Forget being called NASCAR’s junior league, it’s time for Xfinity Series drivers to shine as their own playoffs, a seven-race series, begin Saturday at Kentucky Speedway.
During Tuesday’s Xfinity Series media day at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, several of the top contenders for the Xfinity championship -- No. 1 seed William Byron, regular-season champion Elliott Sadler, Brendan Gaughan and series rookie Cole Custer -- talked about their hopes and how they feel they stack up against the competition in the playoffs.
Let’s hear what some of those drivers said -- and check out the full video of interviews above:
Sadler: “We’re as prepared as any race team as I’ve ever been on to make a run in the playoffs, and I can’t wait to get started. ... I want to be that champion.”
Byron: “You have to make sure you don’t make any mistakes and really put yourself in a good position. ... I feel it’s a big goal for me. And knowing how it felt to lose (a championship) last year (in the Truck Series), I definitely want to win one.”
Gaughan: “Right now, we’re back to racing hard. Round 1, race hard. We have a brand new Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, so we want to see how fast it can be, that’s the goal this week, and then we’ll see what Round 2 and Round 3 will be.”
Custer: “It would be awesome, especially for a first-year team, it would be unreal to get a championship. I think we have the speed to do it, I think we can definitely accomplish that and that’s our goal. So, I think we’ll definitely have a shot at it.”