Nicholas Sanchez preparing for a race. (Big Machine Racing)

Florida Drivers to Watch at Phoenix Raceway

The lineups are set for the NASCAR and Xfinity Series Championships. Five drivers from Florida are expected to race in the final races of the season.

The series finale is hosted by the Phoenix Raceway with the Xfinity Series competing at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday and NASCAR racing on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET (on NBC).

Ross Chastain, Florida’s lone NASCAR Cup driver, will race the No. 1 Busch Light Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing. The 32-year-old driver from Alva, is in his fourth season with the team. Despite only one race win this season, Chastain is the 11th-ranked driver in the series.

Ross Chastain for Busch Light — Ross Chastain for Trackhouse Racing sponsored by Busch Light. (Andrews Nelles/The Tennessean)

His greatest success came in 2022 when he was named as one of the Championship 4. This season, his race win came at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in March. Although he is not part of the Championship 4 this season, Chastain is looking for his 14th top-10 finish in 2025.

Previously, Chastain drove in the Xfinity Series for Kaulig Racing in the No. 10 car. His replacement is Daniel Dye, a 21-year-old from Daytona Beach making his Xfinity Series debut.

Dye reached a playoff berth in the 2023-24 Craftsman Truck Series for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing. Since his debut for Kaulig Racing, Dye has started in 32 races with eight top-10 finishes. In 2022, while racing in the ARCA Menards Series, he finished third in the final race and second overall in the standings.

That season’s champion, Nicholas Sanchez, a 24-year-old driver from Miami, will also race in the Xfinity Series Championship. Dye’s strong debut season earned him ARCA Rookie of the Year over Sanchez’s Rev Racing teammate, Rajah Caruth.

Sanchez now drives the No. 5 for Big Machine Racing Chevrolet, sponsored by Borchetta Bourbon. He won Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year in 2023 and recorded one win this season at the EchoPark Speedway.

He won ahead of Aric Almirola and Carson Kvapil in the final lap. Soon after, Almirola, a 41-year-old driver from Tampa, earned his second and third race wins of the season.

Almirola is in his second year as a part-time Xfinity Series driver for Joe Gibbs Racing in the No. 19 car. He previously spent six years in the NASCAR Cup Series with Stewart-Hass Racing team.

At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Aric Almirola was involved in a crash. (Peter Fanning/For IndyStar / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

He also won at Phoenix Raceway earlier this season, edging past Alex Bowman in a photo finish during the second race of the year.

Florida’s final Xfinity Series Championship driver, Josh Williams, 33, faced a rocky year. After a win-less 2024 season, he was released from Kaulig Racing.

He later joined Alpha Prime Racing in the No. 15 car, finding sponsorship from Optum and Alloy after a brief return to his former team, DGM Racing.

While no Florida-native drivers remain in championship contention, winning at the Phoenix Raceway would tie a bow around the 2025 season.

Category: Auto Racing, Motor Sports, NASCAR