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The final round of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff season came to an end with the conclusion of Saturday's IAA and Ritchie Bros. 250 at Martinsville Speedway, where Joe Gibbs Racing driver Taylor Gray secured his first career win of the season.The result of the Round of 8 elimination race set the four-driver lineup for the title-deciding Championship 4 race. These four drivers will battle against each other for the prestigious 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship next week.This year’s Round of 8 was filled with drama and dominant performances. Two non-playoff drivers, Aric Almirola and Austin Hill, were the winners of the fourth and fifth playoff races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, respectively.With a non-playoff driver winning at the 0.526 Martinsville track, Carson Kvapil, who finished 18th, advanced to the Xfinity Series title race by four points over Brandon Jones and five over Sammy Smith.Kvapil joins Jesse Love, the defending series champion Justin Allgaier, and Connor Zilisch in the title-hunt race. Whereas Brandon Jones, Sammy Smith, Sam Mayer, and Sheldon Creed are the drivers who were knocked out of the title contention. Smith finished P2, but a win would have locked him into the Championship 4.Expressing his disappointment at missing out on the season-finale race, here’s what Smith said (via NASCAR.com):“I feel like we’re good enough to be in the final four. We weren’t good enough in the playoffs to do that. It really sucks, so we’ll just regroup and keep digging.”NASCAR Xfinity Series updated playoff grid: Drivers who clinched the Championship 4 berthAmong the four Xfinity Series drivers who are now left to battle for the 2025 NASCAR Truck Series championship, JR Motorsports driver Connor Zilisch is the favorite to win his maiden championship in his rookie season. He won a series high of 10 wins this season and grabbed the top spot to begin the Championship 4 race at Phoenix Raceway.See below the eight drivers who advanced in the 2025 Xfinity Series playoffs:#88 – Connor Zilisch – 4000#1 – Carson Kvapil – 4000#7 – Justin Allgaier – 4000#2 – Jesse Love – 4000The winner, or the highest-finishing driver among them, will become the 2025 champion.Catch NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers for the final time this year at Phoenix Raceway for the series' title-deciding race. The action will go live at 7:30 pm ET on Saturday, Nov. 1.
