Xfinity Series Champs Have Come From Four Different Teams In Last Four Years

By ESPN

The champion in the Xfinity Series has come from four different teams in the past four years.

The teams are well known, all owned at least in part by a Cup team owner. Richard Childress Racing (driver Austin Dillon), JR Motorpsorts (Chase Elliott), Roush Fenway Racing (Chris Buescher) and Joe Gibbs Racing (Daniel Suarez) won the titles from 2013 to '16. All four of those drivers have Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series rides in 2017.

All four organizations will have drivers in full-time rides in 2017, looking to follow in those drivers' footsteps, but one team stands out as having the best chance, in part because of numbers and in part because of experience: JR Motorsports, co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his sister Kelley, will have four full-time drivers in the series in 2017. After going from full-time teams for Elliott Sadler and Justin Allgaier and a part-time team with primarily Cup drivers, JR Motorsports has added William Byron and Michael Annett to its full-time roster and will run a fifth car in a handful of races for Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne.

"We ran three [teams] well [last year] -- I don't think four is that much of a departure from that," Allgaier said. "We ran four cars a couple of times last year and it worked. ... I am really, honestly, extremely happy with the progress JR Motorsports made in the offseason."

The expansion, maybe slightly softened by the elimination of a truck team, has meant a busy offseason for the organization. But there has been some consistency. Kevin Meendering will remain as crew chief for Sadler, and Jason Burdett will remain as crew chief for Allgaier. Dave Elenz, who was crew chief for the all-star car, will now be crew chief for Byron.

The expansion is not something the organization can't handle, but a month ago, Sadler said the team needed the full offseason to get ready. NASCAR has changed the aero package for the Xfinity cars with new spoilers and front splitters (much like the reductions in Cup), which also has required some research to know how the cars will react in traffic.

JR Motorsports will add a second building to its shop to handle having four full-time teams.

"We've got a lot going on," Sadler said in January. "NASCAR changed the rules a little bit with the bodies -- with the spoilers, the splitters and the [aerodynamics] in the front. We have to add roof flaps to our speedway cars.

"We need more time to get everything right like we need to."

While the team has needed all the time it could get to build cars, the drivers certainly want to get on the track as soon as possible. Byron, Sadler and Allgaier enjoyed 2016 seasons with shots at a championship trophy.

Byron won seven races in the trucks as a rookie in 2016, not making it to the championship round after an engine failure at Phoenix. But in many ways he achieved his 2016 goals, especially when looking at his career: He signed as a Hendrick Motorsports development driver in August and landed the ride at JRM.

While he has been able to lean on veterans Sadler, Allgaier and Earnhardt for advice, Byron said nothing can compare with experience. He has experience at most Xfinity tracks -- and experience running well. Of his seven wins last year, six of them -- Kansas, Texas, Iowa, Kentucky, Pocono, New Hampshire and Homestead -- came at tracks where he will compete this year (and all but Iowa are Cup tracks).

"To lean on my experience from last year will be the most important thing -- to go to the same racetracks and be able to have good results," Byron said.

Sadler and Allgaier also hope to build on solid 2016 results. Both made it to the Xfinity championship round, where Suarez emerged as the champion ahead of his JGR teammate Erik Jones and the JRM duo.

Byron, Sadler and Allgaier are legit championship contenders. Annett? He did finish fifth in the series standings in 2012 and should find his way into the 12-driver playoffs. He has 163 career starts in the series and is still seeking his first win, so he will need to show that his last few years on the Cup level will boost his competitiveness in Xfinity.

Annett and Allgaier were teammates at HScott Motorsports two years ago.

"We've got four teams that I feel are capable of going out each and every week and winning races," Allgaier said. "All four of us will work really well together. If you tell me all four of us make the playoffs, it wouldn't surprise me."

The other three major organizations don't have as many drivers in the hunt as JRM, and few have the experience or the results to match the JRM quartet.

Defending champion JGR expected to have Suarez return until Carl Edwards retired from NASCAR Cup racing. Suarez will do only about a dozen Xfinity races while replacing Edwards in Cup. That leaves Matt Tifft as the only JGR full-time driver in the series. Tifft, who missed a couple of months after undergoing brain surgery last season, had an average finish of 16th in 10 Xfinity starts last year, posting five top-10s.

Roush Fenway doesn't have a full-time driver who has won in the series in nearly two years. Darrell Wallace Jr. made the playoffs and finished 11th in the standings last year and is still seeking his first Xfinity win in a 72-race career. Ryan Reed, who won the 2015 season-opening race at Daytona is entering his third season, having made the playoffs and finishing sixth in the points in 2016.

RCR's lineup features veteran Brendan Gaughan and rookie Daniel Hemric. Gaughan won two Xfinity races in 2014 and made the playoffs in 2016 before finishing 12th in the standings. Hemric still seeks his first national series win and has never competed in an Xfinity race. RCR affiliate Kaulig Racing made the playoffs last year with Blake Koch, but the new points system doesn't favor a team that did its job with consistency more than top-10 finishes.