The 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series is finally here, and a new season with plenty of exciting moments to come begins at Daytona International Speedway Feb. 15 (5 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
While there has been plenty of movement within the Xfinity Series compared to last year‘s crop, this is still a loaded field. And with 12 full-time drivers set to make the Xfinity Series Playoffs this season, it only makes sense to rank the top 12 drivers before the Florida opener. Let‘s get to it.
RELATED: 2025 Xfinity Series schedule
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12. Sammy Smith, No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
Analysis: Smith enters his second season under the JR Motorsports banner, and there is plenty to build on in 2025. The Iowa native finished 11th in the 2024 championship standings and logged career highs in top fives (seven) and top 10s (16). Although past Daytona results don‘t pop off the page — Smith has averaged a 21st-place finish in two series-opening races there — the 20-year-old still possesses upside. With Phillip Bell returning atop the pit box (he was the No. 8 crew chief for 10 races last season), there‘s continuity, too.
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11. Ryan Sieg, No. 39 RSS Racing Ford
Analysis: Make it a dozen for the 37-year-old Sieg, who enters his 12th full season in the Xfinity circuit. 2024 offered glimpses of hope for Sieg in his hunt for Xfinity Series win No. 1, with his best average finish (14.7) since 2019 and the most laps led in a season (80) since 2020. Daytona has been a mixed bag for Sieg, but his 35 career laps led there have come across two season-opening races (23 in 2021, 12 in 2024).
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10. Parker Retzlaff, No. 4 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet
Analysis: Retzlaff joins Alpha Prime Racing for 2025 after racing full-time for Jordan Anderson Racing from 2023-24. It‘s only natural for a driver to want to make a great first impression, and Daytona could be just the location for the Wisconsin native to accomplish this for his new organization. In four career Xfinity races at Daytona, Retzlaff has finished inside the top 10 three times. Two of those times came in the Xfinity series opener (fourth in 2023, third in 2024). Opportunity knocks.
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9. Nick Sanchez, No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet
Analysis: A banner 2024 in the Truck Series leads to a full-time Xfinity Series gig for the 23-year-old Sanchez, taking over the Big Machine Racing reins from Parker Kligerman. Good news for Big Machine: Sanchez was a playoff driver in 2024, and he brings a Daytona pedigree to the table. One of Sanchez‘s two Truck wins last season came in the Daytona season-opener, leading a race-best 26 laps in the process. There‘s a bonus — Sanchez raced in six Xfinity contests with Big Machine in 2024, so there‘s already a degree of comfort for driver and team alike.
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8. Christian Eckes, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
Analysis: Sanchez isn‘t the only Truck Series Playoffs driver making the full-time leap to Xfinity. Enter Eckes, who transitions from McAnally-Hilgemann Racing to Kaulig Racing as the No. 16 driver in place of AJ Allmendinger. Although Eckes doesn‘t bring prior Xfinity experience to the table the way Sanchez does, the momentum of being a 2024 Championship 4 driver can‘t be ignored. Three consecutive finishes inside the top 10 at Daytona in Trucks — in addition to 29 laps led in that span — help matters, too.
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7. Harrison Burton, No. 25 AM Racing Ford
Analysis: Burton returns to the Xfinity fold after three full-time Cup Series seasons with Wood Brothers Racing. Rewind the clocks a touch to catch a glimpse at how Burton fared during his last full-time Xfinity Series stint. Spoiler alert: It was pretty good. From 2020-21, Burton tallied four wins, 25 top fives and 44 top 10s, finishing eighth in the final standings in each season. Daytona, you might ask? Four top 10s in four Xfinity starts there. He also did something … pretty special there in Cup last season.
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6. Sam Mayer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford
Analysis: Mayer departs JR Motorsports and joins Haas Factory Team in what will be the organization‘s inaugural 2025 season. While Mayer‘s 2024 was a step back from his 2023 Championship 4 season in terms of average finish (18.0 compared in 2024 compared to 13.2 in 2023), the 21-year-old still won three races and made the playoffs. Mayer‘s Xfinity record at Daytona needs work, given he‘s yet to log a top 10 there (seven attempts), but under a new team banner and a fresh crew chief to learn from in Jason Trinchere, anything is possible.
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5. Connor Zilisch, No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
Analysis: Yes, Zilisch only has four Xfinity Series starts — and only 10 national series starts total — to his name entering 2025. But if there is one driver who can immediately make a statement out of the gate, it‘s the 18-year-old Zilisch, who collected his first pole position and victory in his first career Xfinity start last season at Watkins Glen. Granted, The Glen is not a superspeedway, and Zilisch has never raced a NASCAR machine at Daytona. However, for someone dubbed the “next superstar,” let‘s not act shocked if he figures the superspeedway ropes quickly.
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4. Jesse Love, No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Analysis: Remember when Love logged his first career Xfinity pole in his first start last season? It was at Daytona. And while he didn‘t win the 2024 season opener, the No. 2 pilot illustrated just the kind of speed he could muster on a superspeedway. The reigning Rookie of the Year enters his second season with Richard Childress Racing, and after his inaugural Xfinity campaign saw continued success on superspeedways, it‘s anyone‘s guess what is in store for the California native who just turned 20 years old.
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3. Sheldon Creed, No. 00 Haas Factory Team Ford
Analysis: Creed‘s 2024 Xfinity season was … unique. His 16 top fives ranked second in the entire circuit (Chandler Smith, 17), while his 23 top 10s were tied for first (Cole Custer). He collected not one but six runner-up finishes, including at the Daytona season opener last season. Creed joins Haas Factory Team, his third team in as many seasons, and although he‘s yet to find Victory Lane in Xfinity, the 2020 Truck Series champion brings speed and experience to his new organization. The breakthrough has to be coming.
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2. Justin Allgaier, No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
Analysis: Allgaier ranks highly in this installment for obvious reasons. The 38-year-old is fresh off a 2024 Xfinity Series Championship crown, and with Cole Custer‘s departure to Cup, he is now the only returning Xfinity Series driver who led 700-plus laps in 2024 (709). Daytona has been kind to Allgaier of late, with six top 10s over the last seven races, including finishes of fifth (2022), third (2023) and eighth (2024) in the last three Xfinity openers. Can the defending champ kickstart 2025 with his second career Daytona win?
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1. Austin Hill, No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Analysis: Since his jump into the Xfinity Series three seasons ago, Hill has finished sixth (2022), fifth (2023) and fourth (2024). Coming off his first Championship 4 berth, Hill is hungry for more in 2025, and the winning appetite certainly starts at Daytona, where Hill has won each of the last three season-opening races. Whether the Georgia native can make it four in a row remains to be seen, but make no mistake: Hill will easily be a Daytona favorite, and in due time, maybe the championship favorite, too.
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