Lots can happen with five races to go until Xfinity Series Playoffs

With five races left to set the 12-driver NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff field, Friday night‘s Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) could produce a surprise winner and new playoff entrant on the historic high banks.

There are only three former Daytona race winners in this weekend‘s field, led by three-time winner Austin Hill of Richard Childress Racing. Also with Daytona wins are Jeremy Clements Racing owner-driver Jeremy Clements and JR Motorsports‘ Justin Allgaier — who is the defending winner of this Daytona summer 250-miler.

While those closer to the top of the standings have either solidified their positions with victories or good points days, drivers near the elimination line arrive in Daytona racing for their playoff lives.

Big Machine Racing‘s Parker Kligerman is ranked 11th with a 16-point margin to the playoff good after being levied with a penalty post-Michigan. JR Motorsports‘ Sammy Smith holds only a single-point lead on RSS Racing‘s Ryan Sieg for that last playoff position.

Eight drivers have already earned playoff bids with victories, led by popular New Zealand driver Shane van Gisbergen, who has three race wins in his first full-time NASCAR season. Allgaier, Hill, Joe Gibbs Racing‘s Chandler Smith and Allgaier‘s teammate at JR Motorsports, Sam Mayer all have won twice.

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Defending series champion Cole Custer, his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Riley Herbst and RCR‘s Jesse Love all have earned playoff berths with a win. Veteran Kaulig Racing driver AJ Allmendinger currently holds a 102-point advantage on the elimination line while JGR‘s Sheldon Creed is a healthy 70 points up. Kligerman and Sammy Smith round out the current dozen in the playoff standings.

Hill won the season’s first two races and now aims for a rare Daytona double. A win Friday would give him the track season sweep, meaning he would join NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. as the only competitors to sweep a season‘s two NASCAR Xfinity Series events at Daytona.

Creed, who just set a record for most runner-up finishes (11) in the series without a win, has finished runner-up in the last two Daytona races.

Asked what it would take to hoist that elusive first trophy this weekend, Creed said, “A good push and even better luck. It‘s been feast or famine at Daytona for me so far and that‘s helped me realize the importance of making it to the end. If things go our way, I feel good about our ability to put ourselves in contention. From there we just have to hope that the cards fall in a way that give me a chance to execute in the final laps. If that happens, I like our chances.”

Allmendinger‘s average finish of 10.7 in seven starts is the second-best average finish to Jordan Anderson Racing‘s Parker Retzlaff (4.7 in three starts) among active drivers.

There’s no practice this week. Qualifying is set for Friday at 3 p.m. ET (USA Network).