Race Lineup

The official 2023 Kansas Lottery 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race lineup, determined by qualifying results, shows the starting positions of all drivers at Kansas Speedway.

Kansas Lottery 300

Saturday, September 9th, 2023

Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, KS

  • 9 Ford
  • 24 Chevrolet
  • 6 Toyota

  • Kansas Speedway
  • Kansas Lottery 300
  • Pole Winner: Justin Allgaier
  • Age: 37
  • Team : No. 7 - BRANDT Chevrolet
  • Owner: JR Motorsports
  • Crew Chief: James Pohlman
  • Justin Allgaier won the Pole Award for the Kansas Lottery 300 with a lap of 30.646 seconds, 176.206 mph.
  • This is his ninth pole in 431 NASCAR Xfinity Series races.
  • This is his second pole and 19th top-10 start in 2023.
  • This is his first pole in 14 races at Kansas Speedway.
  • Sammy Smith (second) posted his 16th top-10 start of 2023 and his first in two races at Kansas Speedway.
  • Cole Custer (third) posted his fourth top-10 start at Kansas Speedway. It is his 21st in 26 races this season.
  • Sammy Smith (second) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

  • Saturday, September 9th, 2023
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer
Nemechek dominates Kansas; Kligerman clinches final NASCAR Xfinity Playoff spot

There were no mixed feelings on Parker Kligerman’s part—he was ecstatic that John Hunter Nemechek asserted absolute domination over the rest of the field in Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway.

Nemechek’s sixth victory of the season assured Kligerman, who finished a strong fourth, of a berth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs, which open next Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Kligerman outlasted Riley Herbst, who entered the race with a one-point advantage for the final Playoff spot but ran afoul of the left rear of Kligerman’s car after a restart in Stage 2.

Nemechek did all he could to overtake Austin Hill for the Regular Season Championship. He won the first and second stages and beat runner-up Brandon Jones to the finish line by a whopping 7.521 seconds. Hill ran fifth to secure the regular-season title by five points after leading by 23 entering the race.

After Herbst had trouble, the only circumstance that could have kept Kligerman out of the Playoffs was a victory by Jones. Nemechek would have none of that.

“(Crew chief) Ben (Beshore) and all the guys made the right adjustments all day,” said Nemechek, who won for the second time at Kansas and the eighth time in his career. “They brought a really fast hot rod… Overall, just super pumped, super ecstatic.

“I’m looking forward to getting the Playoffs started next week at Bristol. We came in here trying to get the Regular Season Championship. I thought that we were going to have a 60-point day this weekend, and that’s what we did. We controlled what we could control. We did everything that we possibly could.

“So, let’s go to the Playoffs—I’m ready.”

Sheldon Creed finished third, 11.881 seconds behind Nemechek, followed by Kligerman and Hill.

“I was definitely the biggest John Hunter fan on the last run there,” quipped Kligerman, who finished 25 points ahead of Herbst for the final Playoff spot in a battle that featured substantial swings throughout the season. “I’m really proud of this whole Big Machine Racing team… We executed at a high level.

“With what I’ve seen do for the last 12 weeks, I felt like, if we could just get in the Playoffs, and we bring this going forward, we’re going to race for a championship.”

Just short of midway through Stage 2, much of the suspense disappeared from the race for the final Playoff spot. On a restart on Lap 65, Kligerman had difficulty getting his No. 48 Chevrolet into gear. Creed, immediately behind Kligerman, ran into the back of the 48 and moved to the right.

Herbst, who started two cars behind his rival for the final berth, clipped the left rear of Kligerman’s car with the right front of the No. 98 Ford, cutting his right front tire and damaging the quarter panel.

Herbst lost two laps on pit road changing tires, but he regained both circuits in short order, taking a wave-around at the end of Stage 2 and as the beneficiary during the eighth caution for a dramatic Lap 97 wreck at the front of the field involving Creed, Sammy Smith, pole winner Justin Allgaier and Jones.

Back on the lead lap, Herbst charged through the field and reached the ninth position, but another flat right front tire forced him to pit road on Lap 127 and ended his chances to secure a Playoff berth.

As it turned out, Daniel Hemric clinched the 11th of 12 Playoff spots by starting the race, leaving Kligerman and Herbst to battle for the last one. They join Nemechek, Hill, Allgaier, Cole Custer, Sam Mayer, Chandler Smith, Creed, Josh Berry, Sammy Smith and Jeb Burton, all of whom had qualified for the Playoffs before Saturday’s race.

Though Hill secured the regular-season title, he feels his Richard Childress Racing team has work to do to match Nemechek’s pace in the upcoming seven Playoff races.

“Just happy that we were able to bring home the Regular Season Championship, get the extra 15 bonus points--which is huge,” Hill said. “But we’ve got to go to work. We’ve got to be better. The 20 (Nemechek) was the class of the field all day.

“Really kind of stunk up the show there, so we’ve got to go back to the drawing board, figure out what we’ve got to do better for next time.”

Berry, Brett Moffitt, Derek Kraus, Joe Graf Jr. and Kaz Grala finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

  • Drivers Entered: 39 (1 drivers will not make the race)
  • Laps Scheduled: 200
  • Margin of Victory: 07.521 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 2 Hours 44 Minutes 45 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 109.256
  • Cautions: 10 for 49 laps
  • Lead Changes: 7
  • Green Flag Passes: 1,345 (8.9 passes per green flag lap)

  • Kansas Speedway
  • Kansas Lottery 300
  • Race Winner: John Hunter Nemechek
  • Age: 26
  • Team : No. 20 - Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota
  • Owner: Joe Gibbs Racing
  • Crew Chief: Ben Beshore
  • John Hunter Nemechek won the Kansas Lottery 300, his eighth victory in 93 NASCAR Xfinity Series races.
  • This is his sixth victory (career-high) and 19th top-10 finish in 2023.
  • This is his second victory and third top-10 finish in three races at Kansas Speedway.
  • Brandon Jones (second) posted his sixth top-10 finish in nine races at Kansas Speedway. It is his seventh top-10 finish in 2023.
  • Sheldon Creed (third) posted his first top-10 finish in two races at Kansas Speedway.
  • Parker Retzlaff (11th) was the highest finishing rookie.
  • This is the 200th NASCAR Xfinity Series victory for Toyota. A total of 149 races were won the Toyota Camry body and 51 have been won in the Toyota GR Supra.
  • Of Toyota's 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series wins, Joe Gibbs Racing is responsible for 193 of the victories.
  • Big Machine Racing's Parker Kligerman has earned the final spot in the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs.
Justin Allgaier poses for photos
Kansas City, Kansas - September 9, 2023 : Justin Allgaier, driver of the #7 BRANDT Chevrolet, poses for photos after winning the pole award during qualifying for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway.
Sean GardnerGetty Images
Race lineup for the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway
ST # DRIVER MAKE SPD TIME BHND SPONSOR TEAM CREW CHIEF
1 7 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 176.206 30.646 0.000 BRANDT Jr Motorsports Jim Pohlman
2 18 Sammy Smith Toyota 175.347 30.796 0.150 TMC Joe Gibbs Racing Jeff Meendering
3 00 Cole Custer Ford 174.972 30.862 0.216 HAAS Automation Stewart-haas Racing Jonathan Toney
4 9 Brandon Jones Chevrolet 174.876 30.879 0.233 Menards / NIBCO Jr Motorsports Jason Burdett
5 11 Daniel Hemric Chevrolet 174.616 30.925 0.279 Cirkul Kaulig Racing Jason Trinchere
6 8 Josh Berry Chevrolet 174.571 30.933 0.287 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Jr Motorsports Taylor Moyer
7 20 John Hunter Nemechek Toyota 174.441 30.956 0.310 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Joe Gibbs Racing Ben Beshore
8 98 Riley Herbst Ford 174.171 31.004 0.358 Monster Energy Stewart-haas Racing Davin Restivo
9 21 Austin Hill Chevrolet 173.706 31.087 0.441 Bennett Transportation Richard Childress Racing Andy Street
10 25 Brett Moffitt Ford 173.678 31.092 0.446 Concrete Supply\Destiny Homes Am Racing Joe Williams
11 19 Joe Graf Jr Toyota 173.667 31.094 0.448 RUT Testosterone Joe Gibbs Racing Jason Ratcliff
12 16 Chandler Smith Chevrolet 173.650 31.097 0.451 Quick Tie Products, Inc. Kaulig Racing Bruce Schlicker
13 1 Sam Mayer Chevrolet 173.422 31.138 0.492 Huck's Market / Accelerate Jr Motorsports Mardy Lindley
14 39 Ryan Sieg Ford 173.255 31.168 0.522 Sci Aps Rss Racing With Jeff Lefcourt Mike Scearce
15 48 Parker Kligerman Chevrolet 173.127 31.191 0.545 Spiked Light Coolers Big Machine Racing Patrick Donahue
16 2 Sheldon Creed Chevrolet 173.049 31.205 0.559 Whelen - NFFF Richard Childress Racing Jeff Stankiewicz
17 27 Jeb Burton Chevrolet 172.712 31.266 0.620 Bommarito.com/ TORQ Jordan Anderson Racing Shane Whitbeck
18 10 Derek Kraus Chevrolet 172.673 31.273 0.627 Hardscape Construction Inc. Kaulig Racing Alex Yontz
19 91 Kyle Weatherman Chevrolet 171.991 31.397 0.751 Tweaker Energy Drinks Dgm Racing Bryan Berry
20 24 Connor Mosack Toyota 171.478 31.491 0.845 MKS Sam Hunt Racing Kris Bowen
21 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 171.016 31.576 0.930 Kansas State University Jeremy Clements Racing Mark Setzer
22 45 Rajah Caruth Chevrolet 170.756 31.624 0.978 TBA Alpha Prime Racing Frank Kerr
23 43 Ryan Ellis Chevrolet 170.643 31.645 0.999 TBA Alpha Prime Racing Michael Brandt
24 92 Josh Williams Chevrolet 170.052 31.755 1.109 Call811.com / Alloy Employer Dgm Racing Mario Gosselin
25 07 Dawson Cram Chevrolet 169.870 31.789 1.143 TITAN CONSTRUCTION Ss-green Light Racing Daniel Johnson
26 31 Parker Retzlaff Chevrolet 169.737 31.814 1.168 Bommarito.com/ FVP Jordan Anderson Racing Joshua Graham
27 53 Matt Mills Toyota 169.428 31.872 1.226 J.F. Electric Emerling Gase Motorsports Wayne Carroll Jr
28 66 Timmy Hill Ford 169.364 31.884 1.238 Ted Russell Ford Lincoln Motorsports Business Management Carl Long
29 29 Kyle Sieg Ford 169.306 31.895 1.249 TBA Rss Racing With Jeff Lefcourt Teddy Brown
30 38 Nick Leitz Ford 169.290 31.898 1.252 Support a Teacher Rss Racing With Jeff Lefcourt Steve Addington
31 26 Kaz Grala Toyota 169.115 31.931 1.285 Island Coastal Lager Sam Hunt Racing Allen Hart
32 78 Anthony Alfredo Chevrolet 169.014 31.950 1.304 Andy's Frozen Custard Bj Mcleod Motorsports Pat Tryson
33 6 Brennan Poole Chevrolet 168.977 31.957 1.311 BeOne Sports Jd Motorsports Kase Kallenbach
34 4 Garrett Smithley Chevrolet 168.940 31.964 1.318 Page Construction Jd Motorsports Rob Goodman
35 02 Blaine Perkins Chevrolet 168.387 32.069 1.423 Auto Parkit.com Our Motorsports Dan Stillman
36 35 Joey Gase Chevrolet 167.822 32.177 1.531 TBA Emerling Gase Motorsports Paul Clapprood
37 08 Mason Massey Ford 167.131 32.310 1.664 BRUNT Ss-green Light Racing Jason Miller
38 28 CJ McLaughlin Ford 0.000 0.000 30.646 TBA Rss Racing With Jeff Lefcourt TBA
*39 44 Leland Honeyman Jr Chevrolet 168.340 32.078 1.432 TBA Alpha Prime Racing Mark Hillman

* Did Not Qualify (DNQ) for race.