Brandon Jones won Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway, breaking a 98-race winless streak and locking himself into the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs. Following the eighth race of the 2025 season, here’s where the Xfinity Series field stacks up.
1. Justin Allgaier, No. 7 Chevrolet, JR Motorsports
Allgaier led 56 laps on Saturday, but his second-to-last pit stop doomed his chances of winning. The defending series champion still finished third, however, and leads the standings by 71 points over Sam Mayer.
2. Sheldon Creed, No. 00 Ford, Haas Factory Team
Creed only mustered a 10th-place finish on Saturday, but besting Sam Mayer and Austin Hill is enough to put him above those two drivers. Creed has five top-10 finishes over the first eight races of 2025, and will go for his first career Xfinity Series win at Bristol on April 12.
3. Sam Mayer, No. 41 Ford, Haas Factory Team
Mayer finished a relatively disappointing 14th on Saturday, but remains second in the standings after Darlington. He’s had a great overall start to the 2025 season, and will likely be back in the mix for the win at Bristol.
4. Austin Hill, No. 21 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing
After collecting his second win of the season at Martinsville on Mar. 30, Hill was forced to start at the rear on Saturday and was never really in contention. He ultimately finished 16th, but Bristol should be a return to form for the Winston, Ga., native.
5. Brandon Jones, No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing
Jones won for the first time since April of 2022 on Saturday and looks to be a contender for the first time in a long time this season. His win took him from 14th to seventh in the standings, and if the No. 20 team can keep bringing fast cars to the track, Jones could be a dark horse championship contender.
6. Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Chevrolet, JR Motorsports
Zilisch got off to a slow start on Saturday, but the 18-year-old rookie found his groove in Stage 3 en route to a sixth-place finish. Zilisch has struggled to close out races early in the year, but Darlington was a step in the right direction for the No. 88 team.
7. Carson Kvapil, No. 1 Chevrolet, JR Motorsports
Like his JR Motorsports teammate in Zilisch, Kvapil and the No. 1 team haven’t been able to get the finishes they deserve very often this season. However, a fifth-place run at Darlington on Saturday shows that the rookie driver can finish well when luck goes his way. For a short track ace in Kvapil, Bristol could provide an opportunity for the No. 1 team to find their first win of 2025.
8. Jesse Love, No. 2 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing
Love finished 11th and was never in contention on Saturday, but he sits fifth in points eight races into the season. Bristol will be a unique weekend for Love, who in addition to running the Xfinity race, will also be making his NASCAR Cup Series debut on April 13.
9. Ryan Sieg, No. 39 Ford, RSS Racing
Sieg kept his head down and stayed out of trouble on Saturday en route to a solid 12th-place finish. His start to 2025 has been one of the best starts to a season in his career, as he sits ninth in points with three top-10 finishes eight races into the season.
10. Sammy Smith, No. 8 Chevrolet, JR Motorsports
Smith was the center of attention following the chaos of Martinsville, but quietly finished ninth on Saturday to move up to 11th in points. It will take a while for the outside noise of Smith’s actions of Martinsville to die down, but in the meantime, collecting good finishes is all he can do.
11. Harrison Burton, No. 25 Ford, AM Racing
Burton and the No. 25 team won Stage 1, finished fifth in Stage 2 and finished the race in 13th en route to a 40-point day on Saturday. After a disastrous 2024 season, AM Racing has found their driver in Burton, who is currently inside the playoff picture.
12. Christian Eckes, No. 16 Chevrolet, Kaulig Racing
Eckes is only 16th in points eight races into the season, but Darlington was one of his best races of the season. After finishing second in Stage 2, Eckes finished the race in seventh to move up four spots in the standings.
The ninth race of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season will take place at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 12. The SciAps 300 will go green shortly after 5 p.m. ET, with coverage on the CW, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
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