NASCAR Xfinity Series parity rampant; what does this mean for playoffs?

The 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series season has already seen four winners in four races. That parity could affect the playoffs, and this trend could continue in the next race.

In four NASCAR Xfinity Series races this season, four different drivers have gone to victory lane. Noah Gragson, Chase Briscoe, Harrison Burton and Brandon Jones have each won one race in 2020 and will most likely get into the playoffs.

Because all four of those drivers are series regulars, the battle to make the playoffs is already relevant. One-third of the Xfinity Series playoff field may already be set with 22 races left in the regular season.

With the “Big 3” having graduated from the Xfinity Series to the Cup Series this season, the landscape of the Xfinity Series was always going to be remarkably different.

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As for how different it would be, consider this: five drivers already have playoff points. Four races into this season and five drivers, if they all make the playoffs, already have points already in the bank. Those points are vital as drivers battle to stave off elimination from round to round in the playoffs.

For full-time drivers Jeremy Clements and Joe Graf Jr., four winners in four races already puts both drivers in a big hole.

Clements sits in 25th place in the championship standings and 47 points below the playoff cut line. He has failed to finish on the lead lap in three races this season and has two DNFs. More poor finishes like that, and his odds of making the playoffs without a win will dwindle quickly.

Graf is 61 points below the cut line in 29th place. He is already more than a full race’s worth of points below the playoff cut line. It is certainly not the way the 21-year-old wanted to begin his Xfinity Series rookie season.

Are the four race winners already locked into the playoffs? Although they have not mathematically clinched a playoff spot, not once in Xfinity Series history has a full-time driver who won a race missed the playoffs.

At the moment, 23 drivers have competed in every race, with Clements and Graf as the lowest two in the championship standings. That number should decrease by two because B.J. McLeod and Myatt Snider are not slated to compete in every race this season.

As a result, there are 21 drivers battling for 12 playoff spots. Subtract the four race winners and there are 17 drivers battling for eight remaining playoff spots. However, of the full-time drivers currently below the playoff cut line, only Clements has won an Xfinity Series race before.

So while it is possible a full-time driver could win a race and miss the playoffs, 13 or more winners is not a realistic possibility.

Two of the four winners so far this season, Gragson and Burton, scored their first career Xfinity Series victories already this year. Ryan Sieg, Justin Haley and Riley Herbst among others compete full-time and have yet to win an Xfinity Series race. Will they break through with a win this season?

The next race is scheduled to take place this Saturday afternoon at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Will this race continue the trend of no repeat winners this season? Of the 36 drivers entered, only two drivers have won at the track before.

Joe Nemechek won the Xfinity Series race there in 2001. He is set to drive the #47 Mike Harmon Racing Chevrolet in this race. He won’t win the race, but his experience at the track could net him a solid finish.

Brett Moffitt won the 2018 Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He is entered in the #02 Our Motorsports Chevrolet.

Our Motorsports are in their inaugural season in the Xfinity Series. In four races thus far driving the #02 Chevrolet, Moffitt has recorded three top 20 finishes. I doubt he will win this race, but with a little luck, he may achieve the first top 10 finish for the organization.

So who should be considered favorites to win at Atlanta Motor Speedway? Over the last three Xfinity Series races there, Brandon Jones, Justin Allgaier and Austin Cindric have earned the most points.

Jones already has a win this season at Phoenix Raceway, but Allgaier and Cindric both lack one. Allgaier has three stage wins, however, so a win at Atlanta Motor Speedway not only would likely lock him into the playoffs, but it also could give him the lead for the most playoff points thus far.

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Who will win the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway? Will the series see a fifth different winner in five races? The 2020 EchoPark 250 is scheduled to take place on Saturday, March 14 beginning at 4:00 p.m. ET with live TV coverage provided by Fox Sports 1.

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