NASCAR Xfinity Series: Which member of the ‘Big 3’ has the advantage?

By Asher Fair | Jun 11, 2019

FORT WORTH, TX - MARCH 30: Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Ruud Toyota, leads Tyler Reddick, driver of the #2 Nationwide Children's Hospital Chevrolet, during the NASCAR Xfinity Series My Bariatric Solutions 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on March 30, 2019 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /

Three drivers have separated themselves from the rest of the NASCAR Xfinity Series field. Which of these three drivers of the “Big 3” has the advantage?

Through the first 13 races of the 33-race 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, five different drivers have been victorious. One of these drivers, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch, has won three races, but he is a full-time Cup Series driver who is not eligible to score points in the Xfinity Series.

As result, four full-time Xfinity Series drivers have combined to win the other 10 races that have been contested so far this season. Three of these four drivers have combined to win nine of these 10 races and have unofficially become the “Big 3”. JR Motorsports’ Michael Annett won the other race, the season opener at Daytona International Speedway.

These three drivers, Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer, have each earned three victories so far this season, and they occupy the top three positions in the championship standings and the playoff standings.

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But which of these three drivers, all of whom were among the four Championship 4 drivers last season, has the advantage?

Custer is the only non-Cup Series driver who has beaten Busch all season in any series, as he won the race at Auto Club Speedway ahead of him in second place back in mid-March. Busch has made a combined nine starts in the Truck Series and Xfinity Series this season, and that second place finish is his only non-win. Custer has led 484 of the 2,246 laps that he has completed so far this season, and his average finishing position is 10.8.

Bell, meanwhile, has been long considered the top talent in NASCAR who is not currently competing at the Cup Series level, and he has been the subject of rumors involving him potentially landing at the Joe Gibbs Racing Cup Series team or the Joe Gibbs Racing-affiliated Leavine Family Racing team next season.

Bell has led 574 of the 2,154 laps that he has completed so far this season, and his average finishing position is 9.7. Additionally, he has accounted for 11 of the 20 victories that have been earned by these three drivers since the start of last season.

Then there is Reddick, the reigning champion who currently leads the championship standings by 89 points (627 to 538) over Bell in second place and 117 points (627 to 510) over Custer in third. He is currently on a 10-race streak of top four finishes, a streak during which his average finishing position is 2.30, and he has won three of the last five races.

Additionally, while Custer and Bell have each recorded seven top five finishes and eight top 10 finishes so far this season, Reddick has recorded 11 top five finishes and 12 top 10 finishes. He only trails them in laps led, as he has led 321 of the 2,332 laps that he has completed.

Reddick clearly the advantage right now. But does he have a long-term advantage as well?

Reddick’s long-term advantage over Bell and Custer may actually be greater than the advantage that he has over them right now. His 2018 season, as whole, was not a championship-caliber season. He won only one race up until the season finale, and he finished the 33-race season with only seven top five finishes and an average finishing position of 12.9.

But as one of the Championship 4 drivers, he won the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and that was enough to win him the championship. His prowess driving the high line at this track propelled him to the championship over Custer, Bell and Richard Childress Racing’s Daniel Hemric.

Many fans questioned whether Reddick’s move to Richard Childress Racing from JR Motorsports would pay off, especially since he signed with the former for the 2019 season before he won the 2018 championship driving for the latter, but so far, it most definitely has.

The average finishing position of the 23-year-old Corning, California native is 3.9 through the season’s first 13 races, and he has everything it takes to return to the Championship 4. Assuming he can do that, there is no reason to believe that he will not display the same prowess on the high line at Homestead-Miami Speedway to secure what would be his second career and second consecutive Xfinity Series championship.

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Through the first 13 races of the 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, which member of the “Big 3”, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell or Cole Custer, has the advantage right now and for the long run?

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