Xfinity Series drivers react to deep, new-look field
The 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season saw a field chock-full of talent be displayed, spanning from the season’s inception at Daytona International Speedway in February to its November culmination at Phoenix Raceway.
If such excitement from a talented 2023 field trickles over, 2024 could be even better. And deeper.
One of the leaders of the Xfinity cavalcade will be Austin Hill, who returns to the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet after a banner year. 2023 saw the Georgia native tally career-highs in wins (4), top fives (16), top 10s (24), laps led (346) and poles (3) en route to a fifth-place finish in the Xfinity standings, and while the 29-year-old will be a 2024 title frontrunner, the path toward a championship crown will not be without hefty competition.
“There’s a lot of things that have happened in the offseason, obviously a lot of turnover, a lot different drivers going to different teams,” Hill said in a virtual teleconference with the media Tuesday. “Then, you also have some rookies coming in like Jesse (Love), my teammate. So, I think the field is stacked pretty deep, so winning races is gonna be tough each and every week. If you can win a race and go ahead and lock yourself in to know that you’re in the playoffs is gonna be crucial, but we could see a lot of different winners this year.”
To emphasize just how deep the field is, look no further than nine of last season’s 12 Xfinity Series Playoffs drivers returning to the full-time fold in 2024. This competition will have a different flavor to it, too, with three of those nine racing for different manufacturers and teams. Sammy Smith joins JR Motorsports, while Chandler Smith and Sheldon Creed — Hill’s former teammate — set up shop under the Joe Gibbs Racing banner. AJ Allmendinger also returns to Xfinity full-time as driver of the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevy. Then, there’s Shane van Gisbergen, who will race under the Kaulig/Trackhouse moniker on a fulltime basis.