The middle race of the opening round of the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs is upon us for Saturday’s Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 (3:30 p.m. ET, USA, PRN). Justin Allgaier won last Friday night’s playoff opener at the Bristol (Tenn) Motor Speedway and a result of that knows he’ll be in the Round of 8.

Do we see another driver join him on Saturday afternoon at the Texas Motor Speedway?

There are only two championship contenders with past wins at Texas – Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer (2018) and Joe Gibbs Racing’s John Hunter Nemechek (2021). Yet overall, this Playoff field boasts plenty of stellar work at the track with only two races remaining to decide which eight drivers advance to the next Playoff round.

Custer (+39), who is ranked third in the championship has an impressive four top-five finishes and six top-10 finishes in six previous Texas starts including being 8th the last time out in 2019. He also has 5 top 7 finishes in the last 6 races on the season too including being 4th at Bristol.

Similarly, Nemechek (+65), who is ranked second to Allgaier in the Playoff standings – but leads in points – has three top-five and four top-10 efforts in five starts. He won this race in 2021 but was 28th a year ago after leading 60 laps and starting 4th. Over his last three races on the season, he’s finished 3rd, 1st, 3rd. Does a win follow that trend on Saturday?

Joe Gibbs Racing has won 4 of the last 6 playoff races here including 3 of the last 4 at that. Wildly enough, they’ve won each with a different driver. From Erik Jones in 2017, Christopher Bell 2019, Harrison Burton in 2020 and Nemechek in 2021, it’s been a different driver reaching victory lane each time for JGR.

The only two non JGR drivers to win in this span was Custer (2018 for SHR) and JR Motorsports’ Noah Gragson a year ago.

It will be an important weekend for Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Hill (+21), who won the Regular Season Championship but sits fourth in the Playoff standings heading to the Lone Star State. The driver of the No. 21 RCR Chevrolet has a pair of top-five finishes in four series starts at the track and was runner-up to Noah Gragson in last year’s race. He does have 3 finishes of 14th or worse in the last 5 races too.

The 2021 series champion Daniel Hemric (+12), Jeb Burton (-4) and Josh Berry (-24) are among those with at least three starts at Texas with Hemric’s three top-fives – including a runner-up showing to Tyler Reddick in 2021 – tops statistically among this group. He has 3 top 10 finishes, 2 of which in the top 3 in the last four races on the season too but was 11th, 30th respectively in the pair of Texas races a year ago. For Berry, his championship hopes are in peril after a crash last week in Bristol that relegated him to a 36th place finish and left him 24 points behind. He was 19th here in 2021 and 7th, 6th last year. 4 of his last 6 finishes on the season were 14th or worse.

Two Playoff contenders, JGR’s Sammy Smith (+5) and Kaulig Racing’s Chandler Smith (+18) will be making their Texas Motor Speedway series debut. They are currently ranked fifth and seventh, respectively, in the Playoff standings. Chandler is struggling as of late with 7 finishes of 12th or worse, 6 of which outside the top 20, in his last 9 races. Sammy has finished 31st, 38th, 28th, 18th, 21st, 17th, 35th, 9th over the last 8 races himself.

It’s been a full decade since Playoff driver Parker Kligerman (-22) last competed at Texas in the series. His last two starts in 2013 resulted in 12th and 13th place finishes. Over his last 9 races, he’s finished 9th, 2nd, 8th, 7th, 3rd, 4th, 24th, 3rd, 31st.

Not only is the Playoff situation a compelling storyline, but this week’s starting lineup will include a pair of high-profile debuts. NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series regular Daniel Dye, 19, will make his Xfinity Series debut driving the No. 44 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet – the first of three events he’ll run in 2023 (also Las Vegas and Phoenix).

And Layne Riggs, 21, son of former NASCAR Cup Series veteran Scott Riggs, will make his first series start in the No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet.

Practice for the race is set for 10:35 a.m. ET on Saturday followed immediately by qualifying (both sessions on the NBC Sports App) and then the 3:30 p.m. ET green flag.