There were major changes to the rosters of NASCAR’s lower series over the 2023-2024 off-season. Top prospects such as Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar went to the Cup Series full-time, and others moved rides or series within the Xfinity, Trucks, and ARCA series.
This article will rank the Top 15 prospects for future Cup Series drivers and winners. Drivers over 28, such as Austin Hill or Ty Majeski, will not be counted, nor will drivers with more than a full season of cup experience, such as defending Xfinity champion Cole Custer. With these facts known, let us explore the Top 15 prospects.
The List
15th: Taylor Gray- A past ARCA winner entering what is technically his first full-time truck season will be the last driver on the list. A couple of near-truck wins, most notably at IRP in 2022, keep him as a solid prospect. He’ll have to make the playoffs next season to keep himself as such, but everything is tracking for him to make it.
14th: Riley Herbst- At the tail end of his fourth year of Xfinity, he finally earned his first win in dominating fashion at Las Vegas in the fall. With Stewart Haas’ Xfinity team on the up and up, him showing consistency at both the start and the end of the season, and proving he can make noise in cup series plate races, Herbst has to prove he can win every week in Xfinity to advance his career to potentially racing on Sundays full time.
13th: Jake Garcia- Jake Garcia was very impressive for an 18-year-old rookie in the truck series. Eleven top tens, three top fives, and a 13th-place finish beating and nearly beating drivers with considerably more experience than him in the points are all impressive for a rookie who missed a race. Headed to a championship-caliber team in ThorSport, Garcia looks to make the playoffs and get his first win in year two.
12th: Lanye Riggs- Riggs, despite only having a handful of stars, has impressed in almost all of them. He got a runner-up qualifying spot in the 2022 finale, only losing the pole to eventual champion Zane Smith. With a podium in his only truck start in top equipment and a top 10 in his second Xfinity start, Riggs is absolutely worthy of his fulltime truck ride with 2022 championship team Front Row Motorsports.
11th: Jake Drew- 2022’s Arca West champion found himself without a ride for 2023, until he got to run five truck races with ThorSport and Hattori. In his debut at Nashville, he outran all of his teammates except eventual champion Ben Rhodes, and finished outside the Top 20 only once. He showed he has the talent for a full-time ride, and with Hattori’s full-time driver moving teams, he may have a chance to bring Hattori back to the top.
Top 10
10th: Jesse Love- 2023’s ARCA champion who won half the races probably does not belong in tenth. However, he was one of two full-time competitive drivers, showed he could not be trusted to race clean, and got outran by a driver with considerably less experience in equally dominant Toyota equipment. The last driver to jump from ARCA to Xfinity was Sammy Smith, a driver who consistently outran Love in 2022, who struggled a majority of his rookie season in a top ride. Love looks to prove these stats wrong, but the cards do not play for him to set the world on fire.
9th: William Sawalich- Speaking of the driver with less experience than Love who outran him often, meet William Sawalich. Sawalich tears it up wherever he goes, and is anticipated to make starts in all of NASCAR’s feeder series next year, and looks like the next big Toyota prospect ala Ty Gibbs, Christopher Bell, and Erik Jones.
8th: Sheldon Creed- Despite his winless two seasons in Xfinity, Creed is still a highly rated young prospect. Remember, just three years ago, he won the truck championship against last year’s top prospect Zane Smith, and former truck champion Brett Moffit. With him likely moving to Toyota, Creed is destined to have a big year.
7th: Christian Eckes- Four wins, nearly winning the championship, very impressive for both a driver and team that were written off as midpack at best. After losing his ThorSport ride and singing with McAnally, the industry wrote it off as a midpack combination. However, he proved everyone wrong and looks to do it again this season and move up to Xfinity.
6th: Brent Crews- The Youngest TransAm winner in history, won a DIRT race in his second ARCA start, and signed with Kevin Harvick Incorporated, all while being young enough to be a sophomore in high school. Crews have all the makings of a top young prospect.
5th: Sammy Smith- Despite not having an amazing middle of the season, Sammy Smith dominated Phoenix early in the year and turned it on in the playoffs to claim Rookie of the Year. Moving to JR Motorsports, Sammy Smith has shown that he has the talent to go for a championship in the Xfinity Series.
4th: Nick Sanchez- He could have won Texas, he could have made the Final 4 had he gotten one more spot in any race, he could have won the championship. 2023 was a season of could haves for Nick Sanchez. With everything staying the same for him in 2024, Sanchez enters as a championship favorite and a favorite to move up the ladder.
3rd: Sam Mayer- Mayer was in a third year of being “ok” at JR Motorsports, his days of impressing in ARCA and trucks long behind him. Until he won Road America in a wild finish, ok, fluke win. Then he did it again at Watkins Glen in another wild finish, ok, another fluke. Then he finished below 30th in the first two Round of 12 races, proving the people who thought these wins were flukes right. Until he dominated the Roval to make the Round of 8, and then won Homestead to make the Final 4.
2nd: Corey Heim- 20 Top 10s in 22 starts, 3 wins, had the points lead while missing a race, yet finished fourth in the points. Fourth-place Nick Sanchez is a championship favorite, but Corey Heim is THE championship favorite.
1st: Chandler Smith- Speaking of championship favorites in Toyotas, Chander Smith is our number one prospect. Won an Xfinity race in an off-year for Kaulig, won five truck races in two years driving for KBM, and nearly won the 2022 Truck Championship. Chandler Smith has everything to do what his former KBM John Hunter Nemechek did and win a lot of races and make the Final 4.
