Xfinity Series rookies rose to occasion at NASCAR's toughest track

Darlington is widely considered to be the toughest track on the NASCAR circuit, but several NASCAR Xfinity Series rookies had a solid showing in Saturday's race at the "Track Too Tough To Tame."

While the top four consisted of NASCAR veterans — race winner Brandon Jones, runner-up Chase Elliott, third-place finisher Justin Allgaier and fourth-place finisher Ross Chastain — fifth through eighth consisted of four Xfinity Series rookies, three of which had never turned a lap in an Xfinity Series car at Darlington prior to Saturday. 

Carson Kvapil — who raced in both Xfinity Series races at Darlington in 2024 — led the way in fifth, with Connor Zilisch finishing sixth, Christian Eckes finishing seventh and Nick Sanchez finishing eighth. 

Kvapil didn't earn any stage points in Stage 1, but finished sixth in Stage 2 and hung around the top 10 for the rest of the afternoon before ultimately finishing in fifth. 

Like his JR Motorsports teammate, Connor Zilisch struggled early, finishing 17th in Stage 1 and even falling to 21st by the end of Stage 2. However, both Zilisch and his car got better as the race wore on, leading to a solid sixth-place finish in Zilisch's first trip to the 'Lady in Black.' 

Eckes, meanwhile, may be the only driver of the bunch that should be disappointed. After finishing seventh in Stage 1, Eckes finished second in Stage 2 behind Allgaier, proving that No. 16 was one of the best cars. While he faded to seventh, it was still a great race for Eckes. 

Sanchez finished 16th in Stage 1 and 15th in Stage 2, but his No. 48 came alive late in the race, lifting him to his fourth top-10 finish of the season. 

Zilisch, Kvapil, Sanchez and Eckes are sixth, eighth, 15th and 16th in the Xfinity Series points standings after Darlington, respectively. 

The towering high-banked half-mile of Bristol Motor Speedway on April 12 is the next challenge for the Xfinity Series rookie class, which had a few students pass a major test on Saturday. 

Other rookies in Saturday's race weren't so fortunate, with Daniel Dye finishing 17th, Dean Thompson finishing 18th, Taylor Gray finishing 33rd and William Sawalich finishing 35th.