Which drivers are hot, hotter and hottest in the NASCAR Xfinity Series as teams head into Texas Motor Speedway for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300.  

The NASCAR Xfinity Series prides itself as the series ‘where driver’s names are made’ and that is clear when you look at the top-five in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points; three of the top-five are former Xfinity Series champions, including two-time series champions Kevin Harvick (2001, 2006), Martin Truex Jr. (2004, 2005) and Brad Keselowski (2010).

So who in the Xfinity Series is  standing out through the first five races of the season. Take a look at the hottest championship contending drivers in 2015:  

HOT

Regan Smith – Smith is seventh in the series standings, 30 points behind the standings leader Ty Dillon after five races. Smith opened the season with a DNF at Daytona and since then has climbed up the standings with four consecutive top-ten finishes. His season-to-date Driver Rating (101.2) is second in the series. Despite the slow start, expect Smith to contend for the title this season; he hasn’t finished lower than third in the points since he joined JR Motorsports in 2013.

Brendan Gaughan – Coming off a runner-up finish at Auto Club Speedway, Brendan Gaughan is sixth in the series standings, one point behind Darrell Wallace Jr. in fifth and 23 points back from the standings lead. Gaughan has posted one top-five, three top-tens and an average finish of 11.4 this season.

Darrell Wallace Jr. – Wallace is fifth in the series driver standings, 22 points behind the standings leader after five races. This season he has posted one top-ten and an average finish of 11.4. Wallace also leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings. Through fives races Wallace has the eighth best driver rating (92.0) and the sixth best average running position (10.254).

Ryan Reed – Reed kicked off 2015 with a big win at Daytona and since then has held his own posting an average finish of 11.2. Reed is now fourth in the series standings, four points behind third-place Chase Elliott and 19 points back from Ty Dillon in the standings lead. Reed has spent 74.5% of his laps completed on the lead lap this season. His driver rating of 86.3 is ninth best in the series.

HOTTER

Chase Elliott – Elliott has spent most of 2015 climbing back up the standings after starting the season with a 28th-place finish at Daytona. Following Daytona, Elliott has rallied off three top-fives and four top-tens putting him third in the series standings and just ten points back from second-place Chris Buescher and 15 points behind Ty Dillon. Elliott is back in championship form; in his last four races he has posted an average finish of 5.25. His loop data for 2015 also supports his ascension in the points; he is fifth in driver rating (100.0), and third in average running position (8.694).

This week the Xfinity Series returns to Texas Motor Speedway , the track Elliott posted his first series career win.

Chris Buescher – Buescher’s success is no fluke, the Roush Fenway Racing driver now sits second in the standings just five points behind Ty Dillon in the lead after five races. Buescher has posted three top-fives and an average finish of 7.8 – second only to Ty Dillon among championship contenders. In five races this season Buescher is fifth best in average running position (8.928), fourth best in driver rating (100.5) and second best in percentage of laps in the top 15 (94.4%).

This week will be particularly special for Buescher as the series heads to Texas. The young standout driver hails from Prosper, Texas; which is about a 51-minute drive northeast of Texas Motor Speedway.

HOTTEST

Ty Dillon – Dillon is a man on a mission this season and it is championship or bust for the Richard Childress Racing No. 3 team. He sits atop the championship standings five points ahead of second-place Chris Buescher. The 23-year-old has posted two top-fives, four top-tens and a series-leading average finish of 6.8. Dillon opened the 2015 season with back-to-back third-place finishes. He leads the series in percentage of laps run on the lead lap in 2015 with 97.96% and is also ranked sixth in driver rating (98.9) and fourth in average running position (8.853).

Barring any unforeseen incidents on the track, Dillon’s rein over the points should continue at Texas. The North Carolina native has an average finish of 12.0 at the 1.5-mile speedway.

Catch the Xfinity Series Teams in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday, April 10, with pre-race coverage on FOX Sports 1 at 8 pm ET.  The green flag on this 300 mile, 200 lap race waves at 8:30 pm ET.