NASCAR Xfinity Series: Do non-winners have an advantage at Martinsville?

Martinsville Speedway has not been kind to the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff drivers, but they'll all look for better results on Saturday as six drivers battle for two open spots in the series championship.

Austin Hill and A.J. Allmendinger have both earned berths into the championship thanks to wins at Homestead-Miami and Las Vegas over the last two weeks. Both are probably happy to not have to rely on a good run at Martinsville this week, as neither driver has race particularly well at the short track. Both have just one top-5 and an average finish of 16.8 in a combined 11 starts.

Drivers who have never won at Martinsville may have an advantage this weekend. In the last 14 Xfinity Series races at the track there have been 14 different winners.

Here's a look at the remaining playoff drivers and who is hot heading into Saturday's contest.

Justin Allgaier (+35) and defending Xfinity champion Cole Custer (+28) are both well above the cutline for the championship, sitting third and fourth in the playoff standings.

Below the cutline are Chandler Smith (-28), Jesse Love (-35), Sam Mayer (-47), and Sammy Smith (-95). All will need to either win or get some big help if they want to compete for an Xfinity Series title next weekend.

If any of those six drivers were to win on Sunday they would automatically advance. If someone else wins, two drivers would get into the championship on points.

WHO'S HOT

- Chandler Smith finished 13th at Homestead last week, and it was his only playoff race finishing outside of the top-5. Despite never finishing first or second in the playoffs, he has the best average finish of 5.1 over the last eight races.

- Allmendinger has one win and three other top-5s in the playoffs, has just two playoff races where he's finished outside of the top 10 – 17th at Kansas in Race 4 and 11th at Talladega a week later. Since then, he finished second at the Charlotte Roval, won at Vegas, and was 10th at Homestead.

- Allgaier struggled mightily to open the playoffs. In the first five races he had three finishes of 30th or worse, one 25th and one 17th. But, he's turned it around, finishing seventh, third, and eighth in the last three races.

- Custer started the playoffs with finishes of 31 and 21. He then won Race 3 at Bristol, and finished second the next week at Kansas. In the last two weeks he's finished eighth in Vegas and second at Homestead.

- The only rookie in the playoffs, Love has finished top-10 in all but one playoff race. He came in sixth and fourth the last two weeks, and has an average finish of 7.75 in the postseason.

WHO'S NOT

- Hill won the first playoff race and the most recent contest at Homestead, but in between, he has just one top-5 and two addition top-10s. In races he didn't win, he has an average finish of 15.1.

- Mayer won at the Charlotte Roval on October 12 to advance to the Round of 8. He has just two other top-10s in the playoffs, both ninth place finishes, and has three finishes of 28th or worse.

- Sammy Smith finished seventh at Atlanta in the playoff opener, got the win at Talladega in Race 5, and was 10th at the Charlotte Roval a week later. He has no other finish in the playoffs better than 15th, and was 22nd last week at Homestead.

- Thanks to his time racing in the NASCAR Cup Series, A.J. Allmendinger has by far the most starts at Martinsville — six in Xfinity and 25 in Cup. But he's struggled in both series. He has a total of three top-5 finishes across 31 races.

- Allgaier is the only Xfinity playoff driver with a win at Martinsville when he took the checkered flag last fall. He comes in with a career average finish of 7.8 and five top-5s in eight starts at The Paperclip.

- Sammy Smith has the best average finish among playoff drivers (7.5) at Martinsville. He's finished in the top-5 in half of his Martinsville starts, and came in seventh in the spring and third last fall.

Justin Allgaier: "We were in a similar position entering Martinsville last year and were fortunate enough to come away with the win and move on to the Championship 4. That just further gives me all the confidence in the world in Jim (Pohlman, crew chief) and everyone on this Jarrett Chevrolet as we look ahead to this weekend. Martinsville has been a strong track for us and I know we will be just as solid once we hit the track for practice on Friday. We just need to be smart all day long and keep the fenders as clean as we can on our JR Motorsports Camaro. If we can do that, then I feel extremely confident that we will accomplish what we have set out to do and have ourselves in a great position come the end of the day."

AJ Allmendinger: "Martinsville has always been one of my favorite racetracks, and this is the first time we are able to go there without having to worry about points. We have the opportunity to just focus on strategy to put ourselves in the best position to win a Martinsville Grandfather Clock."

Cole Custer: "Martinsville is going to be crazy. No matter what, it is always going to be crazy. We have to bring our best stuff there because you never know who is going to win, and that could leave only one spot on points. We just have to go out there and be our best. I think being the team that we are, we'll be in the fight. The No. 00 Haas Automation team was in this same spot last year, and despite a chaotic ending, we made it to the Championship 4 and went on to win a championship. You can have some comfort in that points advantage, but anything can happen. Those four guys below the cutline are going to be fighting to win and find their way in. I'm nervous heading into this weekend, but I know our team can get it done."

Jesse Love: I'm confident that our team will bring a fast Chevrolet to Martinsville Speedway next week, and hopefully our No. 2 team can lock in as well."

Sam Mayer: "The past few weeks have not worked out for us points-wise, but I know this No. 1 JR Motorsports team is ready for Martinsville and we are going to give it our all. We have put in the work all year long and this group deserves a chance at that championship. Martinsville has always been one of my favorite tracks and I have a lot of confidence here as we came up just one spot short in the spring. Mardy (Lindley, crew chief), myself, and the guys are ready to take that top spot and head to Phoenix."

Chandler Smith: "Looking forward to going to Martinsville, and we're probably going to be in a must-win situation there. We ran really good there in the spring."

Sammy Smith: "The Round of 8 tracks have not been too kind to us these past couple weeks and it's been tough on this whole No. 8 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet team. Everyone puts in the work needed to have a winning car, but we don't have the results to show for it, so we know that has to change heading into Martinsville. Growing up on short tracks, I feel really confident and I know the guys are just as hungry as I am to win our way into the Championship 4."