire No. 7 team has fought hard all season long to get to this point. It’s now on us to go out and execute and do everything we can to bring a championship home to JR Motorsports. I know that Jim (Pohlman, crew chief) and all the guys on this BRANDT Professional Agriculture team are ready to go this weekend. We will give it all we have to get the job done. It’s truly special to have this opportunity and I am incredibly thankful to be battling for a championship come Saturday.”
17 top-10s in 26 Phoenix starts and a 9.5 average finish should have Allgaier listed as a runaway top dog for this title. The No. 7 team is somehow snakebitten though when it comes to closing it out in the Phoenix finale though. Allgaier has been unable to win big in the last three years. Momentum is certainly a factor though for any success in sports. Allgaier mentioned after Martinsville how hungry he is to have another shot in Phoenix.
Cole Custer
Mission accomplished so far for Cole Custer in his return trip back to the Xfinity Series. The Stewart-Haas Racing No. 00 Ford has visited victory lane twice this season, at Portland and Chicago. By a slim margin, Custer put himself back in the title hunt. The veteran is trying to better his career-best runner-up points result. Custer’s confidence has certainly ballooned this season with repeated strong races and a deep Playoff run.
“I think this year has been super rewarding in a lot of ways,” Custer said. “You can see how much better our team has gotten through the year. At the start of the season, we just weren’t getting the finishes that we wanted, and we weren’t putting races together how we wanted to. By halfway through the year, it seemed like we were a completely different team. We were running up front and getting those strong finishes. We were competing for wins every single weekend. It was just really cool to be a part of that. I’m proud of how far the No. 00 Haas Automation team has come this year.”
“With the championship race, I think it’s one of those things where it comes down to the last run. The stages don’t matter. It’s all about that last run and seeing what you’ve got. So, there’s a lot of preparation during the week prior to the race. It honestly all leads to those last laps where you see what you can do as a team. That’ll be what decides the championship.”
“Winning a championship is definitely a career-defining moment. I think after finishing second twice and being so close, it’s everything that we want. It was our whole goal coming into this year because we believed that we could be the team to beat. SHR has been so close to that driver championship in the Xfinity Series before. To be the first one to get it would mean a lot. That’s what our whole goal is. Going to try to win this is all a driver ever dreams of since we were kids. It’s pretty much championship or bust.”
‘Championship or bust’ may be the right approach for Custer to take into the last showdown. Custer had to play second-fiddle in both of Tyler Reddick’s title seasons. The 00 came so close yet had to watch someone else win big. The SHR team has shown great speed this season, but hardly ever in a league of their own. Custer may need to battle from behind to contend with the other title heavyweights. Custer did lead laps at Phoenix in the spring though; there is hope for the 00 to be up front.
Sam Mayer
The breakout Xfinity star for 2023’s second half has been Sam Mayer. His first career win came at Road America in July, and Mayer has more wins than anyone else since. Mayer had pigeonholed himself as a road course ace, until winning at Homestead two weeks ago. Mayer is in entirely new territory as a Championship 4 finalist. His youthful exuberance and speed may just pay off with the championship trophy.
“Locking myself into the Championship 4 at Homestead was a dream come true,” Mayer said. “But now that Phoenix is really here, it feels surreal. I am so proud of all the hard work this No. 1 JR Motorsports team has put in this year to get us this far. I cannot say thank you enough to everyone at the shop
who has helped make this possible. I am ready to set my focus forward and I am hopeful that we can bring JRM home a championship this weekend in Phoenix!”
Inexperience would normally be a glaring detriment to this team’s title hopes. However, JR Motorsports cars have been among the fastest in the series in recent months. Mayer’s four-win stretch has been complimented by three victories for Allgaier. That being said, Mayer doesn’t have a single Phoenix top-10 in four past races. The Wisconsin native will be learning something every lap on Saturday. Whether or not this learning curve can end with the No. 1 out front on the last lap is the biggest remaining question.
Any way Saturday ends, we are guaranteed to see a brand new Xfinity Series Champion. All four of these drivers are deserving after their incredible respective seasons. The title stage is only big enough for one team though. The Xfinity Series finale will go green Saturday at 7:00 p.m. ET on USA, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Experience, drive, hunger, and determination are all different among these Championship 4 finalists. It should be a great battle ahead for NASCAR’s second-biggest title.
Written by Peter Stratta
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