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Kansas Lottery 300

Saturday, September 28th, 2024

Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, KS

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  • 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
Entry List
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Practice-Qualifying
Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway Practice results
# DRIVER MAKE RNK SPD TME BHND LAP LAPS 5- 10- 15- 20- 25- 30- 10-LAP FRM TO
16 AJ Allmendinger Chevrolet 10 170.519 31.668 0.234 1 14 32.112 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
19 Aric Almirola Toyota 9 170.589 31.655 0.221 2 23 31.841 32.049 32.194 32.289 0 0 168.501 1 10
14 JJ Yeley Ford 31 167.193 32.298 0.864 2 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
7 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 8 170.756 31.624 0.190 2 24 31.807 32.068 32.196 32.364 0 0 168.406 1 10
48 Parker Kligerman Chevrolet 7 170.919 31.594 0.160 1 18 31.982 32.284 0 0 0 0 167.288 1 10
53 Joey Gase Chevrolet 37 164.765 32.774 1.340 2 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
27 Jeb Burton Chevrolet 3 171.707 31.449 0.015 1 15 32.538 32.664 0 0 0 0 165.336 6 15
38 Matt DiBenedetto Ford 27 168.481 32.051 0.617 2 17 32.548 32.747 0 0 0 0 164.913 7 16
43 Ryan Ellis Chevrolet 25 168.560 32.036 0.602 1 14 32.692 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
39 Ryan Sieg Ford 16 170.014 31.762 0.328 4 17 31.893 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
91 Kyle Weatherman Chevrolet 26 168.560 32.036 0.602 2 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
44 Brennan Poole Chevrolet 29 168.004 32.142 0.708 1 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
00 Cole Custer Ford 11 170.508 31.670 0.236 2 17 31.865 32.143 32.334 0 0 0 168.017 1 10
21 Austin Hill Chevrolet 5 171.000 31.579 0.145 1 20 31.916 32.941 0 0 0 0 163.937 11 20
9 Brandon Jones Chevrolet 14 170.057 31.754 0.320 1 24 31.859 32.194 32.413 32.527 0 0 167.779 1 10
51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 35 165.909 32.548 1.114 1 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
11 Josh Williams Chevrolet 22 168.993 31.954 0.520 1 18 32.663 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
98 Riley Herbst Ford 24 168.650 32.019 0.585 2 18 32.080 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
5 Anthony Alfredo Chevrolet 28 168.161 32.112 0.678 3 18 32.506 32.649 0 0 0 0 165.410 1 10
07 Patrick Emerling Chevrolet 36 165.726 32.584 1.150 4 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
Ryan Vargas 38 164.294 32.868 1.434 2 6 33.162 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
18 Sheldon Creed Toyota 17 169.497 31.859 0.425 2 18 32.535 32.769 0 0 0 0 164.816 5 14
29 Blaine Perkins Ford 33 166.929 32.349 0.915 2 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
28 Kyle Sieg Ford 18 169.444 31.869 0.435 1 18 32.468 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
1 Sam Mayer Chevrolet 23 168.803 31.990 0.556 3 18 32.484 32.641 0 0 0 0 165.444 5 14
92 Dawson Cram Chevrolet 34 166.569 32.419 0.985 4 11 32.622 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
81 Chandler Smith Toyota 12 170.164 31.734 0.300 2 26 31.947 32.104 32.235 32.341 32.486 0 168.210 1 10
26 Corey Heim Toyota 4 171.559 31.476 0.042 1 15 32.440 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
15 Logan Bearden Ford 20 169.115 31.931 0.497 2 20 32.657 32.825 33.060 0 0 0 164.518 6 15
20 Taylor Gray Toyota 2 171.712 31.448 0.014 2 23 32.193 32.501 32.628 0 0 0 166.177 7 16
31 Parker Retzlaff Chevrolet 13 170.063 31.753 0.319 2 18 32.576 32.720 0 0 0 0 165.043 6 15
45 Brad Perez Chevrolet 19 169.247 31.906 0.472 2 15 32.647 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
8 Sammy Smith Chevrolet 6 170.989 31.581 0.147 2 25 31.925 32.082 32.278 32.485 32.700 0 168.328 1 10
42 Leland Honeyman Jr Chevrolet 32 167.188 32.299 0.865 1 10 33.019 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
10 Daniel Dye Chevrolet 15 170.031 31.759 0.325 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
2 Jesse Love Chevrolet 21 169.056 31.942 0.508 1 17 32.603 32.861 0 0 0 0 164.339 4 13
97 Shane van Gisbergen Chevrolet 30 167.224 32.292 0.858 1 16 32.705 32.866 0 0 0 0 164.310 5 14
88 Connor Zilisch Chevrolet 1 171.789 31.434 0.000 2 21 31.972 32.196 32.396 0 0 0 167.731 6 15