DARLINGTON, SC.: With three races left in the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season, seven drivers have clinched Playoff berths—defending champion Austin Cindric, AJ Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier, Daniel Hemric, Harrison Burton, Jeb Burton and Last week’s Daytona winner, Justin Haley.
That leaves five spots open entering Saturday’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Myatt Snider will clinch one of the remaining spots as soon as he takes the green flag at the Lady in Black. Already a winner at Homestead in the third race of the season, Snider needs to score one point to cement his position in the top 20 in the standings.
Starting the race on Saturday takes care of that detail.
Four other drivers can clinch a Playoff spot outright with a victory—Noah Gragson, Brandon Jones, Jeremy Clements and Riley Herbst. Ryan Sieg and Brandon Brown could clinch with a win if they also secure an unassailable position in the top 20.
Gragson is particularly confident heading to the Track to Tough to Tame. In four Xfinity Series starts there, he has scored four top 10s, two top fives and an average finish of 6.0.
“Darlington has been a great track for this No. 9 JR Motorsports team in the past,” says Gragson, who announced earlier this week he will return to his JR Motorsports Xfinity Series ride next year.
“Our worst finish is eighth, and we have continually gotten better since that finish in 2019. We led laps here in the spring and finished fourth, so now we’re looking to be a few spots better to hopefully get some more Playoff points as we close in on that part of the season.”
Standing in the way of all the Xfinity regulars hoping for a win is one massive challenge in the person of NASCAR Cup Series veteran Denny Hamlin, who will drive the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Supra in Saturday’s race. In 13 Xfinity starts at Darlington, Hamlin has five victories, 10 top fives and an average finish of 5.6.
Source: Reid Spencer / NASCAR Wire Service
