NASCAR Xfinity Series 2024 Playoffs: Who are the drivers who advanced to Championship 4 race after Aric Almirola’s win at Martinsville?

The second round of the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff season came to an end with the conclusion of Saturday’s National Debt Relief 250 at Martinsville Speedway, where Joe Gibbs Racing driver Aric Almirola secured his third win of the season.

The result of the final race of the Round of 8 set the lineup for the title-deciding Championship 4 race. Four drivers in the playoff grid will battle against each other for the prestigious NASCAR Xfinity Series championship next week.

The Round of 8 was filled with drama and dominant performances. AJ Allmendinger and Austin Hill were the winners of the first two playoff races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway, respectively. This win locked them directly into the Championship 4 race.

With a winner from below the cut-off line at the 0.526 Martinsville track, the last two spots were secured by Stewart-Haas Racing driver Cole Custer and JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier on points after finishing fourth and fifth, respectively, in the elimination race.

Chandler Smith, Sam Mayer, Sammy Smith, and Jesse Love are the drivers who knocked out of the championship race. Smith finished P3 but a win would have locked him into the Championship 4. He fell 28 points short over Justin Allgaier for the final fourth spot.

Even though Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith won’t have a qualified for the Xfinity Series championship, but it was a great effort at the end of the race giving tough fight to winner Almirola.

Expressing his emotions on the Martinsville Speedway sweep in 2024 after the race, here's what Almirola said (via NASCAR.com):

“We had an amazing car here in the spring, and we made a few tweaks to it. I wasn’t totally happy with it, honestly, in the spring. And we showed up (Friday), and we were awful. I was like, 'Oh no, what did we do?’

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NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff grid: Drivers who advanced to Championship 4 race

With four Xfinity Series drivers now left to battle for the 2024 Xfinity Series championship, Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Hill, who has had a strong season so far with four wins, grabbed the top spot to begin the Championship 4 race at Phoenix Raceway.

See below the eight drivers who advanced in the 2024 Xfinity Series playoffs:

1. #21 - Austin Hill (P) – 4000
2. #16 - AJ Allmendinger (P) – 4000
3. #00 - Cole Custer (P) – 4000
4. #7 - Justin Allgaier (P) – 4000

The winner or the highest-finishing driver among them will grab the top-coveted Xfinity title this year.

NASCAR Xfinity Series returns next at Phoenix Raceway for the series’ title-deciding race. The action will go live at 7 pm ET on Saturday, Nov. 9.