A special Saturday is going to go down as the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion will be crowned. An Xfinity championship could easily be a driver's career highlight, or it can be a stepping stone to bigger and greater things. This is the 41st year of the Xfinity Series, 20 drivers that won the Xfinity championship went on to win Cup races, 6 out of those 20 went on to win NASCAR Cup Series championships.

Who will it be?

Sam Mayer

The Xfinity Series has a saying, "names are made here." Sam Mayer has made his name here in 2023. Entering this season, he was still searching for his 1st career win. It came at Road America after keeping a level head, then he won at Watkins Glen from controversial fashion. Sam announced that he would be back to JRM for 2024, and it only looks brighter. Mayer had to win at the Roval to survive to the round of 8, and then he got his first oval win at Homestead after holding off a charging Riley Herbst coming in clutch. Dale Jr. had had plenty of conversations with Sam Mayer, and both agreed that the driver of the 1 was pushing way too hard too early. Sam had to back down his aggression and know when to push it. Now it looks like hale has done that, and Jr told him to have the mentality like he is a favorite. Can Mayer drive the 1 to championship number 1?

John Hunter Nemechek

Coming into this race, Nemechek is the title favorite. with 7 wins and all the playoff points he got throughout 2023, it was highly likely that the Joe Gibbs Racing driver would get to this point. It has been a unique road for him. Back in 2020, Nemechek was in the Cup Series. Yes, Nemechek worked his way from the Truck Series Racing for his dad, nicknamed "Front Row" Joe Nemechek. Then John Hunter was in the Xfinity Series for teams like Chip Ganassi and GMS to use as a stepping stone to get to Cup, so what happened? John Hunter decided that he had to make a career choice to voluntarily move back down to the Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports to fight for wins. Why? Because 2020 was the pandemic year so Nemechek got little to no practice, and Front Row Motorsports was a mid-pack team. What may surprise people is that while it was a big gamble for John Hunter to leave Cup for 2021 that some standout Xfinity drivers and even champions of the Xfinity Series just don't have everything work out and don't get remembered well. Reed Sorenson, who won a handful of races and was in the title fight early on in 2011 but after coming up short, just didn't get much to go his way after that. Ryan Reed is another one who has won races in Xfinity, but nothing worked out. Jeff Green and Brian Vickers are Xfinity champions, but Green never won a Cup race, and Vickers, while he did become a Cup winner, is known now for wrecking too much and battling his own health issues. With that being said, in the two years he spent racing for Kyle Busch, he was a dominant force. In 2021, he won the most races out of anyone, but after hitting the wall early on in Phoenix, he couldn't recover to get the championship. Last year at Homestead, Nemechek made a mistake and hit the wall, damaging his truck where he couldn't recover and got eliminated. Now, here he is again as a favorite. History could be made if Nemechek gets it done. While we have seen father and son champions like the Pettys, Jarretts, and the Elliotts. Those were in the Cup Series. It has never been done in the Xfinity Series. With John Hunter Nemechek returning to the Cup Series in 2024 for Legacy Motor Club, can he do it off an Xfinity championship?

Justin Allgaier

Once again, for the 6th time in his career, Allgaier has made it to the final four chasing after the elusive championship. Justin Allgaier is similar to a Truck Series Dennis Setzer, a Cup Series Mark Martin or Denny Hamlin. He has a lot of Xfinity wins in his career, and 23 to be exact has him 12th on the all-time wins list. Allgaier has said at this point in his career that he has no regrets. He had made it to Cup, but things did not work out. Looks like the Xfinity Series will be his home for the rest of his career. His daughter wrote on the back of his helmet "It's your turn" can Justin finally get that elusive NASCAR championship?

Cole Custer

Early in the year, most Xfinity fans would most likely have the 00 in the final 4, but it was a slow start for Custer and company. While it took him a while to re-learn how to drive these cars, Custer has shown that with experience racing the Cup guys that he can be dangerous. Custer wants to be back at the Cup level. No driver that gets to the Cup level wants to move down away from the highest level. They all believe that once they get to Cup that they belong, nonetheless Cole has shown that he can still win Xfinity races. With a contract signed to return to the Xfinity Series for Stewart Haas Racing in 2024, can he add to his quest to return to Cup one day with an Xfinity championship?

Championship pick: John Hunter Nemecheck

Something seems different about John Hunter Nemecheck this year. He seems a little wiser this year than he had been in previous years. While there was a little friction in house at JGR with how teammates raced each other, that 20 team had arguably been the fastest car all year. Plus, learning from mistakes in his past that cost him championships will make Nemecheck stronger now. John Hunter Nemecheck thought he would be back in the Xfinity Series in 2024. Now he is going back to Cup and aims to do what Ty Gibbs did when he joined the Cup ranks, enter as the reigning Xfinity champion. Finally, if JHN prevails, it'll be Joe Gibbs Racing's 3rd consecutive Xfinity championship.