After a week off, the NASCAR Xfinity Series returned to action today for the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway. This race marks the second of their NASCAR Playoffs Round of 12, the first being at Bristol a couple of weeks ago. If you recall, with Aric Almirola winning that race, nobody entered today’s race locked into the Round of 8. However, regular-season champ Connor Zilisch entered with an 88-point cushion over the cutline and could lock his way in today.
Heading into today’s race, all eyes were on the JRM cars as well as the JGR contenders, as Toyota has been fairly dominant at the track in recent years. In fact, JGR swept the front row with their Playoff contenders, Taylor Gray and Brandon Jones. Were they able to ride that wave of momentum into today’s race or did JRM rise to the occasion? Did we see a shocking victor? Let’s break it down. Here’s everything that happened in the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway.
During the stage break, Justin Allgaier lost several spots on pit road, losing him that valuable track position. As we reached the halfway mark in the final stage, the best Allgaier was able to work his way up to was 5th, where he stalled out. More issues on pit road put him back outside of the top 10. Meanwhile, the battle up front became between polesitter Brandon Jones and Allgaier’s teammate, Connor Zilisch. The two ran nose to tail for most of the final run, Jones unable to get away from the hard-charging regular-season champ.
As they took 10 laps to go, Jones on slightly fresher tires was able to extend his lead over Zilisch to just over two seconds so he could breathe a little more easily. Jones went on to win the race today from the pole after finishing second is both of the prior stages. This was Jones’ second win this year and second since returning to JGR following three winless seasons at JRM. With this win, Jones locks himself into the Round of 8, which will kick off in two weeks at Las Vegas.
Though the JGR duo of Brandon Jones and Taylor Gray led the way to take the green, it didn’t take long for the JRM driver of Justin Allgaier to pass them and take over the race lead. Allgaier led 22 of the opening 35 laps of stage 1 en route to yet another stage victory. As noted by the CW Sports broadcasting booth, Allgaier has won a stage in six of the last seven races. With this stage win, Allgaier earns 10 points and 1 bonus playoff point. Eight of the twelve Playoff drivers finished in the top 10 during this stage. They included Brandon Jones, Sam Mayer, Connor Zilisch, Taylor Gray, Jesse Love, Austin Hill, and Sammy Smith.
*Playoff drivers are depicted in BOLD.
During pit stops, Justin Allgaier lost the lead to Brandon Jones. However, shortly after the race restarted, Allgaier once again assumed the race lead. Another relatively clean stage in the books (the only notable incident was when Jeb Burton spun on his own; he received no significant damage), Justin Allgaier went on to sweep the stages. This maximized his points earned to 20 at this point in the race.
*Playoff Drivers Depicted in BOLD.
The following are the unofficial results following the conclusion of the 300-lap Xfinity Series race at Kansas Speedway. This list will be updated once tech inspection is completed and the results become official.
*Playoff Drivers Depicted in BOLD.
The following drivers have locked their way into the Round of 8 1 race early. Brandon Jones secured his spot by winning today’s race. However, the two JRM teammates of Connor Zilisch and Justin Allgaier clinched their Round of 8 berths by earning enough points over the last two races. They will be able to breathe easy next week at the Roval.
These drivers are currently in the Round of 8 but have yet to clinch their berths. Some are in better shape than others. Either way, they all need a solid and clean run next week at the Roval, which is easier said than done.
These drivers are currently out of the Playoffs with 1 race remaining in the Round of 12. They’re going to need to make something happen next week in Charlotte if they want to advance.
That does it for the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway! What did you think of this race? Did Brenden Queen’s performance impress you? How’d your driver do? Who do you think will advance to the Round of 8 next week at the Roval? Let us know what you think! And be sure to tune back in here at DailyDownforce.com tomorrow at 2 PM EST for our coverage of the Hollywood Casino 400 as the NASCAR Cup guys try to survive their Round of 12.
