NASCAR Xfinity: Can anyone beat Allmendinger and Cindric at The Glen?

ELKHART LAKE, WISCONSIN - JULY 03: Ty Gibbs, driver of the #81 Monster Energy Toyota, leads Austin Cindric, driver of the #22 Menards/Richmond Ford, AJ Allmendinger, driver of the #16 Hyperice Chevrolet, and Daniel Hemric, driver of the #18 Poppy Bank Toyota, to the green flag to start the NASCAR Xfinity Series Henry 180 at Road America on July 03, 2021 in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

After skipping the event in 2020 due to state COVID-19 restrictions, the NASCAR Xfinity returns to Upstate New York and Watkins Glen for the Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey 200.

Austin Cindric will look to win his second consecutive Xfinity Series race at The Glen after holding off a pesky AJ Allmendinger in 2019. To do so, Cindric will have to fight him off again at the site of Allmendinger’s lone Cup Series win.

“It’s going to be fun showing up there knowing what we did last time, but it’s still the same challenge,” Cindric said. “I’m going to learn something about where [Allmendinger] stands, where we stand, [and] I feel we’ve been able to make improvements”.

Allmendinger and Cindric have shown to not only be two of the best road course racers in the Xfinity Series; they stand 1-2 in the overall points standings. The two, along with Justin Allgaier, are the only three drivers who have officially clinched spots in the Xfinity Series playoffs. All three drivers have multiple wins to their name and are serious contenders for the series championship.

Jeb Burton and Myatt Snider each have won once this season and can clinch a playoff spot with a victory. Burton can also clinch with a repeat winner.

Although Cindric and Allmendinger are the clear favorites on Saturday, many hungry drivers without a 2021 victory have the potential to steal a victory. Harrison Burton, Justin Haley, Noah Gragson, and Brandon Jones are all winless this season despite each driver winning multiple times in 2020. Daniel Hemric, Jeremy Clements, Michael Annett, and Riley Herbst are also in the playoff mix and without wins this season. Herbst even ran Friday’s ARCA race at The Glen with his regular crew servicing the car, finishing 6th.

Like Kyle Busch has done multiple times this season, Cup Series regulars Austin Dillon and Erik Jones could shake up the Xfinity Series bubble. Dillon is racing the No. 23 car for Our Motorsports, while Jones is racing the No. 31 car for Jordan Anderson Racing. The two drivers start the race 33rd and 36th, respectively.

Other notable starting positions include Herbst (10th), Gragson (11th), Ty Gibbs (15th), and Michael Annett (18th).

Coverage of Saturday’s Xfinity Series race begins at 3:30 pm ET on CNBC with the race expected to go green around 4:00 pm ET. The race is on CNBC due to coverage of the 2020 Olympic Games.