DRIVERS TO WATCH JUSTIN ALLGAIER
5 DRIVERS TO WATCH IN THE XFINITY SERIES
VOTED THE NASCAR XFINITY Series Most Popular Driver for the third consecutive year,
With several drivers changing teams, including defending champion Daniel Hemric, the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity season may be even more exciting than how 2021 played out. - JERRY BONKOWSKI
Justin Allgaier had another solid season in 2021 with two wins, but missed the championship round, finishing fifth in the standings. Each season he does well, finishing between second and fifth in nine of his 11 full-time Xfinity seasons,
DANIEL HEMRIC
but still has yet to win the championship.
Daniel Hemric couldn’t have written a better script, earning both his first career Xfinity Series win and Xfinity Series championship in the 2021 season finale at Phoenix. But 2022 will be a whole new ballgame as Hemric leaves Joe Gibbs Racing to drive the No. 11 for Kaulig Racing (which had been announced in September, long before he won the title). He’ll also compete part time in the NASCAR Cup Series for Kaulig, as well, his first appearance in the series since 2019, his only full-time Cup campaign (for Richard Childress Racing).
A.J. ALLMENDINGER A.J. ALLMENDINGER WOWED IN his first full Xfinity Series season, earning five wins, reaching the championship round and finishing fourth in the final standings, the best overall season performance in his NASCAR career. The Kaulig Racing driver is among the early favorites to win the Xfinity Series championship in 2022, and will also run a part-time Cup Series schedule for Kaulig as well.
NOAH GRAGSON
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POLE POSITION 2022
TY GIBBS
Noah Gragson enters his fourth season
WITH 2021 NASCAR XFINITY
in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with JR Motorsports in 2022. He’s shown steady progress and improvement in each of those previous campaigns, finishing eighth in 2019, fifth in 2020 and third in 2021, his best Xfinity season yet, with a career-high three wins. Based on that upward climb, could 2022 finally be his year to win the championship? He’ll have a tough battle with Hemric, A.J. Allmendinger and Justin Allgaier, but won’t have to worry about Austin Cindric, who has moved up to Cup.
Series champion Daniel Hemric moving on to Kaulig Racing for the upcoming season, 19-year-old Ty Gibbs becomes Hemric’s heir apparent at his grandfather’s team, Joe Gibbs Racing. The younger Gibbs won four of the 18 Xfinity Series races he competed in last season and his talent and promise make him one of the top drivers to watch in 2022.
PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES
