Xfinity Series 2021 Championship 4 preview

The NASCAR Xfinity Series will crown its 2021 champion Saturday at Phoenix Raceway (8:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM). Get an in-depth look at the Championship 4 drivers, in order they are seeded, before the action is underway.

1. Noah Gragson

Team: JR Motorsports.
2021 stats: 3 wins, 13 top fives, 20 top 10s, 360 laps led.
Championship 4 appearances: One (2021).
Playoff history: In his third playoff appearance, Gragson picked up his first postseason win last weekend. Last year, his six top-five finishes in the postseason awarded him fifth in points. His rookie season, 2019, he placed eighth.

Noah Gragson (cont'd)

Phoenix stats: 5 starts; 0 wins, 1 top five, 3 top 10s. Average finish: 13.8.
Outlook: Since the beginning of September, no driver has been hotter in the Xfinity Series than Gragson. After scoring his first win of the season at Darlington Raceway, the No. 9 team backed that up by winning the next race at Richmond Raceway. Last week at Martinsville Speedway, Gragson called his shot before the race, believing he was going to win the race. He did. And last year at Phoenix, he finished runner-up to Cindric. Surely, Gragson has leaned on his JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier this week, who is a master at Phoenix.

2. Austin Cindric

Team: Team Penske.
2021 stats: 5 wins, 21 top fives, 25 top 10s, 1,037 laps led.
Championship 4 appearances: Two (2020, 2021).
Playoff history: Cindric is the defending champion of the series, winning last season at Phoenix. In his first two full-time seasons, he was bounced out in the Round of 8.

Austin Cindric (cont'd)

Phoenix stats: 7 starts; 2 wins, 4 top fives, 6 top 10s. Average finish: 5.9.
Outlook: Cindric enters the championship race as the clear-cut favorite for the title. The No. 22 Ford has consecutive victories at Phoenix, including his championship performance a season ago, in which he restarted fourth in overtime. Earlier this year, he stomped the field, by leading 119 laps in the desert. No matter what happens, Cindric is on his way to the Cup Series next year.

3. Daniel Hemric

Team: Joe Gibbs Racing.
2021 stats: 0 wins, 14 top fives, 20 top 10s, 615 laps led.
Championship 4 appearances: Three (2017, 2018, 2021).
Playoff history: In each of his two prior playoff runs, Hemric made it to the championship race. Those years, he finished third and fourth in points.

Daniel Hemric (cont'd)

Phoenix stats: 7 starts; 0 wins, 2 top fives, 4 top 10s. Average finish: 14.0.
Outlook: Hemric enters Phoenix with nothing to lose and everything to gain. No less than a handful of times this year, it looked like the No. 18 car was on its way to victory. Yet here we are, entering the championship race and Hemric is still winless in 119 career Xfinity Series starts. That could change this weekend, though he has three straight finishes of 23rd or worse at Phoenix. No matter what, he'll have another chance at a championship in 2022, as he transitions over to Kaulig Racing.

4. AJ Allmendinger

Team: Kaulig Racing.
2021 stats: 5 wins, 18 top fives, 22 top 10s, 422 laps led.
Championship 4 appearances: One (2021).
Playoff history: This is Allmendinger's first full-time season in the Xfinity Series. In 2014, he made the Cup Series' playoff by winning at Watkins Glen International with JTG Daugherty Racing.

AJ Allmendinger (cont'd)

Phoenix stats: 3 starts; 0 wins, 1 top five, 1 top 10. Average finish: 10.0.
Outlook: Before the 2021 season kicking off, nobody could have expected such a season AJ Allmendinger has put together. After all, Kaulig Racing had won just seven races in its first five seasons, and just one of those was on a track outside of a road course or superspeedway. Allmendinger has ticked off a handful of wins this year, en route the regular-season championship. The downside is, he has just one Phoenix start in the Xfinity Series since 2008 (finished fifth in March).