John Hunter Nemechek enters playoffs on a hot streak
With his sixth NASCAR Xfinity Series win of the season, John Hunter Nemechek fired a warning shot to other playoff drivers Saturday at Kansas.
Nemechek led a stout 154 of 200 laps and swept the stages Saturday. He also picked up seven more playoff points and secured a 10-point lead going into the playoffs.
In the last six races, no other driver has earned more wins (2), laps led (318) and points (244) than Nemechek.
Sheldon Creed has the most top-10 finishes (5) and the best average finish (5.8) in that timespan. Parker Kligerman also has five top-10s in that span too.
Now, six races will determine the Xfinity Series Championship Four, starting with the three-race Round of 12 consisting of Bristol, Texas and Charlotte Roval.
Below is how the playoff field is seeded going into the first round. We also projected how many points each driver will earn, based on the road-course races, speedway oval races and short-track races this season. The projected round one points total is in (parentheses):
- John Hunter Nemechek 2049 (2181)
- Austin Hill 2039 (2140)
- Justin Allgaier 2026 (2143)
- Cole Custer 2017 (2128)
- Sam Mayer 2015 (2075)
- Chandler Smith 2009 (2097)
- Josh Berry 2009 (2114)
- Sheldon Creed 2008 (2090)
- Sammy Smith 2006 (2086)
- Jeb Burton 2006 (2075)
- Daniel Hemric 2003 (2076)
- Parker Kligerman 2002 (2085)
The drivers not bolded would miss the Round of 8 with these projections. However, Mayer has won two of the last three road course races in the Xfinity Series.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com