NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff picture after 2018 O’Reilly Auto Parts 300
By Asher Fair
With one race remaining before the 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, how is the playoff picture shaping up?
Two weeks after Chip Ganassi Racing’s John Hunter Nemechek, who is not a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series driver, won the opening race of the round of 8 at Kansas Speedway, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer became the first driver to clinch a berth in the Championship 4.
Custer clinched his berth in the Championship 4 with his win in the second race of the round of 8, the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300, at Texas Motor Speedway.
This win, which was just the second of Custer’s Xfinity Series career and his first of the season, means that three berths in the Championship 4 will be up for grabs in the third and final race of the second round of the three-round playoffs at ISM Raceway next Saturday, November 10.
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Custer, who entered the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Texas Motor Speedway oval in Fort Worth, Texas in seventh place in the playoff picture and 23 points below the Championship 4 cut line, is the only round of 8 driver who does not have to worry about his result in the final race of the round of 8 as far when it comes to its effect on his Championship 4 hopes.
Meanwhile, none of the other seven round of 8 drivers are safe by any stretch of the imagination in terms of their chances to advance to the Championship 4. None of the three drivers who are currently above the Championship 4 cut line are above it by more than 20 points, and only one of the four drivers who are currently below it are below it by more than 34 points.
Here is the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff picture with the two of the three round of 8 races having been completed. The totals in the “behind” column show where each driver is currently positioned in relation to the Championship 4 cut line.
Rank – Driver – Car, Team, Manufacturer: Points (Behind) – Playoff Points (Rank)
1st – Cole Custer – #00, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford: 1 WIN (1 WIN) – 17 (3rd)
2nd – Tyler Reddick – #9, JR Motorsports, Chevrolet: 3105 (+20) – 10 (6th)
3rd – Elliott Sadler – #1, JR Motorsports, Chevrolet: 3098 (+13) – 11 (5th)
4th – Daniel Hemric – #21, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet: 3097 (+12) – 15 (4th)
5th – Justin Allgaier – #7, JR Motorsports, Chevrolet: 3085 (-12) – 39 (2nd)
6th – Matt Tifft – #2, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet: 3083 (-14) – 3 (7th)
7th – Christopher Bell – #20, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota: 3063 (-34) – 44 (1st)
8th – Austin Cindric – #22, Team Penske, Ford: 3036 (-61) – 1 (8th)
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The NASCAR Xfinity Series is scheduled to get back in action on Saturday, November 10 with the Whelen Trusted To Perform 200. This race is set to be broadcast live on NBC from ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET. With this race being the final race before the championship-deciding season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, November 17, be sure not to miss it.