NASCAR Draft Kit: 2024 Xfinity Rankings

NASCAR Draft Kit: 2024 Xfinity Rankings

This article is part of our NASCAR Draft Kit series.

This article is part of our NASCAR Draft Kit series.

  1. Austin Hill – No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet – While Hill made some major strides in 2023, it stopped short of a championship due to the nature of the NASCAR playoffs. Still, you can't discount the eye-popping numbers Hill and the No. 21 Chevrolet team posted last season. He'd double his victory totals over the previous season and secure four wins as well as 16 Top-5 and 24 Top-10 finishes. Hill would wind up fifth in the final points, but make no mistake, it was a championship caliber campaign. The 29-year-old veteran signed a multi-year extension to his contract with Richard Childress Racing last summer and signaled he'll be around for a while in the Xfinity Series championship picture. We expect the very high level of performance to continue, and if the breaks fall his way, possibly a championship for Hill come November 2024.  
  2. Justin Allgaier – No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet – Once again Allgaier would have a major brush with his first championship last season, but it just wasn't in the cards. The JR Motorsports veteran knocked out a four-win, 20 Top 10 season, but finished runner-up in the championship chase for the second time in the last four seasons. This driver and team have been dialed-in like aces for the last several years, but just lack the luck to pull off a championship. That could change in 2024. Jim Pohlman returns to crew chief this

This article is part of our NASCAR Draft Kit series.

  1. Austin Hill – No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet – While Hill made some major strides in 2023, it stopped short of a championship due to the nature of the NASCAR playoffs. Still, you can't discount the eye-popping numbers Hill and the No. 21 Chevrolet team posted last season. He'd double his victory totals over the previous season and secure four wins as well as 16 Top-5 and 24 Top-10 finishes. Hill would wind up fifth in the final points, but make no mistake, it was a championship caliber campaign. The 29-year-old veteran signed a multi-year extension to his contract with Richard Childress Racing last summer and signaled he'll be around for a while in the Xfinity Series championship picture. We expect the very high level of performance to continue, and if the breaks fall his way, possibly a championship for Hill come November 2024.  
  2. Justin Allgaier – No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet – Once again Allgaier would have a major brush with his first championship last season, but it just wasn't in the cards. The JR Motorsports veteran knocked out a four-win, 20 Top 10 season, but finished runner-up in the championship chase for the second time in the last four seasons. This driver and team have been dialed-in like aces for the last several years, but just lack the luck to pull off a championship. That could change in 2024. Jim Pohlman returns to crew chief this driver and team and look to build on what they accomplished in 2023. At 37-years-old, Allgaier is the elder statesman of the Xfinity Series, but there's been no detectable degradation in his skills. The driver of the No. 7 JRM Chevrolet has averaged three wins and 22 Top-10 finishes over the past four seasons. That's a very high level of performance for a long stretch.
  3. Cole Custer – No. 00 Stewart Haas Racing Ford – Custer's full-time return to the Xfinity Series would be a rousing success in 2023. The 25-year-old talent would race to three wins and 21 Top-10 finishes, and while his campaign would lack a little of the consistency that others enjoyed, he'd make the most of his opportunities. Custer heated up down the stretch run of the playoffs and grabbed a win and several Top 5's to claim the 2023 Xfinity Series title. As good a season as it was, it still was not career-best marks for Custer in this division of NASCAR. There's room to grow and we expect that will happen in 2024. Custer returns to the No. 00 Ford team to defend his crown and look to post even better stats in the upcoming season. With Jonathan Toney returning at crew chief, these are reasonable goals and we expect to see the team racing at Phoenix for the championship once again.
  4. John Hunter Nemechek/Aric Almirola – No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – Nemechek stormed to seven wins and 24 Top-10 finishes in the 2023 season, but it would fall short of a championship thanks to trouble and a 28th-place finish in the season finale at Phoenix. It was still a super dominant campaign and reflection of this team's capabilities. Nemechek will return, but only in a part-time capacity in 2024 as he's racing again full-time in the Cup Series. Veteran driver Almirola will share the majority of the starts with Nemechek with a dash of some other fill-in drivers along the way. Gone also is crew chief Ben Beshore, so this team is hitting the reset button to a good extent in the upcoming season. Joe Gibbs Racing is a top stable, so this team will be a top performer, but we expect the numbers to dial back a bit in the 2024 campaign. Driver rotations and new crew chiefs will impact those statistical totals to a degree.
  5. Sam Mayer – No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet – Mayer was one of the big surprises of last season. The 20-year-old prospect would vault to four wins and 19 Top-10 finishes in just his second full season of Xfinity Series competition and thrust himself surprisingly into the championship picture. While he'd come up short of championship gold, Mayer would serve notice he's going to be around a while and be a factor. He returns to the JR Motorsports No. 1 team, which is returning mainly intact from last year. What will Mayer do for an encore? He could be one of the drivers poised to grow more than any other at the top tier of this division of NASCAR. He seemingly just scratched the surface in 2023 for what he could compile statistically. Don't be surprised if Mayer really breaks out in 2024 and upstages some of the drivers ahead of him in the pre-season rankings.  
  6. AJ Allmendinger – No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet – After a one-year hiatus from full-time competition in the Xfinity Series, Allmendinger returns to full-time in this division of NASCAR. He'll resume piloting the No. 16 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing and build on the 14 victories he's achieved with this team since the 2020 season. At 42-years-old and with over 500-combined starts between the Cup and Xfinity Series, Allmendinger is one of the more seasoned drivers in this division of the sport. His road racing abilities are well known with 11 of his 17-career Xfinity wins coming on the winding circuits. However, Allmendinger has also been strong on intermediate and larger ovals. That excellence makes him an immediate championship contender once again. Alex Yontz will assume crew chief responsibilities and use his 150+ starts and eight-career wins of experience to guide Allmendinger in 2024.
  7. Sheldon Creed – No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – The silly season gave us a few moves last year. Creed jumping from Richard Childress Racing to Joe Gibbs Racing was one of the more highlighted moves. The 25-year-old talent followed a successful truck series career with two solid seasons racing with RCR in Xfinity. While Creed didn't nab any victories during his time at RCR, he did compile 28 Top-10 finishes and would slot 14th- and seventh- in the driver points the last two campaigns. The move to JGR's flagship No. 18 Toyota shows the confidence his new boss has in his talents. Creed will be paired with Sam McAulay at crew chief and the two will set about the business of winning races and competing for the 2024 championship. Those are high goals, and some are attainable. However, we will need to see a full season of Creed in a JGR Toyota before ultimate potential can be reached.
  8. Sammy Smith – No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet – The 19-year-old had a great rookie campaign with Joe Gibbs Racing last season. Smith would grab one win and 15 Top-10 finishes to wind up last year at sixth in the final driver standings. Even after those initial successes, Smith would be on the move. He'd sign a deal with JR Motorsports to drive Josh Berry's No. 8 Chevrolet as the veteran moves up to the Cup Series full-time in 2024. Smith showed just a sample of his talent in his first full Xfinity Series campaign, now we'll get to see what the shift to JRM will do for his second full season. Berry was not Earth-shattering in this same car last season, but we only have to look back to 2021 and 2022 to see five combined victories for Berry in this same car. JRM will give Smith the tools to succeed, and at just 19-years-old, there's a lot of raw and untapped potential in this young driver.  
  9. Riley Herbst – No. 98 Stewart Haas Racing Ford – The journeyman driver had one of his more successful campaigns last year with SHR. Herbst piloted the team's No. 98 Ford to his first-career win (Las Vegas), 17 Top-10 finishes and he ended the season on a heater. The 24-year-old driver would conclude 2023 on a five-race Top-5 streak and leave a great impression heading into the new season. It was announced last October that Herbst would be returning to the No. 98 team and to seek bigger goals in 2024. He'll look to secure his first multi-win season and penetrate the Top 10 in the driver points. Championship contention is not likely in the cards just yet, but Herbst's 142 starts of Xfinity Series experience are starting to stack up. It's time to strike while the iron is hot and to secure some higher ground. Herbst has a great team and great support around him, so he should continue his growth trajectory.
  10. Josh Williams – No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet – After eight seasons of racing in this division of NASCAR, Williams finally gets the big team upgrade that he's long-deserved. The 30-year-old Floridian takes the wheel of the No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet. This is the same car that Daniel Hemric piloted to 32 Top-10 finishes over the last two campaigns and nabbed a pair of Top-10 points finishes. Hemric has moved on to the Cup Series and leaves Williams to keep this team elevated. While he's had just one Top-15 season of his eight Xfinity Series campaigns, we have to put that in context. Williams has raced mainly for small, ill-equipped teams during his time. His 186 starts of experience have been a labor of love (of racing) and have prepared him for this jump. Kaulig and new crew chief, Kevin Walter, will give Williams all the tools he needs to succeed. A first-career win may be just out of reach, but many Top-10 finishes should be in store.
  11. Parker Kligerman – No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet – Kligerman was really the surprise driver of 2023. The veteran pilot of the No. 48 Chevrolet raced to eight Top 5's and 18 Top 10's and snagged 10th-place in the driver points. While it was a winless campaign, it was still career-best marks for the 33-year-old driver. Kligerman returns to Big Machine Racing for another go at the Xfinity Series slate. He will once again be paired with crew chief, Patrick Donahue, and the two will look to build on the strong campaign they had last year. Road courses and intermediate ovals were this driver and team's strengths and they should be so again for Kligerman. While reaching victory lane is still likely too far a bridge to cross, this team's consistency and excellence should once again be very dependable.
  12. Brandon Jones – No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet – Jones was a bit uninspiring last season in the JRM No. 9 Chevrolet. The journeyman driver would go winless and only snag 10 Top-10 finishes in 2023. Those marks were well below his recent historical norms and really constituted his worst campaign since 2017. It seems almost improbable that this driver and team would again lay another egg, so we're predicting a bit of a rebound. Jones will get a new crew chief in 2024 in the form of Phillip Bell. He and Jones will look to get back some of the performance that the team lost last season. While an improvement seems likely, we'd be conservative on expectations. Certainly Jones should improve his Top-10 totals and improve his final standings position. We're stopping short of expecting any race wins. Those would be an unexpected bonus.
  13. Chandler Smith – No. 81 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – The rookie Xfinity Series season was a success for Smith last year. He'd race to one win and 13 Top-10 finishes as well as a surprising ninth-place points finish. Smith moves on from Kaulig Racing and into Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 81 Toyota for 2024. The young talent will be an interesting prospect for the upcoming season. Smith will be paired with Jeff Meendering at crew chief. The veteran has 228 Xfinity Series starts under his belt and eight victories, all with very young drivers. That's good news for Smith. His 36 starts of experience in this division of NASCAR is just scratching the surface, and he's in need of a talent like Meendering. Joe Gibbs Racing always has good cars and support, so this is a driver and team situation that is poised to grow and maybe quicker than we give them credit.
  14. Ryan Truex/Joe Graf Jr./Taylor Gray/William Sawalich – No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – This driver rotation car had a lot of success last season with three wins and 15 Top-10 finishes. However, the car featured Ty Gibbs and Denny Hamlin in a few events, which added to the performance. This season the team gets a bit less experienced. Truex and Graf return and they'll be joined by newcomers Gray and Sawalich. Also new is crew chief, Seth Chavka, so it's a bit of a team reset in a lot of ways. As always we expect top notch cars, team and support from Joe Gibbs Racing, but this is clearly trending into a driver development car and less a car for veterans to part-time race in the Xfinity Series. The results will bear that change out. Still, the experience of Truex will be on display in a number of starts.
  15. Jesse Love – No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet – After a dominant, 10-win performance and championship in the ARCA Menards Series last season, Love promotes straight past the trucks and into the Xfinity Series for 2024. The 19-year-old prodigy takes over RCR's strong No. 2 Chevrolet team. This is the same car that Sheldon Creed drove to seventh-place in the points last season and Myatt Snider drove to ninth-place in the points in 2021. For his rookie campaign, Love will be paired with veteran crew chief, Danny Stockman, and the two will look to hit the ground running in the upcoming season. Stockman has over 200 starts of experience in this division of NASCAR, seven victories and a championship with Austin Dillon in 2013. The duo should have some success, but won't be world beaters right out of the gate.
  16. Jeb Burton – No. 27 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet – The 31-year-old veteran had a reasonably successful campaign in 2023. Burton raced to an upset win (Talladega), six Top-10 finishes and a respectable 12th-place showing in the final driver standings. Those were all incredible gains for the Jordan Anderson Racing No. 27 team over the 2022 season. Burton returns to this small team in the upcoming year. The crew chief has not been named at the point of this writing, but it is expected that Shane Whitbeck will return and he will attempt to build on what Burton and he accomplished last year. As they demonstrated in 2023, the short tracks and larger ovals will be their best tracks for success. They come back to the field a good bit on road circuits and intermediate ovals. 
  17. Brett Moffitt – No. 25 AM Racing Ford – Moffitt enjoyed some reasonable success with this small, but growing team last year. He piloted the team's No. 25 Ford to nine Top-10 finishes and a decent 15th-place showing in the final driver standings. The veteran driver now has over 250 combined starts between NASCAR's top three touring series and that experience shows each time Moffitt suits up. The team grows to two full-time entries as Hailie Deegan comes on board for 2024. Moffitt will look to be a mentor and adviser to her as her racing development continues. At the same time, Moffitt will not only look to hold onto the impressive gains he made last season but possibly expand upon that performance. A good handful of Top 10 and Top 15 efforts should be expected.
  18. Parker Retzlaff – No. 31 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet – The 20-year-old made a pretty good splash in his rookie season of 2023. Retzlaff piloted this small team to seven Top-10 finishes and a respectable 16th-place finish in the final standings. He even snagged a Top 5 in the season opener at Daytona last February. Jordan Anderson Racing has brought him back in 2024 for season two. Nothing appears to be changing about the team situation and sponsorship, so we'll truly get to see if Retzlaff can grow and improve on his first full Xfinity Series campaign. He doesn't have the speed to lead laps and challenge for wins with this team, but Retzlaff can increase his Top 10 numbers and improve his average finish position, which was a reasonable 17.9 last season. The youngster has the ability and means to secure some better performance in the upcoming season.
  19. Unknown Driver – No. 26 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota – This team enjoyed a lot of success last season under the guidance of driver, Kaz Grala. The journeyman driver racked up nine Top-10 finishes and wound up a very respectable 17th in the final driver standings. Grala will not be returning in 2024, but Sam Hunt Racing has stated they are committed to running two full-time cars in the upcoming season. This could mean a late free-agent driver signing for SHR or they could put a patchwork of multiple drivers together to fill out the season. The former would be preferable with some decent drivers still available on the free agent market, while a driver rotation would be less desirable. Watch this team closely in January as the season approaches. Their driver signing will have great bearing on their outcome in 2024.    
  20. Ryan Sieg – No. 39 RSS Racing Ford – The veteran owner/driver suffered some regression in 2023. Sieg struggled to just four Top-10 finishes and an 18th-place finish in the final driver standings. It was his worst campaign since the 2018 season. For a driver and team that has been in steady growth and progression mode for several years, it was a bit perplexing. Sieg faces an ever-improving and ever-younger group of competitors and it could be that it just finally caught up to him in 2023. While we expect a rebound of sorts from Sieg and the No. 39 team in 2024, we would caution against overly ambitious expectations. His qualifying needs to improve to a good degree, and that will be a key point in regaining some of Sieg's past success.  
  21. Shane van Gisbergen – No. 97 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet – The Xfinity Series newcomer has partnered with Kaulig Racing to get in his first full season of action in this division of NASCAR. Van Gisbergen made a big splash last year by winning his Cup Series debut on the Chicago Street Course. As a past champion and near-legend in the Australian Supercars series, this seasoned vet has the road racing down to a science. This will be a year of learning the ovals in NASCAR. Van Gisbergen will be paired with veteran crew chief, Bruce Schlicker, and the two will set off on what will surely be a season of learning on the job. Schlicker has over 150 starts of experience and seven victories to his credit. That will be a big resource for van Gisbergen. However, expect a lot of ups-and-downs along the way.
  22. Hailie Deegan – No. 15 AM Racing Ford – After three seasons in the trucks, Deegan makes the jump to the Xfinity Series in the upcoming season. She has signed with AM Racing to pilot the team's No. 15 Ford full-time. AMR has tabbed veteran crew chief, Joe Williams, to lead Deegan's first Xfinity Series campaign. This growing team can give her a good start in this division of NASCAR, but a lot of the burden to perform is going to fall on Deegan's shoulders. The Xfinity Series is a much more competitive division than the trucks and she'll notice that almost immediately. Deegan only accrued five Top-10 finishes in 69 tuck series starts, so the learning curve will be unforgiving and steep given her mediocre performance in the Craftsman Truck Series. She's a driver to watch closely in the opening weeks of the upcoming season.
  23. Jeremy Clements – No. 51 Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet – The owner/driver will return for another year of action in 2024. Clements suffered a little regression last season. It was his first campaign with no Top-10 finishes since 2011. The veteran driver's average finish drifted upwards to 21.2 from 20.8 the year prior. Clements also finished 19th in the driver standings, which was the worst he's registered since 2010. He'll look to rebound in the coming year, and as a single-car race team he'll have his work cut out. Clements doesn't have the money and resources of the larger, multi-car teams so everything is thrift from a resources standpoint. Mark Setzer is expected to return at crew chief and the two will look to rediscover the Top 10 column and hopefully more Top 15's as well.      
  24. Anthony Alfredo – No. 5 Our Motorsports Chevrolet – Alfredo is on the move again for 2024. He returns to the Our Motorsports team that he departed at the conclusion of 2022. He'll pilot the team's No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro and look to regain some of the competitive edge he had with this team a couple seasons ago. Alfredo nabbed four Top-10 finishes and would register 15th in the final driver standings with Our Motorsports in 2022, and there's no reason to believe he cannot elevate back to that level of racing. The crew chief for his car has not been named at the time of this writing, so that's a pretty major detail still up in the air. Alfredo has been paired with Pat Tryson the last two seasons, and there's a reasonably good expectation that this will continue in 2024. He's been most consistent on the intermediate and larger ovals, and that should remain the case.
  25. Unknown Driver – No. 24 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota – This is SHR's second full-time entry in the Xfinity Series. This team was new in 2023 and employed a driver rotation to good effect. The lineup featured some Cup Series stars like Tyler Reddick mixed in with up-and-coming talents like Connor Mosack and Corey Heim. The collective nabbed four Top-10 finishes with most of the team's success coming on road circuits. At the time of this writing, Sam Hunt Racing has named a pilot or pilots for the car in 2024. The potential here is obvious and there is cars/sponsorship/support that could carry them to good performances in the upcoming season. This will be another situation to watch closely in January as the driver signing, or signings, will have a great impact on this team's fantasy value.
  26. Kyle Sieg – No. 28 RSS Racing Ford – The veteran owner/driver suffered some regression in 2023. Sieg struggled to just four Top-10 finishes and an 18th-place finish in the final driver standings. It was his worst campaign since the 2018 season. For a driver and team that has been in steady growth and progression mode for several years, it was a bit perplexing. Sieg faces an ever-improving and ever-younger group of competitors and it could be that it just finally caught up to him in 2023. While we expect a rebound of sorts from Sieg and the No. 28 team in 2024, we would caution against overly ambitious expectations. His qualifying needs to improve to a good degree, and that will be a key point in regaining some of Sieg's past success. 
  27. Brennan Poole – No. 44 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet – Poole makes the jump from JD Motorsports to Alpha Prime Racing in the upcoming season. The veteran driver of over 100 Xfinity Series starts is coming off a bit of a lackluster campaign at JDM. Poole would nab just one Top-10 finish all of last season and only four Top-15 finishes to register 24th-place in the final driver standings. The 32-year-old will hope the move to Alpha Prime will get his racing career heading back in the right direction. Poole demonstrated Top-10 driver potential earlier in his career with Chip Ganassi Racing, and he'd like to rediscover that performance. He'll likely be paired with crew chief, Frank Kerr, and look to move this team for APR up the ladder quickly. This was a driver rotation car last season and will welcome the consistency of one veteran pilot behind the wheel.  
  28. Ryan Ellis – No. 43 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet – The veteran driver returns to the car that he drove most of the time last season. Ellis made 31 of the 33 events, only ceding his seat for some road courses and one superspeedway start. He would collect three Top-15 finishes and register 25th in the driver standings of 2024. For a driver who's competed in 11 different Xfinity Series seasons, surprisingly, this was just Ellis' first full campaign. It's not been announced but it is expected that he would continue on with Mike Brandt at crew chief. The two worked together last season and have now established some chemistry and communication. The No. 43 Chevrolet team is likely looking at a very similar performance to last year in the upcoming season.
  29. Kyle Weatherman – No. 91 DGM Racing Chevrolet – Weatherman made just 25 starts last season, split between three or four different teams. This year he gets a full slate of 33 events with DGM Racing. This car ran the full schedule in 2023 with a handful of different drivers in a rotation, including Weatherman. The performance was decent despite the inconsistency behind the wheel. This team would rack up two Top-10 and seven Top-15 finishes with the driver rotation. Weatherman has never run the entire 33-race schedule, so this will be a first. With 109-career starts in this division of NASCAR to his credit and three Top 10's, he does have a good bit of experience. There should be some growth and improvement with this team switching to a capable, single driver in the upcoming season.
  30. Blaine Perkins – No. 29 RSS Racing Ford – Perkins moves from Our Motorsports to RSS Racing in 2024. The young driver will pilot the team's third entry in the Xfinity Series, the No. 29 Ford. Perkins' 30 starts spread across two teams in 2023 yielded just two Top-15 and four Top-20 finishes. He'll hope for better results with the RSS team. The No. 29 entry made just seven starts in a part-time capacity for RSS Racing last season. This car will now shift to full-time with Perkins behind the wheel. The sponsorship lineup and crew chief have not been announced at the time of this writing, so there are a lot of unknowns for Perkins and this team heading into the 2024 campaign.
  31. Dawson Cram – No. 4 JD Motorsports Chevrolet – The 22-year-old prospect driver will take on his first full season of Xfinity Series action in the upcoming season. Cram has just 12 prior starts in this division of NASCAR to his credit, with very limited results due to the small team situations he's been involved with to this point. He did end last season with a Top-20 finish at Phoenix and that's something to build on moving forward. Cram takes over the JDM No. 4 Chevrolet that an array of different drivers handled last season. They would only net two Top-15 finishes all year, and so it's hoped that Cram will improve on that with his constant presence behind the wheel. However, as all rookie drivers go, there will be a steep learning curve to overcome.
  32. Josh Bilicki/Other Drivers – No. 92 DGM Racing Chevrolet – Josh Williams piloted this car last season and to pretty good effect. The veteran would nab three Top-10 finishes and several more Top-15 finishes before moving on to Kaulig Racing over the off-season. Journeyman driver Bilicki will get most of the starts with this team in 2024, supported by a handful of additional drivers to round out the 33-race schedule. Bilicki is a veteran of 90 Xfinity Series starts since 2016, but with limited results. He boasts just two Top-10 finishes in those efforts. We would expect competitive efforts from this team on road circuits and superspeedways, however, they could be pretty shaky on intermediate and small ovals due to the lack of consistency behind the wheel.
  33. Unknown Drivers – No. 78 B.J. McLeod Motorsports Chevrolet – This team has featured multiple drivers for a few seasons now. Owner McLeod usually gets a handful of starts and then he employs many drivers to fill out the full schedule. The driver situation is not known at this point, but we do know how they fared in 2023. The driver rotation would only claim four Top-20 finishes vs. 10 DNF's and four DNQ's. Those were not exactly stellar results for the small race team. McLeod may see more action as a driver in the upcoming season and that's about all we can speculate on at this point. However, it's pretty clear that is a challenged, small race team and they employ an inconsistent driver rotation.
  34. Joey Gase/Patrick Emerling – No. 35 Emerling-Gase Motorsports Ford/Toyota – Emerling and Gase combined for 19 of the 33 starts, so they made up more than half the schedule. A handful of other drivers filled in the rest of the slate in 2023. While DNF's were few (four total), consistent performance and good finishes were few and far between. The driving conglomerate would only fetch eight Top-20 finishes and the average finish would fall somewhere in between 26-27 for an average. The team details and driver lineup has not been announced at the time of this writing, but it's expected that Gase and Emerling will do the heavy lifting once again and be supported by a patchwork of other drivers. The situation is far from a recipe for success and will face challenges once again in the 2024 campaign.
  35. Leland Honeyman – No. 42 Young's Motorsports Chevrolet – After many seasons of competing in just the Craftsman Truck Series, Young's Motorsports is going Xfinity Series racing for the first time in 2024. After 12 seasons of competition and only two victories spread across 472 starts, the Young's team wasn't exactly world-beaters in the trucks. They'll tab youngster Honeyman to make their first foray into the Xfinity Series. The 18-year-old prospect driver made just eight starts last season in this division of NASCAR, spread between a couple different teams. Honeyman's best finish in those efforts was a 21st-place performance at the Charlotte ROVAL. Otherwise, he did a good bit of racing mid-pack or worse. This will be a season of learning for this new team and young driver, so very little in the way of expectations can be anticipated.          
  36. Unknown Drivers – No. 08 SS Green Light Racing Chevrolet – Of the two SS Green Light Racing entries, the No. 08 was the more competitive team. While we still don't know the driver lineup for 2024, we do know they used a handful of experienced drivers last season including Gray Gaulding and Mason Massey as well as Alex Labbe. The conglomerate nabbed two Top-10 and seven Top-20 finishes. It was a fairly competitive effort from one of the back-end of the field teams. If the team tabs a similar driver lineup for the upcoming season we could see some more competitive racing from the No. 08 Chevrolet. Superspeedways are their definite sweet spot and their opportunities for the best finishes.  
  37. Unknown Drivers – No. 02 Our Motorsports Chevrolet – Blaine Perkins mostly piloted this team last season, with a dash of David Starr and Kyle Weatherman thrown in for good measure. Our Motorsports has not named the driver lineup yet for 2024, so it's a good bit of an unknown at this point. Perkins for sure will not return as he has moved on to RSS Racing. This team collected three Top-15 and seven Top-20 finishes last season, so they were mostly running at the end of races, just not highly competitive. Our Motorsports will need to put some experienced hands on their car's steering wheel if they hope to improve in the upcoming season. What will likely happen is a multi-driver group of varying degrees of skill.
  38. Kyle Larson/Chase Elliott/Other Drivers – No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet – This team is Hendrick Motorsports' lone Xfinity Series entry. They've raced it part-time in the last few seasons and employ several Cup Series talents to pilot the Chevrolet. The group of Larson/Elliott/William Byron/Alex Bowman/ Rajah Caruth made six starts in 2023, grabbing three Top-5 and four Top-10 finishes in those efforts. While pretty competitive in nature, the small footprint of starts limits their fantasy impact. A similar schedule and driver lineup should be in store for 2024. Whenever this team and associated drivers show up on the entry list, they make a good fantasy racing prospect.
  39. Unknown Drivers – No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet – This team featured an array of experienced drivers last season and grabbed three victories as well as 23 Top-10 finishes. It would be a championship contending team if they settled on one driver for the full campaign. However, it appears that Kaulig is only going to deploy this team part-time in 2024. The driver lineup has not been named at the point of this writing, nor the number of starts. Those unknowns will greatly limit the fantasy impact of the No. 10 Chevrolet team. It would not be surprising to see a few Cup Series veterans and some younger Xfinity talent mix together to round out whatever schedule they take on. As always, it's worth keeping an eye peeled for the No. 10 team on the weekly entry list.
  40. Unknown Driver – No. 6 JD Motorsports Chevrolet – Brennan Poole mainly drove this car last season, but he's moved on to Alpha Prime Racing in 2024. The veteran driver posted one Top-10 and four Top-15 finishes with this team in what was a moderately competitive campaign. However, JDM has not named a driver for the upcoming season at the point of this writing. This team could tilt better or worse depending on whomever takes over the driving duties. The No. 6 Chevrolet squad is capable of some pretty decent performance on the superspeedway ovals and road circuits. However, they will be entirely depending on the yet-to-be-named driver to dictate that potential.          

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark Taylor
Taylor is RotoWire's senior NASCAR writer. A nine-time FSWA finalist, Taylor was named the Racing Writer of the Year in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2016 and 2017. He is also a military historian, focused specifically on World War II and the U.S. Navy's efforts in the Pacific.
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NASCAR Barometer: Tyler Reddick Dodges Trouble to Win at Talladega
NASCAR Barometer: Tyler Reddick Dodges Trouble to Win at Talladega