Pit Stops

Kansas Lottery 300

Saturday, September 28th, 2024

Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, KS

  • 25 Chevrolet
  • 5 Toyota
  • 8 Ford

  • Wednesday, September 25th, 2024
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer
NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs get under way on Saturday

In last Friday’s Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway, the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ final regular-season race, there weren’t any surprise as to which drivers qualified for the Playoffs.

The real shocker came when Justin Allgaier’s ill fortune erased a 43-point lead and handed the regular-season title to reigning series champion Cole Custer.

But with the points reset, Allgaier is the top seed with a 27-point edge over ninth-place Sheldon Creed as the series begins its Playoff Round of 12 in Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway (4 p.m. ET on CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Along with Allgaier and Custer, eight other drivers had secured Playoff spots before the Bristol race: Austin Hill, Chandler Smith, Shane van Gisbergen, Jesse Love, Sam Mayer, Riley Herbst, Sheldon Creed and AJ Allmendinger.

Sammy Smith and Parker Kligerman completed the Playoff field on points in Friday’s race.

Creed has never won an Xfinity Series race, but the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota has finished second 13 times, including the final two regular-season races this year. He enters the Playoffs with six top fives in his last eight races.

“Kansas is one of my favorite race tracks,” said Creed, who finished third last season in his second Xfinity start at the 1.5-mile track. “It’s probably my second favorite right behind Darlington, so I have high hopes going into this weekend. From here on out, every qualifying session, stage point, and race mean more than ever, so the pressure is on to execute.

“Ideally, I’d like to leave Kansas with good stage points, a strong finish, and hopefully even a win. There’s a lot of talented guys in this field, so I know we need to rise to the occasion if we’re going to have a shot at this championship.

“It all starts in Kansas and we’re going to do everything we can to put ourselves in a good position heading into Talladega (the second Playoff race on Oct. 5).”

  • Kansas Lottery 300
  • Pole Winner: Brandon Jones
  • Age: 27
  • Team : No 9 - Menards/Schultz Chevrolet
  • Owner: Rick Hendrick
  • Crew Chief: Adam Wall
  • Brandon Jones won the Pole Award for the Kansas Lottery 300 with a lap of 3076 seconds, 175553 mph
  • This is his 11th pole in 296 NASCAR Xfinity Series races
  • This is his third pole and 10th top-10 start in 2024
  • This is his second pole in ten races at Kansas Speedway
  • Chandler Smith (second) posted his 21st top-10 start of 2024 and his first in two races at Kansas Speedway
  • Cole Custer (third) posted his fifth top-10 start at Kansas Speedway It is his 20th in 27 races this season
  • Jesse Love (seventh) was the fastest qualifying rookie

  • Saturday, September 28th, 2024
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer
Aric Almirola beats Playoff drivers in NASCAR Xfinity postseason opener at Kansas

Part-time NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Aric Almirola ran down Playoff leader Cole Custer in the closing laps of Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway and pulled away for his second victory of the season in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

In a Round of 12 Playoff opener that ended with several unhappy drivers and a handful of post-race conversations between Playoff contenders, Almirola picked up his first win at the 1.5-mile track and the sixth of his career.

Almirola beat Custer to the finish line by 0.660 seconds, with Chandler Smith trailing in third after raising Custer’s ire by squeezing the No. 00 Ford into the outside wall as Custer chased Smith for the lead—before Almirola made his late-race run.

To seal the win, Almirola had to overcome a brush with the outside wall on Lap 124 and a resulting cut tire that forced him to the pits. An opportune caution that interrupted a cycle of green flag stops on Lap 145 was all Almirola needed to get back on equal footing with the other contenders.

Almirola is the fourth driver to win two races this season in the No. 20 JGR Toyota, joining Christopher Bell, John Hunter Nemechek and Ryan Truex.

“I’m wore out,” said Almirola, who passed Custer for the lead on Lap 197 of 200. “That was a hard day at the office for a guy that’s been sitting on the couch. I just pushed too hard there when we had the issue on pit road (a slow stop), and I got in the fence and cut the right-rear tire down.

“I knew I had to put my head down and go to work after that. We got lucky to get the caution when we did, and we were out of tires, so the fact that it went green there to the end (for the final 49 laps)… that’s where we were strong. We were really strong on the long runs.”

After the race, Custer had a brief conversation with Smith and vowed revenge.

“Everybody wants to try and talk afterwards,” Custer said. “At the end of the day, he put me in the fence, and he’s going to pay for it.”

Smith countered that he didn’t believe Custer ever had position to his outside.

“We’re racing for the win and five extra Playoff points,” said Smith, who led 114 laps. “You’ve got a very, very valid statement, I understand, but I also wouldn’t change what I did, because I was giving myself the best shot to win.”

Non-Playoff driver Connor Zilisch finished fourth, followed by Sheldon Creed, who improved his position in the Playoff standings by four spots with his seventh top five in the last nine races.

Pole winner Brandon Jones, who didn’t make the postseason, was fifth, followed by Playoff drivers Austin Hill, Shane van Gisbergen, Jesse Love and Riley Herbst.

In another post-race conversation, Hill apologized to Herbst for Lap 90 contact that sent Herbst’s Ford spinning through the infield grass at the end of the second stage. In yet another tete a tete between Playoff drivers, Sammy Smith took AJ Allmendinger to task for early contact that damaged Smith’s Chevrolet.

Smith finished 22nd and heads to next Saturday’s Playoff race at Talladega 12th in the standings, 23 points below the cut line for the Round of 8.

Allmendinger (17th Saturday) and Parker Kligerman (12th) are 10th and 11th in the Playoff standings, 13 and 15 points below the cutoff, respectively.

The shockingly bad luck haunting top-seeded Justin Allgaier continued in force on Saturday. Racing in close quarters with Creed after a restart on Lap 70, Allgaier’s No. 7 Chevrolet broke loose, slid across traffic and nosed into the inside wall on the backstretch.

After frantic repairs, Allgaier attempted to return to the race, but a cut left-front tire sent him into the outside wall and out of action in 36th place.

Allgaier’s exit came eight days after a series of accidents knocked him out of the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway and cost him the regular-season championship.

“I don’t know if I’ve had a stretch of races that have been like these last three or four weeks,” said Allgaier. “We’re not out of it by any stretch. Obviously, that’s why you do all the work to get all the bonus points you can.

“We’ve got a long road the next two weeks. I’ve got the team that can do it. We’ve just got to go have some luck on our side.”

Allgaier fell from first to ninth in the standings and trails Herbst by one point in the battle for the final berth in the Round of 8.

Custer now leads the series by five points over Chandler Smith, with Hill 15 points back. Fourth-place Sam Mayer, who ran 13th at Kansas, is 28 points behind Custer and three points ahead of Creed in fifth.

Van Gisbergen and Love are sixth and seventh in the Playoff standings, respectively eight and three points above cut line for the next round.

  • Drivers Entered: 39 (1 drivers will not make the race)
  • Laps Scheduled: 110
  • Laps Actual: 200 - NASCAR OVERTIME!
  • Margin of Victory: 0.660 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 2 Hours 28 Minutes 43 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 121.036
  • Cautions: 6 for 33 laps
  • Lead Changes: 14
  • Green Flag Passes: 1,692 (10.1 passes per green flag lap)

  • Kansas Lottery 300
  • Race Winner: Aric Almirola
  • Age: 40
  • Team : No 20 - He Gets Us Toyota
  • Owner: Joe Gibbs
  • Crew Chief: Seth Chavka
  • Aric Almirola won the Kansas Lottery 300, his sixth victory in 112 Xfinity Series races
  • This is his second victory and fifth top-10 finish in 2024
  • This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in four races at Kansas Speedway
  • Cole Custer (second) posted his first top-10 finish in six races at Kansas Speedway It is his 19th top-10 finish in 2024
  • Chandler Smith (third) posted his first top-10 finish in two races at Kansas Speedway
  • Shane Van Gisbergen (eighth) was the highest finishing rookie
  • Cole Custer leads the point standings by 5 points over Chandler Smith
Cole Custer celebrates in victory lane
Avondale, Arizona - November 4, 2023 : Cole Custer, driver of the #00 Haas Automation Ford, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway.
Jared C TiltonGetty Images

Pit Stop Summary Report

Summary of each driver's pit stop during the race. Detailed Report is below the Summary Report.

Average Driver and Crew Pit Stop Time
Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway Pit Stop Summary
DRIVER ST FIN STATUS # STOPS AVG DRV TIME DRV RNK AVG CREW TIME CREW RANK AVG TOT TIME TOT RNK FASTEST STOP SLOWEST STOP
Cole Custer 3 2 Running 3 27.953 5 14.258 1 42.212 1 41.936 42.428
Sheldon Creed 15 5 Running 3 28.278 15 14.625 2 42.903 2 42.577 43.167
Chandler Smith 2 3 Running 3 27.934 3 15.493 6 43.427 3 41.921 45.288
Riley Herbst 16 10 Running 2 28.410 19 15.081 3 43.491 4 43.018 43.964
Sam Mayer 5 13 Running 3 28.067 8 15.458 5 43.525 5 42.676 44.765
Austin Hill 10 7 Running 3 28.321 16 15.304 4 43.625 6 41.875 44.718
Aric Almirola 6 1 Running 4 28.008 6 15.971 7 43.979 7 42.808 46.466
Brandon Jones 1 6 Running 3 28.093 10 16.138 9 44.231 8 43.537 44.923
Parker Retzlaff 23 21 Running 3 28.455 20 16.059 8 44.514 9 43.098 45.895
Justin Allgaier 9 36 Accident 1 27.815 1 16.816 10 44.631 10 44.631 44.631
Ryan Sieg 12 16 Running 3 28.129 12 16.872 11 45.002 11 44.117 45.648
Corey Heim 17 31 Running 3 27.911 2 17.376 12 45.287 12 44.220 46.433
Brennan Poole 28 18 Running 3 28.114 11 18.029 14 46.142 13 45.309 46.961
Connor Zilisch 4 4 Running 3 27.950 4 18.284 16 46.234 14 44.527 47.540
Josh Williams 18 11 Running 2 28.906 28 17.517 13 46.423 15 45.634 47.211
Jeremy Clements 26 27 Running 1 28.196 13 18.351 17 46.547 16 46.547 46.547
Jeb Burton 19 23 Running 3 28.508 22 18.185 15 46.693 17 44.844 49.953
AJ Allmendinger 14 17 Running 3 28.028 7 18.830 20 46.857 18 43.750 51.693
Daniel Dye 30 34 Running 3 28.403 18 18.485 18 46.888 19 45.036 49.690
Sammy Smith 13 22 Running 3 29.572 32 18.541 19 48.113 20 44.394 52.802
Parker Kligerman 8 12 Running 3 28.077 9 20.387 23 48.465 21 44.886 54.051
Kyle Weatherman 33 26 Running 3 28.955 29 19.575 21 48.530 22 46.744 51.615
Anthony Alfredo 20 15 Running 3 28.673 24 20.665 26 49.338 23 48.051 50.739
Shane van Gisbergen 22 8 Running 3 28.501 21 20.898 28 49.399 24 45.916 56.189
Ryan Ellis 29 19 Running 3 28.860 27 20.642 25 49.502 25 45.997 52.643
Brad Perez 37 37 Oil Pump 1 28.764 26 20.954 29 49.718 26 49.718 49.718
Blaine Perkins 32 28 Running 3 29.154 31 20.798 27 49.953 27 47.812 51.814
Logan Bearden 31 33 Running 4 29.800 33 20.203 22 50.003 28 47.836 54.564
Joey Gase 34 32 Running 3 30.075 35 20.554 24 50.629 29 48.452 52.000
Dawson Cram 27 35 Fuel Pressure 2 28.365 17 22.472 31 50.837 30 49.294 52.380
Jesse Love 7 9 Running 2 28.265 14 22.606 32 50.871 31 45.455 56.286
Kyle Sieg 21 24 Running 3 30.075 35 21.191 30 51.266 32 47.237 56.661
Leland Honeyman Jr 38 25 Running 3 28.745 25 22.823 33 51.567 33 49.852 54.464
Patrick Emerling 35 30 Running 2 29.027 30 23.140 34 52.167 34 47.908 56.425
Matt DiBenedetto 24 14 Running 3 28.588 23 25.069 35 53.657 35 51.380 57.538
JJ Yeley 25 20 Running 2 29.854 34 25.275 36 55.129 36 53.477 56.780

Pit Stop Detailed Report

Each 2- and 4-wheel pit stop during the race.

Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway Pit Stop Detail
DRIVER LDR LAP DRV LAP DRV TIME CREW TIME TOT TIME TYPE
AJ Allmendinger 92 92 27.934 15.816 43.750 4-wheel change
AJ Allmendinger 141 140 28.079 17.050 45.129 4-wheel change
AJ Allmendinger 48 48 28.070 23.623 51.693 4-wheel change
Aric Almirola 92 92 27.205 15.603 42.808 4-wheel change
Aric Almirola 147 147 28.220 14.748 42.968 4-wheel change
Aric Almirola 125 124 28.357 15.316 43.673 4-wheel change
Aric Almirola 48 48 28.248 18.218 46.466 4-wheel change
JJ Yeley 48 48 29.921 23.556 53.477 4-wheel change
JJ Yeley 92 92 29.786 26.994 56.780 4-wheel change
Justin Allgaier 48 48 27.815 16.816 44.631 4-wheel change
Parker Kligerman 142 141 28.068 16.818 44.886 4-wheel change
Parker Kligerman 48 48 28.072 18.385 46.457 4-wheel change
Parker Kligerman 92 92 28.092 25.959 54.051 4-wheel change
Joey Gase 132 130 29.331 19.121 48.452 4-wheel change
Joey Gase 67 65 31.183 20.253 51.436 4-wheel change
Joey Gase 49 48 29.712 22.288 52.000 4-wheel change
Jeb Burton 138 136 28.161 16.683 44.844 4-wheel change
Jeb Burton 48 48 28.598 16.683 45.281 4-wheel change
Jeb Burton 92 92 28.765 21.188 49.953 4-wheel change
Matt DiBenedetto 92 92 28.157 23.223 51.380 4-wheel change
Matt DiBenedetto 48 48 29.031 23.022 52.053 4-wheel change
Matt DiBenedetto 147 147 28.576 28.962 57.538 4-wheel change
Ryan Ellis 147 147 28.880 17.117 45.997 4-wheel change
Ryan Ellis 67 65 28.579 21.287 49.866 4-wheel change
Ryan Ellis 93 93 29.120 23.523 52.643 4-wheel change
Ryan Sieg 92 92 28.134 15.983 44.117 4-wheel change
Ryan Sieg 48 48 28.424 16.816 45.240 4-wheel change
Ryan Sieg 137 136 27.830 17.818 45.648 4-wheel change
Kyle Weatherman 92 92 28.493 18.251 46.744 4-wheel change
Kyle Weatherman 130 129 28.512 18.719 47.231 4-wheel change
Kyle Weatherman 50 49 29.860 21.755 51.615 4-wheel change
Brennan Poole 48 48 28.092 17.217 45.309 4-wheel change
Brennan Poole 92 92 27.973 18.184 46.157 4-wheel change
Brennan Poole 144 143 28.276 18.685 46.961 4-wheel change
Cole Custer 143 143 27.956 13.980 41.936 4-wheel change
Cole Custer 48 48 27.924 14.347 42.271 4-wheel change
Cole Custer 92 92 27.980 14.448 42.428 4-wheel change
Austin Hill 48 48 28.462 13.413 41.875 4-wheel change
Austin Hill 92 92 28.033 16.250 44.283 4-wheel change
Austin Hill 140 139 28.469 16.249 44.718 4-wheel change
Brandon Jones 92 92 27.955 15.582 43.537 4-wheel change
Brandon Jones 147 147 28.152 16.082 44.234 4-wheel change
Brandon Jones 48 48 28.173 16.750 44.923 4-wheel change
Jeremy Clements 49 48 28.196 18.351 46.547 4-wheel change
Josh Williams 147 147 28.684 16.950 45.634 4-wheel change
Josh Williams 48 48 29.127 18.084 47.211 4-wheel change
Riley Herbst 141 140 28.304 14.714 43.018 4-wheel change
Riley Herbst 48 48 28.516 15.448 43.964 4-wheel change
Anthony Alfredo 147 147 28.465 19.586 48.051 4-wheel change
Anthony Alfredo 92 92 28.669 20.554 49.223 4-wheel change
Anthony Alfredo 48 48 28.884 21.855 50.739 4-wheel change
Patrick Emerling 139 136 28.222 19.686 47.908 4-wheel change
Patrick Emerling 93 92 29.832 26.593 56.425 4-wheel change
Sheldon Creed 92 92 28.230 14.347 42.577 4-wheel change
Sheldon Creed 48 48 28.283 14.681 42.964 4-wheel change
Sheldon Creed 143 142 28.321 14.846 43.167 4-wheel change
Blaine Perkins 148 146 28.760 19.052 47.812 4-wheel change
Blaine Perkins 93 92 29.411 20.821 50.232 4-wheel change
Blaine Perkins 49 48 29.292 22.522 51.814 4-wheel change
Kyle Sieg 143 141 31.145 16.092 47.237 4-wheel change
Kyle Sieg 92 92 29.814 20.086 49.900 4-wheel change
Kyle Sieg 48 48 29.267 27.394 56.661 4-wheel change
Sam Mayer 48 48 28.165 14.511 42.676 4-wheel change
Sam Mayer 141 140 27.786 15.348 43.134 4-wheel change
Sam Mayer 92 92 28.249 16.516 44.765 4-wheel change
Dawson Cram 49 48 28.907 20.387 49.294 4-wheel change
Dawson Cram 93 92 27.823 24.557 52.380 4-wheel change
Chandler Smith 92 92 28.074 13.847 41.921 4-wheel change
Chandler Smith 143 142 27.891 15.182 43.073 4-wheel change
Chandler Smith 48 48 27.838 17.450 45.288 4-wheel change
Corey Heim 123 122 27.737 16.483 44.220 4-wheel change
Corey Heim 92 92 27.957 17.251 45.208 4-wheel change
Corey Heim 48 48 28.039 18.394 46.433 4-wheel change
Logan Bearden 93 87 29.551 18.285 47.836 4-wheel change
Logan Bearden 13 12 29.886 18.551 48.437 4-wheel change
Logan Bearden 136 128 29.056 20.120 49.176 4-wheel change
Logan Bearden 49 47 30.707 23.857 54.564 4-wheel change
Parker Retzlaff 48 48 28.017 15.081 43.098 4-wheel change
Parker Retzlaff 92 92 28.401 16.149 44.550 4-wheel change
Parker Retzlaff 142 141 28.947 16.948 45.895 4-wheel change
Brad Perez 49 48 28.764 20.954 49.718 4-wheel change
Sammy Smith 93 92 28.378 16.016 44.394 4-wheel change
Sammy Smith 148 147 28.590 18.552 47.142 4-wheel change
Sammy Smith 50 48 31.748 21.054 52.802 4-wheel change
Leland Honeyman Jr 139 137 28.932 20.920 49.852 4-wheel change
Leland Honeyman Jr 92 92 28.764 21.622 50.386 4-wheel change
Leland Honeyman Jr 49 48 28.538 25.926 54.464 4-wheel change
Daniel Dye 92 92 28.186 16.850 45.036 4-wheel change
Daniel Dye 147 147 28.821 17.117 45.938 4-wheel change
Daniel Dye 48 48 28.202 21.488 49.690 4-wheel change
Jesse Love 92 92 28.371 17.084 45.455 4-wheel change
Jesse Love 66 66 28.159 28.127 56.286 4-wheel change
Shane van Gisbergen 147 147 28.566 17.350 45.916 4-wheel change
Shane van Gisbergen 92 92 28.542 17.551 46.093 4-wheel change
Shane van Gisbergen 48 48 28.395 27.794 56.189 4-wheel change
Connor Zilisch 92 92 27.978 16.549 44.527 4-wheel change
Connor Zilisch 48 48 28.051 18.585 46.636 4-wheel change
Connor Zilisch 142 141 27.821 19.719 47.540 4-wheel change