The 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series was the 36th season of the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the second national professional stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. The season began with the PowerShares QQQ 300 at Daytona International Speedway and ended with the Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead–Miami Speedway. Daniel Suárez was the defending drivers' champion while Toyota was the defending manufacturer's champion, although Suárez couldn't defend his title due to him racing in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
During the season, races were broadcast by Fox Sports and NBC Sports for the third consecutive year.
William Byron of JR Motorsports won the driver's championship with a third-place finish in the season finale. Team Penske won the owner's championship while Chevrolet won the manufacturer's championship.
This was the second year that the Xfinity Series (and the Truck Series) had a playoff system. Two of the four "championship 4" drivers (who are shown below), were the same as last year's, the only differences being William Byron and Daniel Hemric were in it instead of Daniel Suárez and Erik Jones, who both moved up to the Cup Series full-time in 2017. Also, three of the four of them (Byron, Sadler, and Allgaier) all drove for JR Motorsports. As Hemric, the other driver in the "championship 4", drove for Richard Childress Racing, that meant that the "championship 4" was composed entirely of Chevrolet drivers. Also ironically, Sadler and Allgaier both ended up finishing in the same positions in the standings as they did in 2016, second and third, respectfully.
Teams and drivers
Complete schedule ManufacturerTeamRace driverCrew chief Chevrolet B. J. McLeod Motorsports SS-Green Light Racing 99 David Starr Ken Evans Chip Ganassi Racing 42 Tyler Reddick Mike Shiplett Kyle Larson Justin Marks Alex Bowman 48 Brennan Poole Chad Norris GMS Racing 23 Spencer Gallagher (R) Joey Cohen JD Motorsports 0 Garrett Smithley Wayne Setterington Jr. Rick Johnson Bryan Berry Vinnie Miller 01 Harrison Rhodes Patrick Magee Rob Winfield Tommy MacHek Patrick Donahue Sheldon Creed Joe Nemechek 4 Ross Chastain Evan Snider Jeremy Clements Racing 51 Jeremy Clements Tony Clements Danny Gill Jimmy Means Racing 52 Joey Gase Tim Brown JR Motorsports 1 Elliott Sadler Kevin Meendering 5 Michael Annett Jason Stockert 7 Justin Allgaier Jason Burdett Chad Knaus 9 William Byron (R) Dave Elenz Kaulig Racing 11 Blake Koch Chris Rice DGM Racing 90 Mario Gosselin Guy Caron Mario Gosselin Kevin Boykin Martin Roy Alex Labbé Josh Williams Dexter Bean Matt Bell Brandonbilt Motorsports Brandon Brown Adam Brenner Brian Henderson Richard Childress Racing 2 Austin Dillon Justin Alexander Matt Borland Randall Burnett Nick Harrison Paul Menard Ben Kennedy (R) 3 Ty Dillon Matt Swiderski Scott Lagasse Jr. Brian Scott 21 Daniel Hemric (R) Danny Stockman Jr. Chad Walter Randall Burnett 33 Brandon Jones Nick Harrison Brandon Thomas 62 Brendan Gaughan Shane Wilson RSS Racing 39 Ryan Sieg Kevin Starland Kevin Johnson Stephen Leicht SS-Green Light Racing 07 Ray Black Jr. Jason Miller Todd Bodine Spencer Boyd Korbin Forrister Devin Jones Andy Lally Ryan Ellis Ford Roush Fenway Racing 16 Ryan Reed Phil Gould Stewart–Haas Racing 00 Cole Custer (R) Jeff Meendering Team Penske 22 Brad Keselowski Greg Erwin Ryan Blaney Joey Logano Sam Hornish Jr. Austin Cindric Toyota Joe Gibbs Racing 18 Daniel Suárez Scott Graves Matt Lucas Eric Phillips Kyle Busch Christopher Bell Kyle Benjamin Regan Smith Denny Hamlin Ryan Preece 19 Matt Tifft (R) Matt Beckman 20 Erik Jones Chris Gabehart Jacob Canter Matt Lucas Denny Hamlin Daniel Suárez Kyle Benjamin Christopher Bell Ryan Preece James Davison TriStar Motorsports 14 J. J. Yeley Wally Rogers Chevrolet Toyota B. J. McLeod Motorsports 8 Jeff Green David Ingram George Ingram Keith Wolfe Matt Mills B. J. McLeod Josh Bilicki Tommy Joe Martins Caesar Bacarella Chevrolet Toyota 78 Clint King Keith Wolfe George Ingram B. J. McLeod Jeff Green Jordan Anderson Tommy Joe Martins Angela Ruch Stephen Young John Graham Josh Bilicki Jennifer Jo Cobb Toyota Chevrolet Dodge MBM Motorsports 13 Mark Thompson Jason Houghtaling David Jones Michael Rathje George Church Sebastian LaForge Carl Long Brandon Hightower Timmy Hill Bobby Dale Earnhardt Enrique Baca Entry was fielded in a collaboration with NextGen Motorsports. Ernie Francis Jr. John Jackson Toyota Dodge Chevrolet Ford 40 Brandon Hightower David Jones Jason Houghtaling George Church Timmy Hill Timmy Hill Carl Long Chad Finchum Josh Bilicki Stan Mullis Enrique Baca Tim Cowen Bobby Dale Earnhardt Garrett Smithley John Jackson Dodge Chevrolet Mike Harmon Racing Rick Ware Racing 74 Mike Harmon R. B. Bracken Joe Majenski Robert Scott Alan Collins Jr. Jordan Anderson Cody Ware John Graham
Limited schedule
ManufacturerTeamRace driverCrew chiefRounds Chevrolet Chris Cockrum Racing 25 Chris Cockrum Jeff Spraker P. J. Jones GMS Racing 96 Ben Kennedy (R) Jeff Stankiewicz Brett Moffitt JD Motorsports 15 Reed Sorenson Wayne Setterington Jr. Matt Mills Joe Nemechek Harrison Rhodes JR Motorsports 88 Kasey Kahne Scott Radel Dale Earnhardt Jr. DGM Racing 92 Josh Williams Kevin Boykin Dexter Bean Martins Motorsports 45 Tommy Joe Martins Kevin Eagle Obaika Racing 77 Josh Bilicki Glenn Kania Gregory Vandersluis Dan Stillman 97 Stephen Leicht Bruce Cook Lauryn Scott Dan Stillman Precision Performance Motorsports 46 Anthony Kumpen Mark Setzer Quin Houff Parker Kligerman RSS Racing 38 Gray Gaulding Rudy Wade Jeff Green 93 Jordan Anderson Bruce Cook Jeff Green Stephen Leicht Gray Gaulding Ryan Sieg Shepherd Racing Ventures 89 Morgan Shepherd Nick Hoechst Dodge Mike Harmon Racing 17 Nicolas Hammann Jeff Spraker Ford Biagi-DenBeste Racing 98 Aric Almirola Jon Hanson Casey Mears Bubba Wallace Roush Fenway Racing 6 Seth Barbour 60 Ty Majeski Stewart–Haas Racing 41 Kevin Harvick Richard Boswell Team Penske 12 Joey Logano Brian Wilson Ryan Blaney Sam Hornish Jr. Toyota JGL Racing 24 Scott Lagasse Jr. Clinton Cram Corey LaJoie Drew Herring Jeb Burton Dylan Lupton Cale Conley 26 Scott Lagasse Jr. Steven Gray 28 Dakoda Armstrong Steven Lane NextGen Motorsports 55 Josh Berry Teddy Brown Matt Mills TriStar Motorsports 44 Benny Gordon Bryan Smith Dodge MBM Motorsports 72 John Jackson Dave Jones Toyota Carl Long George Church
Notes
Changes
Teams Stewart–Haas Racing fielded the No. 00 Ford Mustang for the 2017 season. B. J. McLeod Motorsports fielded 3 full-time teams. The team previously fielded a 1 full-time team and 2 part-time teams. Rick Ware Racing shut down its No. 25 team and move to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the Camping World Truck Series. However, they returned at Road America. Derrike Cope Racing announced on January 30 that it would shut down its No. 70 Chevrolet Camaro. Its owners' points were transferred to Stewart–Haas Racing. Team Penske was originally planned to run a second full-time team for the season, but didn't due to sponsorship problems. The team once again started a part-time basis, that started at Las Vegas. JGL Racing fielded 2 full-time teams. The team previously fielded 1 full-time team and 1 part-time team. However, at Chicagoland and Kentucky (fall) they entered only 1 team. On September 25, 2017, they announced that they would be releasing Dakoda Armstrong and would shut down the No. 28 Toyota Camry team effective immediately, due to a lack of funding. JGL also announced that they would focus their efforts on the No. 24 team for the remainder of the season.
Drivers Cole Custer drove the No. 00 Ford Mustang for Stewart–Haas Racing full-time in 2017. Custer drove the No. 00 Chevrolet Silverado full-time for JR Motorsports in the Camping World Truck Series and part-time in the Xfinity series, driving the No. 5 and No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro in 2016. William Byron drove the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro full-time for JR Motorsports in 2017. Byron drove the No. 9 Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports full-time in the Camping World Truck Series in 2016. Daniel Hemric drove the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro full-time for Richard Childress Racing in 2017. Hemric drove the No. 19 Ford F-150 for Brad Keselowski Racing in the Truck Series. Michael Annett drove the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro full-time for JR Motorsports in 2017. His sponsor from the last couple years in Xfinty and Cup Pilot Flying J came up with him. Annett drove the No. 46 Chevrolet SS for HScott Motorsports from 2015 to 2016. Matt Tifft drove the No. 19 Toyota full-time for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2017, replacing Daniel Suárez who is moving to the Monster Energy Cup Series to drive for JGR. Tifft shared the No. 18 Toyota with Kyle Busch and other drivers in 2016. Tyler Reddick joined Chip Ganassi Racing, sharing the No. 42 Chevrolet with Kyle Larson. Reddick drove for Brad Keselowski Racing in the Camping World Truck Series for the previous three seasons. On August 1, it was announced that Justin Marks, who had driven part-time for Ganassi in 2016, would be returning to the No. 42 for the 2 races at Mid-Ohio and Road America. On September 29, it was announced that Alex Bowman would drive the No. 42 for 2 races at Charlotte in October and Phoenix in November. In 2016, Bowman drove part-time, driving the No. 88 car for both Hendrick Motorsports in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and JR Motorsports in the Xfinity series and earlier in 2017 he drove 1 race in the No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Spencer Gallagher moved up to the Xfinity Series full-time in 2017 with GMS Racing. Gallagher drove a partial Xfinity schedule and a full-time Truck schedule in 2015 and 2016. Ryan Preece departed from JD Motorsports to return to the Whelen Modified Tour. On July 5, it was announced that Preece would return to the Xfinity Series to drive the No. 20 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing for 2 races at New Hampshire and Iowa in July. On August 3, following Preece's win at Iowa, it was announced that JGR would add another race to Preece's slate with him running the No. 20 at Kentucky in September. Preece also drove the No. 18 car for JGR at Homestead in November. Kevin Harvick drove the No. 41 Ford Mustang for Stewart–Haas Racing in 6 races with sponsorship from Bad Boy Buggies for Atlanta, Hunt Brothers Pizza for other 4 races and FIELDS Inc. for Watkins Glen. Harvick drove the No. 88 car last year for JR Motorsports. Jeff Green drove the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro full-time for B. J. McLeod Motorsports. Green had previously start and parked for TriStar Motorsports and ran 3 races with B. J. in the No. 99 car. After failing to qualify at Charlotte Green was released from the team. Green now start and parks for RSS Racing. However, he returned to the No. 8 for Daytona. Casey Mears drove the No. 98 Ford Mustang in 12 races for Biagi-DenBeste Racing. His last race in this series was in 2010. Mears also replaced the injured Aric Almirola at Pocono and Daytona increasing his races to 14. Ty Majeski made his first Xfinity Series start at Iowa in June in the No. 60 car for Roush Fenway Racing and drove at Iowa in July. On November 9, 2017, it was announced that Majeski would run the No. 60 Ford Mustang in the season finale at Homestead. Scott Lagasse Jr. drove the No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing at Iowa in June, Road America, Mid-Ohio, and Homestead sharing the ride with Ty Dillon, who drove the car for 27 races. On July 3, it was announced that Brian Scott would come out of retirement to drive the car at Iowa in July and Kentucky in September. Scott had previously competed for RCR in the Xfinity Series from 2013–2015. In 2016, Scott drove the No. 44 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford Fusion in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series before retiring at the end of the season.