The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to the Daytona International Speedway on Friday Night to do battle in the Wawa 250. Friday night marks the last race in the regular season for the 2021 Xfinity Series. Daytona is a 2.5-mile Superspeedway and 100 laps will make up the 250-mile advertised distance. Playoff implications are on the forefront Friday night at Daytona and expect crazy late race moves for the victory.
Here are 5 drivers to consider for the Wawa 250.
Christopher Bell +800- Bell will begin Saturday’s Xfinity Race from the 15th position in his 2nd Xfinity race of 2021. Bell won at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the July Xfinity race, leading 151 of the 200 laps. Once again driving the #54 Toyota for Joe Gibbs, Bell has 4 career Xfinity starts at Daytona with 2 top 5s and zero wins. The fact Bell is not contending for points, makes Bell a nice aggressive favorite for Friday night with nothing to lose.
Austin Cindric +800- Cindric will fire off from the 14th position on Friday night at the Daytona International Speedway. In 22 starts on the season to date for Cindirc in the Xfinity Series he has come away 14 top 5 finishes and 5 wins including the victory at the INDY road course 2 weeks ago. Cindric won the first Xfinity race of 2021 at Daytona in February and finished 2nd at Talladega in April. Hard to pass on Cindric on Friday night for the Wawa 250.
Jeb Burton +1200- Burton comes into Saturday’s Xfinity race starting from the 13th position after a disappointing 29th place finish at Michigan one week ago. Looking to rebound, Jeb finished 4th at Daytona in February in the first Xfinity race of 2021 and followed up with a big win at Talladega in April, securing a spot in the 2021 Xfinity Playoffs. With teammates Justin Haley and A.J. Allmendinger to draft with, the Kaulig team will be strong on Friday night.
Brandon Brown +4000- Brown will take the green flag for Friday’s Wawa 250 from the 31st position. Brown is on the outside of the 2021 Playoffs looking in. Must win situation for Brandon on Friday night and starting this far back should run in a safe spot through stage 1 and 2. Brown finished 6th at Daytona in February and followed up with a 7th place finish at Talladega in the Xfinity race in April of 2021. Although a small team, Brown and crew have what it takes to finish up front Friday night, worth a shot.
Ryan Sieg +4000- Sieg will start from the 11th position on Friday night at the Daytona International Speedway. Noah comes off a 12th place performance Michigan one week ago and had a solid 5th place finish at Talladega back in April in the Xfinity race. Much like Brandon Brown, Sieg is in a must win situation to make the 2021 Xfinity Series playoffs. Again, Sieg will most likely hang in the back of the pack through stages 1 and 2 and head to the front in the final stage. Sieg has 5 top 10 finishes including 3 top 5 finishes at Daytona in 15 career Xfinity Series starts at the track, expect him to be in contention Friday night.
AUTHOR: Jeff Jeter
