By: Ashley McCubbin

Austin Cindric. Daniel Hemric. Noah Gragson. Ty Gibbs. Sammy Smith. Cole Custer.

The past six events at Phoenix Raceway for the NASCAR Xfinity Series have seen a different driver claim the checkered flag. It’s a trend that 37 of the entries for Saturday’s Call 811.com Every Dig. Every Time. 200 hope continues with Smith and Custer the only of those slated to compete.

Of those two, it seems Cole Custer has the better chance based on his recent success in the series. After all, he won the title last season virtue of capturing that checkered flag. On top of the win, he has six top-10’s in eight appearances with an average finish of 9.6. Oh, and he enters this weekend coming off a runner-up at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The winner in Vegas? None other than John Hunter Nemechek after pacing 99 of the 200 laps. would be a very good option, considering the Xfinity Series season he put together last year en route to making the playoffs and earning his NASCAR Cup Series opportunity with Legacy Auto Club for 2024. In seven appearances in the desert, he has yet to reach victory lane, but has six top-10’s with an average finish of 9.6.

You cannot count out fellow Cup Series regular and 2024 Daytona 500 winner William Byron. He will be making his first appearance in the Xfinity Series season in the Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 17, and this could be his best chance at a checkered flag. He boasts the best average finish of all drivers in NASCAR’s second-tier division at Phoenix (2.5) following a victory in 2017.

If any of the regulars are going to steal back the glory, though, it’s Austin Hill. He was able to do that in the first two races of the season with victories at Daytona International Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway, followed by a fourth at Vegas to give him the series points lead. He has three top-10’s in four appearances at Phoenix, with a best performance of seventh last year.

Chandler Smith has been fast since swapping over to Joe Gibbs Racing, as evident by a third-place finish in Vegas. He boasts the second-best average of drivers in the field (6.5) at Phoenix, following finishes of fifth and eighth in 2023.

They are not related, but we may be talking about both Smiths in the field as Sammy Smith cannot be left off the table following his victory last spring. Now with JR Motorsports instead of JGR, he rebounded from a 23rd at Daytona with two straight top-10’s.

Sheldon Creed took over Smith’s ride at JGR, and may be able to drive it to his first career series checkered flag. After all, he has proven to be fast in the dessert with two top-five’s and an average finish of seventh across five appearances. He also could use a turn in the tide after placing 26th in Vegas following a pair of top-five’s to kick of 2024.

Riley Herbst has also had a strong start to the season, ranked third in points following a fifth-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He has also scored a top-10 in five of his last six appearances at Phoenix, including a foursome of fifths.