NASCAR Race Mom: Exploring the Round of 8 Xfinity Playoff

Friday, October 22, 2021

Exploring the Round of 8 Xfinity Playoff

Drivers at Kansas Speedway

This weekend’s race at Kansas Speedway will be the second race of the Round of 8 for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs. All eight drivers are still fighting for their spot in the Championship 4 Round – with only three chances to do so beginning last weekend at Texas, Kansas this weekend, and Martinsville on Halloween weekend. Currently, there are no drivers locked into the Championship 4 Round so let’s take a look at the driver performances at Kansas Speedway.

Austin Cindric: The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford has made four starts at Kansas Speedway in his Xfinity Series career. His first start was in 2019 and he started fourth and finished 39h due a to a crash on the opening lap of the race. Most recently, the series visited Kansas in 2020 and Cindric started second but finished 28th after being involved in another incident. He has a best finish of runner-up from the spring Kansas race in 2020. He has an average start of 3.3 and an average finish of 23.5.

AJ Allmendinger: The driver of the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet will visit Kansas Speedway for the second time of his Xfinity Series career and the first time since 2007. He made his first and only start at Kansas in 2007 and started eighth but finished 25th.

Justin Allgaier: The driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet will make his 12th Kansas Speedway start on Saturday. His first start at the track came in 2009 when he started 18th and finished sixth. He has three top fives and eight top 10s in his 11 starts at the track. He has an average start and finish of 10.7. Most recently, he finished 10th in this race last season.

Noah Gragson: The driver of the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet has made three Xfinity Series starts at Kansas Speedway. In those three starts, he has a best finish of 13th from his first start in 2019. Most recently, he started on the pole in 2020 and finished 36th after being involved in an incident. He has an average start of 7.0 and an average finish of 21.3.

Daniel Hemric: The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota will make his fifth start at Kansas on Saturday. He has two top fives and three top 10s in his previous four starts and has led 128 total laps. He has an average start of 5.8 and an average finish of 7.3. Most recently, he started third and finished runner-up at this race in 2020.

Harrison Burton: The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota has made three Xfinity Series starts at Kansas Speedway. He has one top five and one top 10 in those three starts with a best finish of third in the spring Kansas race in 2020. Most recently, he started 18th in this race in 2020 and finished 11th.

Brandon Jones: The driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota will make his seventh Xfinity Series start at Kansas on Saturday. His first came in 2016. Kansas has been good to Jones in the past as he has two wins, two top fives and four top 10s. He won this race in 2019 and he won the spring race at Kansas in 2020. Most recently, he started fifth and finished ninth in this race in the 2020 season. He has an average start of 6.7 and an average finish of 11.0. He’s led 20 total laps at Kansas.

Justin Haley: The driver of the No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet will make his fourth start at Kansas this weekend. He has one top five and three top 10s at the track, meaning he has never finished outside of the top-10 in all three of his starts. He has an average start of 11.0 and an average finish of 5.7. His best finish came last season in this race when he started ninth and finished fourth.

So we asked @NASCAR_Xfinity Series drivers what they would do if they won the @Kansas_Lottery 🤑 #KL300 x #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/SgUT2Y5XDG
— Kansas Speedway (@kansasspeedway) October 22, 2021

Clinch Scenarios: Following the Yellow Brick Road

The NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs Round of 8 began last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway but with a non-Playoff driver winning the event, all eight drivers in the Playoffs are still fighting for their spot in the Championship 4 Round this weekend at Kansas Speedway. Currently none of the eight drivers have clinched a spot in the final round.

Already Clinched

No drivers have clinched a spot in the 4-driver field of the next round.

Can Clinch Via Points

If a win by a driver who cannot advance to the next round, the following drivers could clinch by being 56 points above the fourth winless driver in the standings. The same points requirements listed below would hold true if a new win comes from AJ Allmendinger, Austin Cindric or Justin Allgaier.

• AJ Allmendinger: Could only clinch with help
• Austin Cindric: Could only clinch with help
• Justin Allgaier: Could only clinch with help

If there is a new winner from Noah Gragson or another winless driver lower in the standings but still eligible to advance to the next round, the following drivers could clinch by being 56 points above the third winless driver in the standings.

• AJ Allmendinger: Could only clinch with help
• Austin Cindric: Could only clinch with help

Can Clinch Via Win

The following drivers would clinch on their win alone: