Xfinity Championship 4 Contenders Tie in Championship Race Qualifying

Brandon Jones, the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, will look to end a solid NASCAR Xfinity Series campaign with a win in Saturday night's Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway in an effort to build momentum heading into the 2026 season.

While Jones secured the pole position with a 27.490-second (130.957 mph) lap time, the main focus is the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship battle, which saw an intriguing scenario play out in the qualifying session.

Connor Zilisch earned the top starting spot among the Championship 4 contenders, as he'll start Saturday night's race from the fourth position, but he earned that distinction by the narrowest margin conceivable.

Zilisch turned the exact same lap time (27.644 seconds) as Justin Allgaier, but won the tiebreaker over his teammate for the fourth starting position. Right behind Zilisch and Allgaier will be another championship contender, Jesse Love, who secured the sixth starting spot in the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

Carson Kvapil, the final driver in the fight for the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series driver's championship, qualified 14th.

There are two other drivers, Aric Almirola and Austin Hill, attempting to bring home championship hardware in Saturday night's Championship Race. These two drivers are piloting cars that are still alive in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Owner's Championship 4.

Almirola will start from the seventh position, while Hill locked down the 16th starting spot for the race around the 1-mile oval in Avondale, AZ.

Taylor Gray, who took his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series win a weekend ago at Martinsville Speedway, will lineup from the outside of the front row alongside Jones.

Sheldon Creed will start third, ahead of Zilisch, Allgaier, Love, Almirola, Nick Sanchez, Dean Thompson, and Ryan Sieg, who is filling in for the suspended Sam Mayer, rounded out the top 10 qualifiers for Saturday night's race.

Official Starting Lineup for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race (race 33 of 33):

(P) indicates NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff Driver
* indicates NASCAR Xfinity Series Owner's Playoff Car
# indicates Rookie of the Year Contender