With six different race winners so far in 2021 and four drivers already locked in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs, there are a lot of shakeups each week in the Playoff picture.
With Josh Berry’s win two weeks ago at Martinsville and Berry not running a fulltime season, he is not locked into the Playoffs. As a result, the standings were shaken up in another way.
Daniel Hemric has stayed consistent and keeps the highest Playoff spot without a win. He’s 117 points above the cutline and has three stage wins and three Playoff points. He finished third at Martinsville.
In terms of biggest surprises in the Playoff outlook so far, two drivers are standing out. Jeremy Clements has been in the top 12 for most of the season and has shown speed all year. Clements is currently 40 points above the Playoff cutline and finished 14th at Martinsville.
The biggest jump in the standings that is notable is Noah Gragson. Gragson, who won the Dash 4 Cash prize at Martinsville as well as finishing second, had been sitting below the Playoff cutline prior to Martinsville. But, with a solid finish at the track, he’s now above the cutline in 11th. His JR Motorsports teammate Michael Annett also jumped ahead of the cutline as the last driver in the top-12, only 10 points to the good.
Brandon Brown fell below the cutline after finishing 27th at Martinsville. He is just 10 points back from Annett.
Of the drivers inside the Playoff outlook top 12 that are still looking for a win this season, Justin Haley has the best average finish at Talladega Superspeedway with a 3.0; followed by Noah Gragson (7.0), Jeb Burton (10.0), Brandon Jones (15.3), Jeremy Clements (21.7), Daniel Hemric (22.0), Michael Annett (23.0) and Harrison Burton (27.5).
NASCAR Xfinity Series Driver Playoff Outlook Following Martinsville-1:
| Rank | Driver | Points | Wins | Stage Wins | Playoff Pts | Pts From Cutoff |
| 1 | Austin Cindric | 317 | 2 | 4 | 14 | In On Wins |
| 2 | AJ Allmendinger | 218 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| 3 | Myatt Snider | 206 | 1 | 0 | 5 | |
| 4 | Justin Allgaier | 199 | 1 | 0 | 5 | |
| 5 | Daniel Hemric | 275 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 117 |
| 6 | Harrison Burton | 242 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 84 |
| 7 | Justin Haley | 230 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 72 |
| 8 | Jeb Burton | 221 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 63 |
| 9 | Jeremy Clements | 198 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
| 10 | Brandon Jones | 187 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 29 |
| 11 | Noah Gragson | 168 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 12 | Michael Annett | 168 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 13 | Brandon Brown | 158 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -10 |
| 14 | Riley Herbst | 143 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -25 |
| 15 | Josh Williams | 126 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -42 |
