Written by Bailey Defoor, Edited by Sean McKean
2025 is coming up quickly, and the grid is filled with loads of drivers making the step up. Let’s take a look at next year's upcoming talents.
Connor Zilisch
Zilisch comes into Xfinity after a dominant debut in September, where he secured pole position and won at Watkins Glen. In his three starts, he finished in the top ten twice.
Zilisch also has a couple of big wins under his belt. In his first time competing, Zilisch won the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring in the LMP2 category this year.
He entered in the ARCA Menards Series, East and West, and collected ten wins across the championships, 16 top-tens, and four pole positions. Fun fact: Zilisch won his only entry in the ARCA Menards Series West.
In August, Zilisch was announced to drive the No. 88 Chevrolet with JR Motorsports along with teammates Sammy Smith, Justin Allgaier, and Carson Kvapil.
William Sawalich
Sawalich comes off an ARCA Menards Series East championship win – the second of his career. Across his two championship runs, he collected seven wins, nine pole positions, and 15 top-ten finishes. One of these wins happened on his series debut at Five Flags Speedway, where Sawalich secured pole and led every lap of the race.
Sawalich also has some Xfinity experience going into next season, as he made three starts this season in the No. 19 with Joe Gibbs Racing. In his third start, he secured his first pole position.
Sawalich will be sticking with Joe Gibbs Racing next season, piloting the No. 18 Toyota and teaming up with Brandon Jones and fellow rookie Taylor Gray.
Taylor Gray
Gray steps up from the Truck Series. Last season was Gray’s first full season in the Truck Series, and it was his first time making it to the playoffs after debuting in 2021.
It was not smooth sailing for him, as his truck flipped on the last lap of the season opener, but his consistency throughout the rest of the season secured him in the playoffs.
Gray was eventually knocked out just before the Championship 4 by fellow 2025 rookie Christian Eckes.
Like Sawalich, Gray was announced to run ten races in Xfinity with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2024, and in his debut, he started 27th and finished in the top three.
Gray will continue driving with Joe Gibbs Racing next season in the No. 54 Toyota. This car will be operated by Joe Gibbs’ grandson and current Cup driver, Ty Gibbs.
Christian Eckes
Also coming up from the Truck Series, Eckes is the 2024 regular season champion after claiming four wins, 15 top-fives and 22 top-10s over the 23-race season.
He is also the 2019 ARCA Menards Series champion, amassing seven wins, 23 top-fives and 35 top-10 finishes in his 46 starts.
In the 2024 playoffs, Eckes won in Martinsville, which secured his place in the Championship 4 through a controversial move against Taylor Gray, but ended up finishing third in the playoffs in Phoenix.
He is set to pilot the No. 16 Chevrolet on a multi-year contract, and he takes the place of AJ Allmendinger, who will be moving back up to Cup Series full-time for 2025. Eckes will also be teaming up with Daniel Dye and Josh Williams in Kaulig Racing.
Daniel Dye
Dye raced with Kaulig Racing on a partial schedule for 2024, and in August, it was announced that he would continue to drive the No. 10 Chevrolet full-time in 2025. He entered in 12 races and finished in the top ten twice.
In 2022, Dye was supposed to race in the ARCA Menards Series, but after three races, he was suspended because of a felony charge. The charge was later changed to a misdemeanor, and Dye went on to finish second by 14 points in the series to Nick Sanchez and win Rookie of the Year.
Last season in the Truck Series, Dye narrowly snagged a place in the playoffs by finishing eighth at Richmond but was eliminated in the Round of 10 at Kansas.
Nick Sanchez
Sanchez is the 2022 ARCA Menards Series Champion and the 2023 Truck Series Rookie of the Year. He collected three wins and 16 top-tens on his way to the ARCA championship. He also had two podium finishes and 12 top-ten finishes in his Rookie of the Year campaign.
Last season, Sanchez’s second full season in the Truck Series, he earned his first career win at the season opener. He went on to score two wins, 11 top-fives, 14 top-tens and two pole positions on his way to finish fifth in the driver standings.
Sanchez will be driving the No. 48 Chevrolet with Big Machine Racing, replacing Parker Kligerman in 2025. Sanchez is the only entry for Big Machine Racing next season.
Kris Wright
Wright is a driver of many fields. He has experience running in the SportsCar Championship and British Formula 3 in 2019 and the IMSA Prototype Challenge in 2017 and 2018. He was named IMSA Rookie of the Year in 2017, and in 2018, he won the IMSA LMP3 category.
Wright has brief experience with running in Xfinity for 16 races between 2021 and 2022. He also raced full-time in the ARCA Menards Series last year, finishing with eight top-fives and 12 top-tens and ending the season in third.
Wright will replace Anthony Alfredo in the No. 5 Chevrolet with Our Motorsports. Wright will also be the only entry for Our Motorsports in Xfinity and is predicted to have a new sponsor and crew chief.
Carson Kvapil
While not exactly considered a rookie, Kvapil is set to run his first full-time season with JR Motorsports.
Kvapil joined JR Motorsports in the Late Model Stock Tour in 2022, where he won the series in 2022 and 2023. He entered in a few ARCA and Truck Series races in 2023 before moving to Xfinity for 2024.
Kvapil competed in nine Xfinity races last season, driving the No. 88 Chevrolet and finishing in fourth place on his debut at Martinsville. He also almost achieved a maiden win in his second start at Dover but lost the lead to Ryan Truex towards the end of the race.
Next season, Kvapil swaps cars, taking the place of Sam Mayer in the No. 1, and teams up with Connor Zilisch, Sammy Smith, and defending series champion Justin Allgaier.
It’s clear that Xfinity has a wide range of talent coming up next year. It will be interesting to see how they shape up against each other and the rest of the grid.