By: Ashley McCubbin

When you think of the NASCAR Xfinity Series and road courses, there is one name that should come to your mind – A.J. Allmendinger.

The Kaulig Racing driver has scored 11 of his 17 victories on those types of tracks, including winning the last two events at Circuit of the Americas. So with him returning to the series focused on a championship run, it seems obvious to place your money on the driver with the best average finish (1.3) in the series. He could also use a turnaround after placing 18th at Phoenix Raceway.

However, if you are looking to place your money on somebody else, there are options across the board in the series.

Justin Allgaier was up front in previous races at COTA, scoring a pair of top-five’s across his three appearances at the road course. He could use a good run as it has been a rocky start to 2024 with two top-10’s, alongside a pair of results outside the top-25.

Sheldon Creed has ran well at COTA with a pair of top-10 finishes in his past two appearances at COTA. He has also been fast thus far in 2024 since moving to Joe Gibbs Racing, picking up a trio of top-five’s in the first four events.

Cole Custer is using the same consistency which won him the series title last season by scoring a pair of back-to-back top-five finishes going into this weekend. Although he was 32nd last season at COTA, he placed seventh and third in his previous pair of appearances.

Austin Hill has put together a great start to his 2024 campaign, kicking it off with a pair of victories and a pair of fourth-place finishes to sit second in the standings. He has run well at COTA as while an engine failure took him out of contention last year, he scored a runner-up in 2022.

Jesse Love is starting to turn around a rough start to his season, as evident by a runner-up at Phoenix Raceway. It will be his first trip to COTA, but he has shown speed on road courses with a victory at Watkins Glen International in the ARCA Menards Series.

Sam Mayer has shown speed in both of his previous appearances at COTA with finishes of fifth and seventh, and two of his four victories last season came on road courses – Road America and Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL. He could use a good run this weekend as he just has one top-20 finish in 2024, with an 11th at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

John Hunter Nemechek has visited victory lane already once this year, doing so at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. But a 27th-place finish last season at COTA is concerning for his chances in 2024.

Chandler Smith brings momentum with him to COTA after picking up the checkered flag in Arizona – even with scoring a 12th-place finish at the road course last season.

Shane Van Gisbergen shocked the world last year by winning in his NASCAR Cup Series debut on the streets of Chicago, followed by a 10th at the Indianapolis Grand Prix. Now running the full Xfinity schedule, he has to be a threat to win after scoring a pair of top-10’s in the first four events on ovals he is not familiar with.