2025 Xfinity Series story lines to watch

The 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series campaign is scheduled to begin Feb. 15 at Daytona International Speedway (5 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), and there will be plenty of fresh story lines to look forward to as the 33-race slate plays out. 

Get familiar with the top story lines before the 2025 season gets underway. 

RELATED: 2025 Xfinity Series schedule

Is 2025 the year of Connor Zilisch?

The rundown: JR Motorsports undergoes a turnover of sorts ahead of 2025, and with it, the opportunity for the "next superstar" to take the sport by storm is as big as ever. 

Connor Zilisch, who doesn't turn 19 until July and won in his first career Xfinity race at Watkins Glen last season, will now race full-time as driver of the No. 88 JRM Chevy. In addition to Carson Kvapil's full-time ride as pilot of the No. 1 Chevy, there's a youth movement developing at JRM, and Zilisch looks to lead the charge. 

What does Richard Childress Racing have in the cards? 

The rundown: On paper, the two-car RCR tandem of Austin Hill and Jesse Love raised eyebrows in 2024. The pair combined for five wins, with Love taking home Rookie of the Year honors. With both drivers fresh off solid finishes in the 2024 championship standings (4th for Hill and 8th for Love), the duo looks to take the next step in their racing trajectory in the hopes of seizing a Xfinity Series title. 

Big shoes to fill at Big Machine Racing 

The rundown: Parker Kligerman's two full-time seasons with Big Machine Racing resulted in two Xfinity Series Playoffs berths. With Kligerman's departure comes Nick Sanchez's entrance, with the 23-year-old putting on quite a performance in the Truck Series. Sanchez's 12 top-10 finishes in his rookie Truck Series campaign in 2023 was followed up with a two-win season in 2024, when the Florida native finished fifth in the championship standings. An eight-race Xfinity cup of coffee in 2022 -- in which Sanchez earned a top-10 result -- was a good starting point. Now, all eyes will be on how Sanchez performs over a full-time slate and if he can factor into the postseason picture. 

Two former Truck playoff drivers take over the Kaulig Racing reins 

The rundown: A revamp at the Cup level trickles down to the Xfinity operation for Kaulig Racing. Daniel Dye and Christian Eckes, two former Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs drivers, will race in the No. 10 and No. 16 Chevy machines in 2025, respectively. Both drivers bring plenty of pedigree into their innaugural Xfinity campaigns. Eckes is fresh off of two consecutive top-five seasons in the Truck circuit, where he compiled eight wins. Dye, meanwhile, logged a 10th-place finish in the 2024 Truck standings, his first top-10 standings finish in a national series. With AJ Allmendinger and Shane van Gisbergen's departure, the opportunity is ripe for these drivers to take the next step in their racing career ... and perhaps make postseason noise at the Xfinity level in the process. 

How will Haas Factory Team fare in its organizational debut?

The rundown: Although Stewart-Haas Racing closed following the conclusion of the 2024 campaign, Haas Factory Team will act as a new team under the Gene Haas banner. The two-driver Xfinity lineup has Sheldon Creed (No. 00) and Sam Mayer (No. 41) piloting the program's Fords. The team will serve as an avenue of redemption for both drivers. For Creed -- who is on his third team in as many seasons -- the opportunity will be available to improve on his six runner-up finishes in 2024 and perhaps find Victory Lane. Mayer, who comes over from the JR Motorsports camp, vies to rekindle the 2023 magic that saw the Wisconsin native make the Championship 4. 

The new-look Joe Gibbs Racing 

The rundown: The possibility of roster turnover requires the need for a steady-flowing pipeline. With the departure of Sheldon Creed, Joe Gibbs now turns to 18-year-old William Sawalich to pilot the No. 18, who won the 2023 and 2024 ARCA Menards East Championship. 

With the return of Brandon Jones to the JGR fold after a two-year hiatus -- in addition to Justin Bonsignore's entrance as a part-time driver -- JGR will tackle 2025 with youth, experience and familiarity in its driver stable.

"The Rock" returns

The rundown: The last time the Xfinity Series raced at Rockingham Speedway, Jamie McMurray won his fourth in a row at the track ... in 2004. More than 20 years later, the North Carolina facility returns as a points-paying race, with the circuit returning to the 1-miler April 19. 

Hola, México

The rundown: Rockingham isn't the only venue that returns to the Xfinity docket. This summer, the Xfinity Series will go international with its trip to Mexico City to race at the famed Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez June 14. The visit will be the first for the Xfinity Series since April 2008. 

New year, new era

The rundown: "There is, as we know it, no Xfinity Series without Wayne Auton," Kyle Petty once said. Following longtime Xfinity Series director Wayne Auton's retirement at the conclusion of the 2024 campaign, new series director Eric Peterson takes the reins to start the next chapter in the circuit's cherished history. 

Will Justin Allgaier run it back? 

The rundown: For years, the question was if Justin Allgaier would break through to claim an Xfinity Series title, and after 14 full-time seasons, the Springfield, Illinois native summited the title mountaintop to conclude 2024. 

A new season means a new opportunity Allgaier has never had before: He has the chance to defend his crown, not only from his new teammates but from the rest of the field hungry for the chance at their own championship triumph. 

The mountaintop has been reached. Can Allgaier climb it again?