After Justin Allagier’s dominant win in Nashville, the Xfinity series finds itself barreling towards another exciting summer segment. 

The series will take a week off before heading to Mexico for the first ever race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Before then, why don’t we talk about some of the things that have absolutely stood out to us in this competitive 2025 season. 

Seeing W’s 

The season long coverage of the series on The CW has been a massive plus

When it was announced that the Xfinity series and The CW would come to an agreement on exclusive coverage rights starting this year, it was met with cautious optimism. 

On one hand, anything is better than FOX. On the other hand, a brand new broadcast team and network is something that you have to build on the fly, and luckily they’ve done all the right steps to create what’s a fantastic product for year one. 

The graphics package rocks, and that’s not me trying to be biased as an orange and black truther, it just flows well. My favorite part has to be the full car renders during the grid preview, and the ticker being horizontal on the bottom of the screen is refreshing. 

As for our broadcast team, pretty darn good. Parker Kligerman is always a fun guy to hear talk about racing and his wingmen of Adam Alexander and Jamie McMurray complete a nice blend of veteran experience and down to earth commentary. 

I’m very eager for their coverage of the Mexico City race, their camera work has only steadily improved since the start of the year and the unique layout of the track will provide a new challenge for the folks behind the cameras. 

Like a Fine Wine

38-year-old Justin Allgaier’s 2025 has been nothing short of fantastic 

When he isn’t having to race against Cup series buschwhackers, Justin Allgaier consistently has found himself either in victory lane or competing for the win almost every week. 

JR Motorsports as a whole has been finding weekly success, and with a team that has two rookies in a four car team, it’s impressive the rocket ships that the JRM garage have given their talent 

Allgaier has simply turned it on to a new level though, with a 92 point cushion over second place Austin Hill in the standings, three wins and 10 top 10s. The 2024 series champion finally beat a demon by taking his first ever title, and it feels like that has become sort of cathartic. 

After a 16 year long career that has seen over 250 top 10’s and 20+ wins, Lil Gator’s championship has propelled him to a new echelon of the series where he looks to go back-to-back in championships, something that was last done by Tyler Reddick in 2018 and 2019. 

Those are Rookie Numbers 

The stacked rookie class of 2025 has remained impressive throughout the year 

2025 saw a bit of a renaissance when it came to teams and drivers. Many teams saw changes and one of the bigger ones was the influx of new talent from all over. 

From the red hot 18-year-old Connor Zilisch to the “older” rookies like Nick Sanchez, the field has seen some intense competition. Zilisch is the first to immediately stand out, having a win this year and a few Cup series starts under his belt. The sky is the limit for the young star but mistakes have hampered his efforts in multiple races, including just last night in Nashville, despite finishing second. 

Zilisch sits at a firm 5th in points as of now, the best among rookies and for a reason. Despite the mistakes, his raw talent earns him great points finishes. The other rookie for JRM, Carson Kvapil, sits at 7th in points with three top 10s. Slow burn for sure, but I feel like things should change for the short track ace. 

For some rookies like Taylor Gray, 2025 has been an uphill battle despite getting close (man, gotta hate it for him at Martinsville) and with a car like the 54, some believe it’s only a matter of time before he gets it going.  

It’ll be interesting to see where things go for this class, as NASCAR can’t send everyone up to an already young field of Cup drivers. For now, we’ll have to see just how many “legends are made”. 

Don’t be Whack 

Allgaier’s recent Nashville win comes after back to back Cup regulars stealing the checkered

The Xfinity series has no shortage of amazing, young racecar drivers in equipment that allows them to showcase their talent behind the wheel, arguably more so than the Cup car. 

Since the start of the B series in NASCAR, “buschwhacking”, or the act of a Cup regular dropping down to take an easy win against the younger competition, has always been apart of things. 

Some love it, some hate it. Fans don’t like it too much because it neuters the competitive edge and excitement of the race for the lead while drivers don’t mind it because they get a chance to race against the best of the best. 

It might be a mute point at the end of the day, because the opportunity for Cup guys to go back down every now and again will never end. However, it should be noted that it’s fun to see guys like Ross Chastain race for SS Greenlight. Or who could forget when Tyler Reddick gave Big Machine Racing their first and only win so far in the series? 

Buschwhacking can be fun, but don’t put Kyle Larson in a Hendrick prepared car tailored for him and expect his younger competition to even be able to battle against him. It seems a little extreme sometimes and defeats the purpose of the act in the first place. 

It’ll always happen, let’s just hope it happens more in fun ways. I wanna see Ross Chastain in an Alpha Prime Car.

The Wave Around will be back covering the Xfinity series as they take the green in Mexico City on June 14.