NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff bubble watch: Where the field sits after Pocono

After Cole Custer's playoff-clinching win on Saturday at Pocono, only five spots remain open for the taking in the Xfinity Series postseason. With just seven regular-season races to go, here's where the field sits after Pocono. 

8. AJ Allmendinger (+98)

9. Riley Herbst (+94)

10. Sheldon Creed (+77)

Creed continues to rack up consistent finishes in 2024, but it seemed like Saturday had a chance to be something special. After winning the pole for Saturday's race at Pocono, however, Creed's No. 18 Toyota dropped through the field like a rock. He eventually rebounded for a fourth-place finish, but the pressure to win has to be weighing on the young driver. 

11. Parker Kligerman (+59)

Kligerman has improved slightly from 2023, where he barely pointed his way into the postseason over Riley Herbst. This year, he's done a good job of maximizing his finishes en route to what will hopefully be a less stressful run to the playoffs. If Kligerman continues to find himself inside the top-10, he should cruise to a playoff spot — but there's little room for error with seven races remaining. 

12. Sammy Smith (+22)

It seems like Smith's 2024 season is stuck in neutral. While he's been consistent, the lack of flashy, top-five runs is becoming a concern for a team that should be in contention for the win on a weekly basis. His ninth-place finish at Pocono isn't bad, but Smith's slim advantage to the cut line should be taken with a grain of salt. It appears his early-season win at Phoenix in 2023 may have masked the speed issues that the young prospect now seems to be having. 

13. Ryan Sieg (-22)

Despite handling a problematic car late, Sieg still scrapped to a 12th-place finish on Saturday. However, he can't afford to keep playing a cat-and-mouse game with Smith, who has the better car and team under him. It's encouraging that Sieg is finding a way to collect good finishes, but sooner or later, he'll need to throw a haymaker to knock Smith down a peg. 

14. Brandon Jones (-76)

As was the case for Creed, Jones' second-place starting position seemed to be the start of a promising day for a struggling No. 9 team. Unfortunately, a flat tire early in the race put Jones behind the eight-ball and a 13th-place finish is all that came out of his day. As with Smith, it's worrying to see a JR Motorsports car consistently be a couple steps behind its teammates in Sam Mayer and Justin Allgaier and it'll likely take a miraculous win for Jones to make a playoff push. 

15. Anthony Alfredo (-95)

Running as high as third in the latter stages of Saturday's race, Alfredo had the opportunity to pull a massive upset and shake up the playoff grid. Unfortunately, his No. 5 car went the wrong way on the final two restarts, sending him back to a 14th-place finish. Our Motorsports and the No. 5 team are still miles better than they were expected to be at the start of the season, but after holding a provisional playoff spot early in the year, the disappointments continue to rack up.