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  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Kansas

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Kansas

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin had a sloppy late restart that likely cost him the win at Kansas. He still finished second and is in great shape to advance to the next round of the Playoffs.

    “I just signed a contract extension with Joe Gibbs Racing,” Hamlin said. “I’m very fortunate to remain with a great team and remain financially secure for the rest of my life. My cup runneth over. Unfortunately, the Cup runneth away.”

    2. Kyle Larson: Larson won Stage 1 at Kansas and finished fourth.

    “I’ve already locked up a spot in the next round of the Playoffs,” Larson said. “So the pressure was off. I was racing under the motto, ‘Winning isn’t everything, it’s just another thing.’”

    3. William Byron: Byron spun on Lap 63 and eventually finished 15th at Kansas.

    “Not a great finish,” Byron said, “and not a horrible finish. I’m in a great position to advance to the Round Of 12, as long as I don’t have to pass an inspection.”

    4. Tyler Reddick: Reddick charged to the win on an overtime restart to claim the Hollywood Casino 400 victory and a spot in the next round of the Playoffs.

    “I don’t know how to react,” Reddick said. “I don’t know if I should celebrate, or let out a big sigh of relief, or throw my helmet at Austin Dillon. I know that last one doesn’t make sense, but it also didn’t make sense when Austin threw his helmet at my car, even though I didn’t even touch him.”

    5. Christopher Bell: Bell started on the pole at Kansas and finished eighth.

    “That’s my fifth pole of the year,” Bell said. “And I was unable to win any of those races. I have to learn to ‘close the deal,’ or I won’t be able to ‘close the deal’ when it’s time for a contract renewal.”

    6. Ross Chastain: Chastain finished 13th in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas.

    “I would love to win the Cup championship,” Chastain said. “Then I could happily drop watermelons on the heads of all my doubters. And trust me, that would take a watermelon farm’s worth of watermelons to do.”

    7. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished 12th at Kansas and is sixth in the points standings, 25 points above the Round Of 12 cut line.

    “I don’t think anyone sees me as a real threat to win the Cup championship,” Blaney said. “But I’d like to prove those people wrong, especially since I am one of those people.”

    8. Chris Buescher: Buescher blew a right-rear tire late at Kansas and finished 27th.

    “That was a tough race,” Buescher said, “with an outcome I’m not happy with. But that’s in the past. As they say, ‘We’re not in Kansas anymore.’ After Bristol, I might be saying, ‘We’re not in the Playoffs anymore.’”

    9. Joey Logano: Logano finished fifth at Kansas.

    “How about Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 Ford?” Logano said. “It was primarily sponsored by Sunny D. Is Sunny D orange juice? Is it a soft drink? Who knows? All I know is that I don’t know what it’s made of, and it’s not good for your health. It’s like the Martinsville hot dog of drinks.”

    10. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex blew a tire on Lap 4 at Kansas and slammed the outside wall, ending his day and handing him a painful last-place finish.

    “I recently signed a contract extension to remain with Joe Gibbs Racing through 2024,” Truex said. “I’m 43 years old, so this early retirement at Kansas seems very out of place.”

  • Reddick advances to Playoff’s Round of 12 in thrilling overtime Cup victory at Kansas

    Reddick advances to Playoff’s Round of 12 in thrilling overtime Cup victory at Kansas

    A week after being left disappointed with a runner-up finish in the Playoff opener at Darlington Raceway, Tyler Reddick capitalized on a late caution period and an overtime shootout to emerge out in top and race his way into the second round of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs by winning the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, September 10.

    The two-time Xfinity Series champion from Corning, California, led the final two of 268 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started fifth, scored stage points during both stage break periods and ran a consistent event while keeping pace with the leaders. Initially set to finish in the runner-up spot behind team owner and Playoff contender Denny Hamlin, an opportunity presented itself for Reddick and the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota team when the caution flew with seven laps remaining after Playoff contender Chris Buescher blew a right-rear tire.

    Amid mixed strategy among the leaders, Reddick, who opted for a four-tire pit stop, exited pit road sixth and lineup alongside Hamlin on the third row for an overtime shootout. During overtime, Reddick managed to quickly carve his way up to third before he pulled a bold three-wide pass on both Erik Jones and Joey Logano through the frontstretch to assume the lead as he also started the final lap of the event. With the clean air and the fresh tires, Reddick was able to fend off Jones and a hard-charging Hamlin to claim his second checkered flag of the 2023 Cup season and become the second Playoff contender alongside Kyle Larson to transfer from the Round of 16 to 12 by winning.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, September 9, Playoff contender Christopher Bell claimed his fourth Cup pole position of the 2023 season and second in recent weeks after posting a pole-winning lap at 180.276 mph in 29.954 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Kyle Larson, winner of last weekend’s Playoff opener at Darlington Raceway who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 179.826 mph in 30.029 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Kyle Busch dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as a result of damaging his car against the Turn 3 outside wall after blowing a tire during Saturday’s practice session. Rookie Ty Gibbs also dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car after he wrecked his primary car during practice.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Bell took off with the top spot on the inside lane as he rocketed away from the field that was fanning out through the first two turns and through the backstretch. With the field continuing to jostle for early positions, Bell proceeded to lead the first lap in his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota TRD Camry. Behind, Kyle Larson fended off Martin Truex Jr. to retain the runner-up spot entering the second lap as Truex was being attacked by Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, William Byron and Michael McDowell for more.

    Then on the third lap, Truex, who was continuing to backslide and had fallen out of the top 10 on the track, got loose while running 11th and pounded the outside wall in Turn 3 after losing a tire. The incident and the damage to his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry were enough to terminate Truex’s run three laps into the event.

    “Just really unfortunate, very unlucky,” Truex said at the infield care center on USA Network. “[The car] took off really tight. [I] Knew something was up and blew a right rear [tire]. Not really sure what happened. Obviously, it blew in the worst place possible. I hate it for my guys. We had an awesome race car. We were gonna have a really good day. Just not real sure what we need to do to get some luck right now.”

    During the first caution period, select names that included Ryan Preece, Harrison Burton, Ty Dillon, Kyle Busch and JJ Yeley pitted while the rest led by Bell remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on the ninth lap, Bell and Larson dueled for the lead through the frontstretch until Larson managed to rocket ahead from the outside lane and snatch the lead from Bell. With the field behind jostling for positions, Larson started to pull away from Bell with the lead while Chastain and Elliott battled for third in front of Byron, Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick.

    By the 12th lap, Wallace muscled his No. 23 Columbia Sportswear Toyota TRD Camry up to fourth followed by Byron and Reddick while Elliott, who nearly scrubbed the outside wall entering the frontstretch a few laps earlier, was being pressured by Austin Dillon, Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski for seventh place. In the midst of the battles, Larson retained the lead in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through the Lap 15 mark.

    Through the first 20 scheduled laps, Larson was leading by more than a second over Bell followed by Wallace, Chastain and Byron while Reddick, Elliott, Blaney, Denny Hamlin and Austin Dillon were in the top 10. Behind, Erik Jones was in 11th ahead of Keselowski, Chris Buescher, Joey Logano and Michael McDowell while AJ Allmendinger, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Alex Bowman, Kevin Harvick and Justin Haley occupied the top 20 in front of Austin Cindric, Kyle Busch, Chase Briscoe, Daniel Suarez and Carson Hocevar.

    Five laps later, Larson continued to lead by more than a second over Wallace, who overtook Bell for the runner-up spot two laps earlier, while Byron was up to fourth after he overtook Chastain’s No. 1 Kubota Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the spot three laps earlier. Behind, Reddick occupied sixth place in front of Elliott, Hamlin and Blaney, thus placing eight Playoff competitors in the top 10 on the track, while Elliott and Erik Jones were the two highest-running non-Playoff competitors in seventh and 10th.

    Another 10 laps later, Larson extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Wallace while Bell, Byron and Chastain remained in the top five in front of Reddick, Hamlin, Elliott, Erik Jones and Blaney.

    Then on Lap 36, the first wave of green flag pit stops slowly commenced as Playoff contender Joey Logano pitted his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang followed by Corey LaJoie, Keselowski, McDowell, Daniel Suarez, Hamlin, Elliott, Austin Dillon, Chris Buescher, Erik Jones, Allmendinger, Alex Bowman, Harvick, Chase Briscoe, Ty Gibbs, Hocevar, Bell, Byron, Chastain, Blaney, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Justin Haley and Austin Cindric. By Lap 39, Larson surrendered the lead to pit along with Wallace, Kyle Busch and Sheldon Creed as Aric Almirola, who has yet to pit, cycled into the lead followed by teammate Ryan Preece and Harrison Burton.

    By Lap 42, Larson cycled back into the lead after Almirola and Preece pitted. Wallace also returned to the runner-up spot by Lap 43 as Harrison Burton pitted. Then by Lap 45, Byron, Bell and Reddick cycled into the top five with nearly the entire field having made a pit stop under green.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Larson was leading by more than a second over Wallace followed by Byron, Bell and Reddick while Chastain, Hamlin, Elliott, Erik Jones and Ty Dillon were scored in the top 10, thus placing eight of 12 Playoff contenders in the top 10 on the track. Behind, Austin Dillon was in 11th ahead of Playoff contenders Blaney, Buescher and Keselowski while JJ Yeley was in 15th ahead of Allmendinger, Kyle Busch, Logano, Bowman and Harvick. By then, Stenhouse and McDowell were mired back in 21st and 23rd.

    Ten laps later, Larson stabilized his advantage to one-and-a-half seconds over Wallace while Byron, Reddick and Bell followed suit in the top five. By then, Erik Jones was up to seventh after he overtook Chastain while Blaney returned to the top 10 as he was running 10th behind Elliott. In addition, teammates Buescher and Keselowski were still mired in the top 15 and Kyle Busch cracked the top 15 while Logano, Harvick, Stenhouse and McDowell were mired within the top 20.

    Then on Lap 62, the second caution flag flew when Byron, who was running fourth in front of Bell, got loose and spun his No. 24 Raptor Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 below the backstretch, though he managed to proceed without damaging his car. The incident occurred a lap after Austin Dillon, who was battling Buescher in 11th, got loose while and smacked the outside wall, damaging the right side of his No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

    During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Larson returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Wallace emerged as the new leader after he managed to beat Larson off of pit road first while Bell, Reddick, Hamlin, Chastin and Elliott followed suit. In the midst of the pit stops Haley was penalized for speeding on pit road. In addition, Suarez was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation. Prior to the restart, Playoff contender Buescher would pit for a second time due to a left-front wheel being loose on his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang.

    With 11 laps remaining in the first stage period, the race restarted under green. At the start, Wallace and Larson dueled for the lead through the frontstretch until Larson managed to muscle ahead and reassume the lead from the inside lane. With Larson back in the lead, Bell battled Wallace for the runner-up spot in front of Chastain and Reddick as the field fanned out to three lanes. Wallace would manage to reassume the runner-up spot from Bell during the proceeding lap as he tried to track Larson for the lead.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 80, Larson captured his fourth Cup stage victory of the 2023 season. Wallace followed suit in the runner-up spot along with third-place Bell while Chastain, Blaney, Reddick, Hamlin, Keselowski, Elliott and Kevin Harvick, all of whom were in the Playoffs, were scored in the top 10. By then, 32 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap while Kyle Busch, Byron, McDowell, Logano, Buescher and Stenhouse were the remaining Playoff competitors on the track who did not accumulate the first wave of stage points.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Larson returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Larson retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Wallace, Chastain, Elliott, Reddick, Hamlin, Keselowski and Bell, who lost five spots on pit road.

    The second stage started on Lap 87 as Larson and Wallace occupied the front row. At the start, Larson received a strong push from teammate Chase Elliott on the inside lane to retain the lead and muscle away from the field as Elliott battled Wallace for the runner-up spot. With the field behind jostling for positions, Larson retained the lead in front of teammate Elliott and Wallace while Chastain tried to join the battle in fourth place. With Reddick running fifth, Hamlin and Keselowski battled for sixth place in front of Bell, Harvick, McDowell and Logano as Larson proceeded to lead the Lap 90 mark.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Larson was leading by more than a second over Wallace followed by Elliott, Reddick and Chastain while Hamlin, Keselowski, Bell, Harvick and Logano were running in the top 10. Behind, Blaney was mired back in 11th ahead of Kyle Busch, Allmendinger, Buescher and Erik Jones while Alex Bowman, Byron, McDowell, Suarez and Cindric occupied the top 20 in front of Aric Almirola, Justin Haley, Hocevar, Ty Gibbs, Briscoe, Stenhouse, LaJoie, Ryan Preece, Harrison Burton and Cole Custer.

    Seven laps later, the caution flew when Wallace, who was running second, lost a right-rear tire and scrubbed the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2 as he limped his damaged No. 23 Toyota to pit road with a flat right-rear tire and a broken right-rear toe link. While Wallace’s pit crew managed to repair the car to keep Wallace in contention, he lost three laps in the process and would continue to lose more laps as he pitted for more repairs.

    During the caution period, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Larson pitted for service while JJ Yeley and Ty Dillon remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Larson exited first followed by teammate Elliott, Keselowski, Reddick, Chastain, Hamlin, Harvick and Bell. Amid the pit stops, Ty Gibbs was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road. Once Yeley and Ty Dillon pitted shortly after, Larson cycled back into the lead.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 113, teammates Elliott and Larson dueled for the lead as the field fanned out to three and four lanes through the frontstretch. As Larson and Elliott continued to duel for the lead for nearly a lap, Reddick pulled a bold three-wide move on both Hendrick Motorsports competitors through the frontstretch and entering Turn 1 to assume the lead. Then just as Elliott claimed the lead from Reddick through the backstretch, the caution quickly returned when Cindric, who had cracked the top 20, received a bump from Michael McDowell and spun his No. 2 Menards Ford Mustang towards the apron through Turns 1 and 2.

    During the proceeding restart on Lap 119, Elliott rocketed away from the field on the inside lane as he retained the lead ahead of teammate Larson and Reddick while the field again fanned out entering the backstretch. With Elliott leading the proceeding lap, Keselowski was up to fourth followed by Harvick, who would lose the top-five spot to Chastain by Lap 121 as Blaney battled Harvick for sixth. By then, Hamlin, Bell and Logano were mired back in the top 10 while Byron was in 16th and trying to fight his way back towards the front.

    Just past the Lap 125 mark, Elliott was leading by two-tenths of a second over teammate Larson followed by Keselowski and Reddick, both of whom were trying to close in on the two Hendric leaders, while Harvick was in fifth. By then, Briscoe was off the pace after he lost power, starting in Turn 3, in his No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang as he was nearly hit by an oncoming Corey LaJoie. With Briscoe continuing to fall off the pace through the backstretch and below the apron, the caution flew on Lap 127. During the caution period, some led by Keselowski pitted while the rest led by Larson remained on the track.

    With the race restarting under green on Lap 132, Larson and Elliott dueled for the lead through the frontstretch as the field fanned out amid the competitors who pitted versus those who did not. With Elliott rocketing away with the lead, Blaney carved his way up to second followed by Buescher while Larson, who got loose while battling Chastain entering the backstretch since the restart, was overtaken by Harvick, Bell and Keselowski for spots, thus dropping him to seventh in front of Kyle Busch. Larson would continue to lose spots and fall out of the top 10 on the track while on old tires as the event reached its halfway mark. By then, Elliott, who was running on old tires, retained the lead in front of Blaney as Harvick battled and overtook Buescher for third place.

    Two laps later, Harvick, racing on fresh tires, moved his No. 4 SunnyD Ford Mustang into the runner-up spot as he overtook Blaney before setting his sights on Elliott for the lead. With Harvick, Keselowski and Blaney trailing Elliott from second to fourth within a second by Lap 140, Larson had fallen back to 16th while Chastain plummeted to 27th behind McDowell.

    At the Lap 150 mark, Elliott retained the lead by nine-tenths of a second over Keselowski, who overtook Harvick for the runner-up spot while also on fresh tires, while Hamlin and Blaney trailed in the top five. By then, Reddick was back in sixth ahead of Erik Jones, Logano, Buescher and Bell while Kyle Busch, Ty Gibbs, Suarez, Almirola, Hocevar and Byron trailed in the top 16. In addition, Larson was back in 20th behind teammate Bowman while Chastain was mired in 25th behind McDowell. In addition, Stenhouse was in 30th while Wallace, who was six laps behind the leaders, was in 34th.

    Ten laps later, Elliott continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Keselowski, who was continuing to gain ground in his No. 6 BuildSumbarines.com Ford Mustang through every turn and straightaway. Meanwhile, Hamlin cycled his No. 11 Yahoo! Toyota TRD Camry into third place over Harvick and Reddick while Erik Jones was in sixth ahead of Team Penske’s Blaney and Logano.

    Then with three laps remaining in the second stage period, Keselowski muscled his way into the lead over Elliott as Hamlin started to gain ground and join the battle for the lead. Despite nearly getting held up by the lapped competitor of Austin Dillon during the following lap, Keselowski retained the lead over Elliott as Hamlin kept both close within his sights.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 165, Keselowski, who came into the event 18 points above the cutline, claimed his fifth Cup stage victory of the 2023 season. Hamlin, who overtook Elliott for the runner-up spot during the proceeding lap, settled in second followed by Elliott while Harvick, Reddick, Erik Jones, Blaney, Logano, Buescher and Bell were scored in the top 10. By then, 30 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap. With eight of 16 Playoff competitors scoring stage points, the following names that included Kyle Busch, Byron, Larson, McDowell, Chastain, Stenhouse and Wallace were the remaining Playoff contenders running on the track who did not achieve the second round of stage points.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Keselowski pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Keselowski retained the lead after exiting pit road first while Hamlin, Harvick, Erik Jones, Reddick, Blaney, Buescher and Elliott, who lost five spots during his pit stop, followed suit. Amid the pit stops, Chastain was penalized due to his pit crew jumping over the pit wall too soon.

    With 96 laps remaining, the final stage started as Keselowski and Hamlin occupied the front row. At the start, Keselowski and Hamlin dueled for the lead through the first two turns and through the backstretch while Harvick and Erik Jones trailed behind along with a hard-charging Reddick. With Hamlin leading the proceeding lap by a hair, Keselowski managed to reassume the lead from Hamlin and clear the field from the inside lane during the next lap while Reddick and Erik Jones battled for third in front of Harvick and Blaney.

    The caution would return with 94 laps remaining when Hocevar slid up the track and made contact with Harrison Burton toward the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2 before Burton hit the wall again in Turn 3. During the caution period, some of the drivers, including Larson, McDowell and Byron pitted while the rest led by Keselowski remained on the track.

    With the race restarting with 88 laps remaining, Keselowski managed to muscle away from the inside lane to retain the lead ahead of Hamlin while Erik Jones followed suit in third. Jones and Hamlin then battled for the runner-up spot for nearly a lap in front of Harvick, Reddick, Elliott and Blaney while Keselowski rocketed away with the lead by three-tenths of a second.

    Then with 81 laps remaining, the battle for the lead ignited as Hamlin made his move beneath Keselowski through the frontstretch. Hamlin then managed to clear Keselowski and slide up the track to inherit the lead. Behind, Reddick, Hamlin’s driver at 23XI Racing, overtook Keselowski for the runner-up spot as he ignited his charge on Hamlin for the lead.

    With 70 laps remaining, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to two-tenths of a second over Reddick while Keselowski, Erik Jones and Elliott were in the top five. Behind, Harvick, Blaney, Bell and Buescher followed suit from sixth to ninth while Larson, racing on fresh tires, cracked the top 10 as he was in 10th ahead of Kyle Busch, Ty Gibbs, Logano, Suarez, Bowman and Byron.

    Ten laps later, Hamlin continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over Reddick while Keselowski, Erik Jones and Elliott were in the top five. By then, Larson, who barely scrubbed the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2, was in ninth behind Bell while Kyle Busch and Buescher battled for 10th place. With Harvick, Blaney and Bell running sixth through eighth, Logano was in 13th behind Ty Gibbs, Byron was mired in 16th, Chastain was in 18th, Stenhouse was back in 22nd and McDowell was in 25th behind Briscoe.

    Another six laps later, another cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Blaney and Erik Jones pitted their respective entries. Keselowski would pit during the proceeding lap along with Harvick, Kyle Busch, Chastain, Ryan Preece, LaJoie, Hocevar, Reddick, Elliott, Larson, Ty Gibbs, Buescher, Almirola, Briscoe, Stenhouse and Yeley. Hamlin would then surrender the lead to pit with 52 laps remaining along with Bowman and Justin Haley as Bell cycled into the lead. Bell would then pit under green with 45 laps remaining along with Byron as Daniel Suarez, who has yet to pit, cycled into the lead ahead of McDowell, Todd Gilliland and Hamlin.

    Then with 36 laps remaining, Hamlin cycled back into the lead after Suarez pitted his No. 99 Freeway.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. By then, Reddick trailed in the runner-up spot by more than a second while Keselowski, Erik Jones and Elliott were scored in the top five ahead of McDowell, Blaney, Larson, Harvick and Kyle Busch.

    Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to one-and-a-half seconds over Reddick while Keselowski, Erik Jones and Elliott remained in the top five. Larson, Kyle Busch, Blaney, Harvick and Ty Gibbs followed suit in the top 10 as Hamlin retained the lead with 20 and 15 laps remaining.

    With 10 laps remaining, Hamlin extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Reddick while third-place Elliott trailed by more than nine seconds in his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

    Then with seven laps remaining, the caution flew when Buescher, who was running 12th, blew a right-rear tire through the frontstretch as he fell off the pace while the tire disintegrated on his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang. During the caution period, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Hamlin pitted for service while Suarez remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Erik Jones exited first after opting for two fresh tires for his No. 43 Allegiant Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 along with Kyle Busch and Logano while Hamlin exited pit road fourth and the first on four fresh tires ahead of Larson, Reddick, Elliott and Keselowski. Amid the pit stops, teammates Larson and Elliott made contact while both were exiting pit road, which prompted Elliott to bump Larson to express his displeasure over the contact.

    With the event restarting in overtime, where Suarez and Erik Jones occupied the front row in front of Kyle Busch and Logano, Logano wasted no time diving his car beneath Suarez and both along with Erik Jones fanned out to three lanes through the frontstretch and entering Turn 1. Logano and Jones then made their way to the front followed by Reddick, Larson, Elliott and Hamlin while Suarez was falling back. Through the backstretch and Turns 3 and 4, Logano and Jones continued to duel for the lead as Reddick closed in on fresh tires.

    Then entering the frontstretch, Reddick dropped the hammer and crossed his No. 45 MoneyLion Toyota TRD Camry from the top to the bottom lane beneath Logano and Erik Jones. With the momentum and the fresh tires, Reddick overtook both through the frontstretch and gained the lead as the white flag waved and the final lap occurred. With Reddick leading, Hamlin then gained a run on both Logano and Jones as he tried to use the outside lane to close in on Reddick. Entering the backstretch, however, Hamlin was blocked by Jones, which allowed Reddick to continue to lead by a decent margin. Hamlin then tried to use the outside lane again to step on the gas and mount a final corner charge for the win. Despite overtaking Jones while scrubbing the wall, Hamin’s momentum was not enough as Reddick was able to cycle back to the frontstretch and claim the checkered flag by three-tenths of a second to win.

    With the victory, Reddick scored his fifth career win in NASCAR’s premier series, his second of the season, his first at Kansas and his first since winning at Circuit of the Americas in March. By becoming the second race winner in the Round of 16, Reddick advanced into the Playoff’s Round of 12 for the first time in his career as he continues his quest to win the first Cup Series title for himself, crew chief Billy Scott and the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota team.

    Ironically, Reddick’s victory marked the third time 23XI Racing’s No. 45 entry won at Kansas after the No. 45 car swept both Cup Kansas events a year ago with Kurt Busch and Bubba Wallace. Overall, Reddick also recorded the fifth career victory for 23XI Racing.

    “Just an outstanding job by this whole 23XI team,” Reddick said on USA Network. “We had really good pace, but just couldn’t get ahead of Denny [Hamlin] there. Chaos ensued, people stayed out, some took two tires and the bottom lane opened up. Pretty crazy. Four fresh tires, sent it in there and slide up. We’ve had really fast cars with this MoneyLion scheme and it’s really great to get it back to Victory Lane. We came here in the spring. I broke the streak and I didn’t get the No. 45 [car] back in Victory Lane, so I came back here motivated to get it where it belongs.”

    Hamlin, who led 63 laps and was initially in the position of sweeping both Kansas Cup events, ended up in the runner-up spot. Amid his disappointment, Hamlin scaled back to the overtime restart, where he restarted alongside Reddick on the third row and opted to lay back to potentially have Larson draft him instead of keeping pace with the front-runners, a decision that may have cost him time to drive back to the front and win.

    “[Larson] was just laying back so much, I was trying to back up to him,” Hamlin said. “I should’ve just focused forward. [I] Gave [Reddick] an opportunity to get up there in front of us. Just sleeping on the restart, looking in the rearview [mirror] instead of looking in the front. Hats off to the Yahoo! Camry TRD team. Another really, really fast car. Just didn’t need that caution at the end.”

    Erik Jones, who was initially in the position of winning for Legacy Motor Club, ended up in third place while Larson and Logano finished in the top five. Elliott, Kyle Busch, Bell, Keselowski and Alex Bowman completed the top 10 on the track.

    Notably, Harvick, Blaney, Chastain, Byron, Stenhouse, McDowell, Buescher and Wallace were the remaining Playoff contenders on the track to finish outside the top 10.

    There were 19 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 45 laps. In addition, 24 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Tyler Reddick, two laps led

    2. Denny Hamlin, 63 laps led

    3. Erik Jones

    4. Kyle Larson, 99 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    5. Joey Logano

    6. Chase Elliott, 47 laps led

    7. Kyle Busch

    8. Christopher Bell, 15 laps led

    9. Brad Keselowski, 23 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    10. Alex Bowman

    11. Kevin Harvick

    12. Ryan Blaney

    13. Ross Chastain

    14. Ty Gibbs

    15. William Byron

    16. Daniel Suarez, 12 laps led

    17. Aric Almirola, three laps led

    18. Ryan Preece

    19. Chase Briscoe

    20. Carson Hocevar

    21. Justin Haley

    22. Corey LaJoie

    23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    24. Cole Custer

    25. Todd Gilliland, one lap down

    26. Michael McDowell, one lap down

    27. Chris Buescher, one lap down

    28. Ty Dillon, one lap down

    29. Sheldon Creed, two laps down

    30. AJ Allmendinger, two laps down

    31. Austin Cindric, two laps down

    32. Bubba Wallace, four laps down, three laps led

    33. Austin Dillon, nine laps down

    34. JJ Yeley – OUT, Dvp, one lap led

    35. Harrison Burton – OUT, Dvp

    36. Martin Truex Jr. – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. Kyle Larson – Advanced

    2. Tyler Reddick – Advanced

    3. Denny Hamlin +49

    4. William Byron +41

    5. Brad Keselowski +33

    6. Ryan Blaney +25

    7. Kyle Busch +24

    8. Ross Chastain +18

    9. Chris Buescher +13

    10. Christopher Bell +13

    11. Joey Logano +12

    12. Kevin Harvick +7

    13. Martin Truex Jr. -7

    14. Bubba Wallace -19

    15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -22

    16. Michael McDowell -40

    The Round of 16 in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is set to conclude next weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race, where the first of three eliminations will occur. The event is scheduled to commence on Saturday, September 16, at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Wallace’s strong start foiled by Stage 2 incident at Kansas

    Wallace’s strong start foiled by Stage 2 incident at Kansas

    The conclusion of the NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, September 10, generated mixed feelings for 23XI Racing. While Tyler Reddick celebrated an automatic transfer to the Playoff’s Round of 12 by notching his second NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season in overtime, teammate Bubba Wallace was left disappointed. but remained optimistic, on pit road after having a strong start and potential bid for the victory evaporate from a flat right-rear tire that sent Wallace into the outside wall during the second stage and out of contention despite nursing his wounded car to the finish multiple laps down.

    At the drop of the green flag, the 29-year-old Wallace from Mobile, Alabama, quickly worked his way to the front from starting 10th. Amid an early caution period on the third lap that knocked Playoff contender Martin Truex Jr. out of contention to the ensuing restart on the ninth lap, Wallace was up to sixth by the Lap 10 mark. Two laps later, Wallace navigated his No. 23 Columbia Sportswear Toyota TRD Camry up to fourth place before moving up to third by Lap 20. Another five laps later, Wallace overtook Bell for the runner-up spot as he tried to gain ground on Playoff contender Kyle Larson for the lead.

    Keeping pace behind Larson through the first wave of green flag pit stops that commenced on Lap 36, Wallace capitalized on a caution period on Lap 62 for an incident involving Playoff contender William Byron and the ensuing pit stop to beat Larson off of pit road and assume the lead. Despite leading the field to the ensuing restart on Lap 69, where he led three laps in total, Wallace was quickly overtaken by Larson as he ended up fending off Bell to finish in the runner-up spot and collect nine stage points at the conclusion of the first stage period.

    Restarting alongside Larson to start the second stage on Lap 87, Wallace again retained the runner-up spot as he tried to keep Larson within his sights. Then on Lap 107, Wallace’s strong run diminished after he blew a right-rear tire entering Turn 1 and scrubbed the outside wall through the following two turns. The right-side damage was also enough to damage the right-rear toe link from Wallace’s No. 23 Toyota as Wallace dropped out of the lead lap category. Wallace’s pit crew, though, were able to repair and keep the car up to minimum speed despite the damage as he returned to the track while mired three laps down. Despite gaining one of his three lost laps back during another caution period on Lap 114 for an incident involving Austin Cindric, Wallace would lose more laps to the leaders after making additional pit stops to have his car repaired.

    For the remainder of the event, Wallace would manage to overtake Harrison Burton, JJ Yeley and Austin Dillon before finishing 32nd when the checkered flag flew as he was scored four laps behind the leaders. As a result, Wallace, who came into the event a single point below the top-12 cutline to transfer to the Round of 12, is now 19 points below the cutline entering next weekend’s Round of 16 finale at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    “I got loose like five laps before, but I realize that was kind of like my line and my approach next to Turn 4,” Wallace said on USA Network. “Three or four laps later, [the right-rear tire] blew out. No indication going into [Turn] 1. I’m pissed at myself [that] I wasn’t closer to the fence and maybe, we would’ve gotten by with less damage, but you’re never gonna get a flat tire or blow a tire when you’re running 20th. You’re gonna get away really fast and lights out versus the competition.”

    This season marks Wallace’s first appearance in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs as a title contender, where he made the top-16 cutline on the strength of four top-five finishes, seven top-10 results and 15 top-15 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch. Prior to Kansas, he finished seventh during last weekend’s Playoff opener at Darlington Raceway after rallying from a spin at the conclusion of the first stage period.

    Wallace’s next NASCAR Cup Series event on the schedule is Bristol Motor Speedway for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race, which will serve as the Round of 16 finale as he aims to leap back above the cutline and keep his title hopes for this season alive. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, September 16, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Nemechek wins Xfinity regular-season finale at Kansas; Kligerman claims final Playoff berth

    Nemechek wins Xfinity regular-season finale at Kansas; Kligerman claims final Playoff berth

    Three days after unveiling his planned return to the NASCAR Cup Series for the 2024 season, John Hunter Nemechek took care of extra business in his closing stretch as a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series competitor and capped off this year’s regular-season stretch on a dominant note by winning the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, September 9.

    The 26-year-old Nemechek from Mooresville, North Carolina, led four times for a race-high 154 of 200-scheduled laps in an event that was mired with 10 caution flag periods and on-track chaos that affected a bevy of competitors who were either locked in or looking from the outside to make the 2023 Xfinity Series Playoff field. Amid the battles for the final Playoff berth, Nemechek, who had already guaranteed himself a Playoff spot based on winning five times throughout the regular-season stretch, came into Kansas with a mission to both win and try to gain ground on Austin Hill to steal the regular-season title in last-minute fashion.

    Despite falling short in claiming the latter, Nemechek, who led for the first time on Lap 41, was flawless while leading as he executed the final restart with 50 laps remaining to perfection by muscling away and beating runner-up Brandon Jones by more than seven seconds to claim his unprecedented sixth checkered flag of the 2023 Xfinity season and officially enter the Playoffs with strong momentum in preparation to claim the series championship.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Justin Allgaier started on pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 176.206 mph in 30.646 seconds. Joining him on the front row was rookie Sammy Smith, who clocked in the second-best qualifying lap at 175.347 mph in 30.796 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Leland Honeyman, who initially failed to qualify for the event, dropped to the rear of the field after replacing Timmy Hill in the No. 66 MBM Motorsports entry. Matt Mills also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his entry along with CJ McLaughlin, who fell back due to an engine change.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Allgaier and Sammy Smith dueled for the lead as the field began to fan out through the frontstretch and entering the first turn. Then as the field led by Allgaier made its way through the backstretch, the first caution flag of the event flew after Nick Leitz and Anthony Alfredo wrecked towards the outside wall and against each other in Turn 1.

    When the race restarted under green on the fifth lap, Allgaier used the outside lane to his advantage as he rocketed away from Sammy Smith to retain the lead while Cole Custer, who restarted behind Allgaier, followed suit by claiming the runner-up spot. With Allgaier leading, Custer retained second over Sammy Smith while John Hunter Nemechek, Josh Berry, Brandon Jones and Daniel Hemric followed suit as the field behind fanned out and jostled for early spots.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps and as the field continued to jostle for spots, Allgaier was leading by six-tenths of a second over Custer followed by Nemechek, Sammy Smith and Brandon Jones while Berry, Hemric, Brett Moffitt, Sheldon Creed and Austin Hill were in the top 10. Behind, Ryan Sieg was in 11th ahead of Riley Herbst while Sam Mayer, Parker Kligerman and rookie Chandler Smith battled in the top 15.

    Two laps later, the second caution flag of the event flew due to debris reported near the entrance of pit road. During the caution period, select names, among which included rookie Chandler Smith and Jeremy Clements, pitted while the rest led by Allgaier, who was spotted to have a brake pad stuck on the splitter of his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro, remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Chandler Smith’s pit crew went under the hood to diagnose a mechanical issue that would eventually send Smith and his No. 16 Quick Tie Products Chevrolet Camaro team to the garage.

    During the proceeding restart on Lap 18, Allgaier and Custer dueled for the lead through the frontstretch and they continued to duel through the backstretch while the field behind fanned out to three and four lanes. Then as Allgaier cleared the field and drove away from Custer entering the frontstretch, the caution quickly returned during the following lap when Sam Mayer, who was running ninth, made contact with Creed and spun across the frontstretch and was T-boned by Kyle Weatherman, thus knocking both out of the event.

    As the event restarted under green on Lap 25, Allgaier and Custer dueled again for the lead through the frontstretch and backstretch until Allgaier used the outside lane to his advantage and rocketed away with the lead. With Allgaier leading, Nemechek started to gain ground on Custer for the runner-up spot as the field fanned out through the backstretch with Berry losing a bevy of spots and slipping out of the top 10 on the track.

    At the Lap 30 mark, Allgaier was leading by six-tenths of a second over Nemechek, who overtook Custer for the runner-up spot a few laps earlier, while Custer, Sammy Smith and Hemric, who officially clinched his spot for the 2023 Xfinity Playoffs, were in the top five. Behind, Brandon Jones, needing a victory to make the Playoffs, was in sixth as he tried to close in on Hemric for a top-five spot while Hill, Kligerman, Creed and Derek Kraus were running in the top 10. With Kaz Grala, Ryan Sieg, Jeb Burton, Brett Moffit and Herbst occupying the top 15, Berry was back in 16th ahead of Connor Mosack, Joe Graf Jr., Rajah Caruth and Josh Williams.

    Five laps later, Allgaier continued to lead by half a second over Nemechek while third-place Custer trailed by more than a second. Meanwhile, Hemric, who was running in the top five, plummeted to 20th due to an issue with his No. 10 Cirkul Chevrolet Camaro and while Berry was mired back in 14th. By then, Brandon Jones cracked the top five in fourth while Sammy Smith was in fifth. With Hemric continuing to fall off the pace and running in the apron, his early run went from good to bad and worse after he missed his pit stall while trying to pit and dropped out of the lead lap category as he would eventually take his car to the garage.

    Then on Lap 41, Nemechek, who gained a massive run through the backstretch on Allgaier during the previous lap, overtook Allgaier for the lead in his No. 20 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Supra. With Allgaier trying to fight back through Turns 1 and 2 along with the backstretch, he nearly got loose in Turn 1 and slid up the track in Turn 3, which allowed Custer to battle him for the runner-up spot while Nemechek slowly started to pull away. Meanwhile, Herbst, who was battling Kligerman for the final spot to make the Playoffs, worked his way up to ninth while Kligerman, who was currently scored five points above the cutline over Herbst, was in seventh.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Nemechek, who was trying to gain ground on Austin Hill in battling for this year’s Xfinity regular-season title, captured his eighth Xfinity stage victory of the 2023 season following his late rally and overtake on Allgaier for the lead. Custer settled in second followed by Allgaier while Brandon Jones, Sammy Smith, Kligerman, Hill, Creed, Herbst and Derek Kraus were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Nemechek pitted. Following the pit stops, Custer moved into the lead after exiting pit road first while Nemechek, Allgaier, Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones, Creed, Kligerman and Herbst followed suit.

    The second stage started on Lap 51 as Custer and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start, Custer and Nemechek dueled for the lead as the field fanned out through the frontstretch and entering the first two turns until Nemechek managed to cycle around Custer and reassume the lead. With Nemechek back out in front with the lead, Allgaier started to battle Custer for second in front of Brandon Jones and Sammy Smith while Kligerman muscled his No. 48 Spiked Light Coolers Chevrolet Camaro up to sixth place in his bid to make the Playoffs. During the proceeding laps and with Nemechek still leading, Berry returned to the top 10 as he was running ninth in between Creed and Hill while Herbst joined the battle as he was five spots behind Kligerman on the track.

    Then on Lap 58, the caution returned due to debris in the form of a tire carcass coming apart from Jeremy Clements’ entry in Turn 1. In the midst of the issue, Custer, who was running third in front of Sammy Smith, went up the track after running over the debris and scrubbed the outside wall in Turn 1 as he limped his damaged No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang to pit road for repairs. The damage, which broke the upper control arm in the No. 00 entry, was enough to terminate Custer’s strong run in the garage.

    On the ensuing restart on Lap 64, Nemechek and Allgaier dueled for the lead in front of the field. Behind, however, Kligerman, who restarted in the top 10, spun the tires while trying to regain pace, which caused the field to briefly stack up as he was then hit by Herbst, who then fell off the pace as he went up the track with a flat tire and pitted his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang under green. Back on track, Nemechek retained the lead over Allgaier while Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones and Berry followed suit.

    At the Lap 70 mark, Nemechek was leading by three-tenths of a second over Allgaier while Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones and Berry continued to run in the top five. By then, Kligerman, who continued to run under full power, was in eighth while Herbst was mired back in 32nd after he lost two laps in the process of pitting under green and was now 29 points behind Kligerman for a Playoff spot.

    Four laps later, the caution flew when Brandon Jones, who was running fourth, snapped sideways and spun his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro across the frontstretch grass, though he continued without sustaining any damage.

    With 11 laps remaining in the second stage period, the event restarted under green. At the start, teammates Nemechek and Sammy Smith dueled for the lead as the field fanned out through the frontstretch. With Nemechek muscling away with the lead, where he proceeded to lead the Lap 80 mark, Allgaier trailed and started to challenge Smith or the lead while Hill, Allgaier and Berry battled for fourth. Teammates, Allgaier and Berry would overtake Hill for third and fourth while Sammy Smith tried to gain ground on teammate Nemechek for the lead.

    When the second stage period on Lap 90, Nemechek captured his ninth Xfinity stage victory of the 2023 and second of the day after extending his advantage to more than a second over teammate Sammy Smith. Smith settled in second followed by Allgaier, Berry and Hill while Kligerman, Creed Kraus, rookie Parker Retzlaff and Moffitt were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Nemechek returned to pit road for service while Brandon Jones remained on the track to inherit the lead. Following the pit stops, Nemechek exited first while teammate, Sammy Smith, Hill, Creed, Allgaier, Kraus, Berry and Kligerman followed suit.

    With 104 laps remaining, the final stage started as Brandon Jones and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start, Nemechek reassumed the lead after gaining a strong start from the inside lane while Hill, Allgaier, Sammy Smith and Creed followed suit with the field fanning out through the backstretch. Not long after, the caution quickly returned when Sammy Smith, who was bumped by Creed, clipped and sent Allgaier for a spin as both wrecked against the outside wall in Turn 3 while Brandon Jones, who was losing spots while restarting on old tires, spun sideways to avoid the carnage. In the midst of the carnage, Herbst, who gained one of his two lost laps during the second stage break period, was the recipient of the free pass to cycle back on the lead lap and potentially draw himself back into contention to still make the Playoffs.

    During the proceeding restart with 97 laps remaining, Nemechek and Hill battled early for the lead past the restart zone as the field scattered and jostled for late positions through the first two turns and the backstretch. With Nemechek retaining the lead through the proceeding laps, Creed muscled his way up to second while Berry came out late to overtake Hill and move his No. 8 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro to third. By then, Kligerman cracked the top five as he was in fifth in front of Kraus while Retzlaff, Ryan Ellis, Grala and Jeb Burton were in the top 10. In the process, Nemechek retained the lead by more than a second with 90 laps remaining.

    With 80 laps remaining, Nemechek extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Berry while Creed trailed in third place by more than four seconds. With Creed and Kligerman in the top five, Kraus, Retzlaff, Brandon Jones, Grala and Moffitt trailed in the top 10 while Herbst carved his way up to 12th. As Nemechek continued to extend his advantage to more than three seconds with 75 laps remaining, Herbst continued his march back to the front as he returned to the top 10 by moving up to 10th behind Grala.

    A few laps later, however, Herbst’s late rally from his early issues evaporated after he was forced to pit under green due to a flat right-front tire with smoke coming out of his car amid a tire rub. Mired back multiple laps once again, Herbst found himself strapped in 29th place while Kligerman continued to run in fifth as he was now scored 30 points above the cutline and in position to claim the final Playoff spot. Meanwhile, Nemechek extended his advantage to more than six seconds over Berry.

    With 63 laps remaining, the caution flew when Rajah Caruth was turned by Matt Mills and spun his No. 45 Circle Pay Chevrolet Camaro across the frontstretch grass and towards pit road before he looped his car straight and continued. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Nemechek peeled off the track to pit for service. Following the pit stops, Nemechek retained the lead after exiting first while Berry, Hill, Creed and Kligerman followed suit.

    As the race restarted with 57 laps remaining, Nemechek rocketed away from the field to retain the lead while Hill and Berry battled for second. As Berry rocketed away from Hill during the following lap with Nemechek out in front, Brandon Jones overtook both Kligerman and Creed through the backstretch just before the caution returned when Caruth slid his car sideways through Turns 3 and 4.

    When the race restarted with 50 laps remaining, Nemechek and Berry dueled for the lead through the frontstretch until Nemechek managed to muscle ahead with the lead entering the backstretch. Behind, Hill, Brandon Jones and Kligerman battled for third as Jones overtook both to move up to third before proceeding to catch teammate Berry for more. In the process, Hill and Kligerman kept battling for fourth place in front of Creed. Jones would then overtake teammate Berry for the runner-up spot with 47 laps remaining as he now set his sights on Nemechek for the lead and win to get into the Playoffs.

    With 35 laps remaining, Nemechek was leading by more than a second over Brandon Jones while Hill moved his No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro up to third place in front of Berry and Kligerman. Behind, Moffitt was in sixth while Creed, Kraus, Jeb Burton and Grala were scored in the top 10.

    Ten laps later, Nemechek stretched his advantage to more than three seconds over Brandon Jones while third-place Hill trailed by more than five seconds ahead of Berry and Kligerman. Nemechek would continue to extend his advantage to more than four seconds over Brandon Jones followed by Hill while Kligerman overtook Berry for fourth place with 20 laps remaining.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Nemechek stabilized his advantage to nearly six seconds over Brandon Jones while Hill, Kligerman and Creed were trailing behind in the top five and by more than nine seconds. By then, Berry fell back to sixth while Moffitt, Kraus, Grala and Joe Graf Jr. were mired in the top 10.

    With five laps remaining, Nemechek continued to lead by more than six seconds over Brandon Jones as he continued to muscle away from the field while navigating his way through lapped traffic.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Nemechek remained as the leader by more than six seconds over Brandon Jones. With Jones too far back to mount a late charge, Nemechek, who continued to deal with lapped traffic, was able to cycle his way around the Kansas circuit for a final time smoothly and cross the finish line to claim his sixth checkered flag of the 2023 Xfinity season and by more than seven seconds over Jones.

    With the victory, Nemechek scored his eighth career victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, his sixth of the season, his second at Kansas and the 10th of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing. In addition, Nemechek recorded the milestone 200th Xfinity career win for the Toyota nameplate. Despite falling short of claiming the Xfinity Series regular-season title to Austin Hill by a mere margin, Nemechek enters the 2023 Xfinity Series Playoffs with momentum and with the top seed with 2,049 points as he prepares to embark on his quest to win his first Xfinity title.

    “I don’t if this [win] makes us the [championship] favorite or not, but super proud of this No. 20 team, Joe Gibbs Racing,” Nemechek said on NBC. “Man, it’s been a week. It’s been an exciting week, but I’m super pumped to get [the] Pye Barker Toyota GR Supra back in Victory Lane. [Crew chief] Ben [Beshore] and all the guys made the right adjustments all day. They brought a really fast hot rod. Overall, just super pumped, super ecstatic. I’m looking forward to getting in the Playoffs starting next weekend at Bristol [Motor Speedway]. We came in here today trying to get the regular-season championship. I said that we’re gonna have a 60-point day this weekend and that’s what we did. We controlled where we can control. We did everything that we could possibly do, so let’s get to the Playoffs. I’m ready.”

    Brandon Jones rallied from his pair of on-track spins by settling in second place, which marks his highest-finishing result of the season, but was not able to gain enough ground to make the Playoffs for himself and the No. 9 JR Motorsports team.

    Creed settled in third place followed by Parker Kligerman, who was able to clinch the 12th and final transfer spot into the Playoffs as both he and Big Machine Racing will make their inaugural presences in the Xfinity Series Playoffs as title contenders while seeded 12th in the Playoff standings with 2,002 points. With Kligerman in the Playoffs, Herbst, who came into Kansas a single point ahead of Kligerman, ended up dropping below the cutline amid his series of on-track issues and with a 23rd-place finish as he too missed the Playoffs.

    Photo by Simon Scoggins for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “That’s a very satisfying feeling,” Kligerman said. “I was definitely the biggest John Hunter [Nemechek] fan that last run there, seeing [Brandon Jones] be so fast that last run. I’m really proud of this whole Big Machine Racing team. They brought a really good Spiked Light Coolers Chevy as we showed throughout this race. We executed at a high level and that’s what I’m seeing us 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 gonna go racing for a championship. What an honor to get the first Playoff berth for this race team. Overall, just a really solid day where we executed on a high level. If we can do that in the next eight weeks, we got a chance at this thing.”

    “We just weren’t good enough today,” Herbst said. “I feel like we weren’t good enough, though, so that’s what’s frustrating. I just don’t think we executed on that restart [on Lap 64]. I don’t really know what happened. They all got stacked up. I don’t know if somebody missed a gear or spun the tires, but at that point, our day was kind of in a big hole. I feel like we can go now and try to win races. I don’t think we’re gonna quit working by any means and I think we’re gonna hopefully end up in Victory Lane by the year’s over.”

    Finishing behind Kligerman on the track was Austin Hill, who was able to lock up the Xfinity Series regular-season championship over Nemechek. As a result, Hill, who was awarded an additional 15 Playoff bonus points, will be seeded in second place behind Nemechek in the Playoff standings with 2,039 points as he prepares to contend for his first Xfinity title.

    “We just struggled all day with the balance of our Bennett Chevrolet,” Hill said. “We persevered, we dug deep. Not even sure how we finished in the top five there. Us getting the regular-season championship just shows that no matter how tough the battle is and how tough the uphill climb is, we never give up. We keep fighting. The guys did an awesome job on pit road on gaining me spots. That helped. We just had to go out there and just salvage what we could. Going into the Playoffs, we have a lot of work to do to catch up to [Nemechek]. He was class of the field today. We gotta be better come Bristol time.”

    Berry, Moffitt, Derek Kraus, Joe Graf Jr. and Kaz Grala finished in the top 10 on the track.

    John Hunter Nemechek, Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer, Sam Mayer, rookie Chandler Smith, Josh Berry, Sheldon Creed, rookie Sammy Smith, Jeb Burton, Daniel Hemric and Parker Kligerman have made the 2023 Xfinity Series Playoffs and will embark on a seven-race stretch to battle for this year’s Xfinity Series championship.

    Riley Herbst, Brandon Jones, Brett Moffitt, rookie Parker Retzlaff, Kaz Grala, Ryan Sieg, Jeremy Clements, Anthony Alfredo, Joe Graf Jr., Kyle Sieg, Josh Williams, Brennan Poole, Ryan Ellis and Blaine Perkins are among the rest of the competitors who missed the Playoffs.

    There were seven lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 49 laps. In addition, 11 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. John Hunter Nemechek, 154 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    2. Brandon Jones, two laps led

    3. Sheldon Creed

    4. Parker Kligerman

    5. Austin Hill

    6. Josh Berry

    7. Brett Moffitt

    8. Derek Kraus

    9. Joe Graf Jr.

    10. Kaz Grala

    11. Parker Retzlaff

    12. Jeb Burton, one lap down

    13. Josh Williams, one lap down

    14. Connor Mosack, one lap down

    15. Jeremy Clements, one lap down

    16. Mason Massey, one lap down

    17. Ryan Ellis, one lap down

    18. Justin Allgaier, one lap down, 40 laps led

    19. Matt Mills, two laps down

    20. Kyle Sieg, two laps down

    21. Dawson Cram, two laps down

    22. CJ McLaughlin, two laps down

    23. Riley Herbst, two laps down

    24. Joey Gase, two laps down

    25. Garrett Smithley, two laps down

    26. Leland Honeyman, three laps down

    27. Anthony Alfredo, three laps down

    28. Brennan Poole, three laps down

    29. Rajah Caruth, three laps down

    30. Ryan Sieg, four laps down

    31. Nick Leitz, six laps down

    32. Chandler Smith, 14 laps down

    33. Blaine Perkins – OUT, Brakes

    34. Daniel Hemric, 80 laps down

    35. Sammy Smith – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    36. Cole Custer – OUT, Accident, three laps led

    37. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

    38. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Accident

    The 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs is set to commence next Friday, September 15, at Bristol Motor Speedway, with the event’s broadcast slated to occur at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Eckes wins Playoff’s Round of 10 finale at Kansas in wild two-lap shootout

    Eckes wins Playoff’s Round of 10 finale at Kansas in wild two-lap shootout

    After spending a majority of the evening trailing the front-runners, Christian Eckes benefitted through a pair of late-race cautions and a two-lap shootout to overtake Playoff rivals Corey Heim and Zane Smith on the final lap to win the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Kansas Lottery 200 at Kansas Speedway on Friday, September 8.

    The 22-year-old Eckes from Greenville, New York, led the final two of 134-scheduled laps in an event where he qualified eighth, notched stage points during the event’s two stage periods and kept pace with the leaders with a locked-up berth to the Round of 8 in the 2023 Truck Series Playoffs already sealed prior to the event.

    Then amid two late-race caution periods, starting with 17 laps remaining and a proceeding one with eight laps remaining that sent the event into a two-lap shootout, Eckes, who was running in the top five amid the late chaos, drew himself into a battle for the lead and win against Heim and Zane Smith prior to the final lap. Despite leading the final lap mark, Eckes briefly lost the lead to both Heim and Zane Smith. With the latter two dueling for the lead through the backstretch, Eckes seized an opportunity and crossed his No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet beneath Heim and Zane Smith before bolting past both through the backstretch and nearly sliding up the track in Turn 3 before muscling away and claiming his third Truck Series victory of the 2023 season as the Playoff’s Round of 10 came to a thrilling conclusion.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Chase Purdy notched his first Truck career pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 176.292 mph in 30.631 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff competitor and rookie Nick Sanchez, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 176.200 mph in 30.647 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Chase Janes, Spencer Davis Timy Hill and Lawless Alan dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective trucks. Playoff contender Matt Crafton and Colby Howard also dropped to the rear of the field as they started the main event in backup trucks.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Purdy and Sanchez dueled for the lead through the frontstretch and entering the first turn until Sanchez muscled his No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST ahead of Purdy on the inside lane and into the lead entering the backstretch. As the field fanned out through the backstretch, Sanchez rocketed away from the competition as he proceeded to lead the first lap. With Sanchez leading, Ben Rhodes challenged Purdy for the runner-up spot followed by Christian Eckes while Ty Majeski, who got loose and nearly clipped Purdy through the third turn, was back in fifth ahead of rookie Jake Garcia.

    Through the second lap, Sanchez stretched his advantage to half a second over a side-by-side duel between Rhodes and Purdy while Eckes retained fourth. Behind, Majeski got loose again in Turn 3 as he nearly clipped Garcia while battling for fifth place. The mishap dropped Majeski to seventh as Garcia and Jake Drew moved up to fifth and sixth.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Sanchez was leading by six-tenths of a second over Rhodes followed by Purdy, Garcia and Eckes while Jake Drew, Majeski, Jack Wood, Grant Enfinger and Zane Smith were in the top 10. Behind, Corey Heim was in 11th ahead of rookie Taylor Gray, Hailie Deegan, Matt DiBenedetto and Tanner Gray while Carson Hocevar, Stewart Friesen, rookie Rajah Caruth, Dean Thompson and Jesse Love occupied the top 20 on the track. Meanwhile, Matt Crafton was the lowest-running Playoff contender on the track as he was in 22nd.

    At the Lap 10 mark, Sanchez continued to lead by nine-tenths of a second over Rhodes while third-place Garcia trailed by more than a second. By then, Purdy fell back to fourth ahead of Eckes and Majeski while Drew, Heim, Zane Smith and Wood were mired in the top 10. Meanwhile, Enfinger, Hocevar, DiBenedetto and Crafton were the four Playoff competitors currently running outside the top 10 on the track.

    Three laps later, the first caution of the event flew when Bayley Currey, who was running 23rd, spun his No. 41 Unishippers Chevrolet Silverado RST entering Turn 2. During the first caution period, some including Enfinger, Ankrum, Colby Howard, Spencer Boyd, Justin Carroll, Lawless Alan, Mason Maggio, Deegan and Chase Janes pitted while the rest led by Sanchez remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 20, Sanchez, who spun the tires at the start, retained the lead as the field fanned out through the first turn. In the midst of Sanchez leading, Rhodes was being challenged by Purdy and Eckes for the runner-up spot as Heim and Zane Smith battled for fifth in front of Hocevar and Garcia, who slipped out of the top five.

    Five laps later, Sanchez retained the lead by seven-tenths of a second over Purdy followed by Rhodes, Heim and Eckes while Zane Smith settled in sixth in front of Hocevar. Shortly after, Enfinger, who restarted outside the top 20, had carved his way back into the top 10 on fresh tires as he was in eighth behind Zane Smith and Jake Drew while Hocevar fell back to ninth.

    Then on Lap 26, the second caution of the event flew when Kaden Honeycutt spun in between Turns 3 and 4 as his truck looped sideways from the top lane to the bottom lane with the leaders approaching and missing Honeycutt. Honeycutt’s incident was enough for the first stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 30 to officially conclude under caution.

    As a result, Sanchez, who came into the event three points above the top-eight cutline to advance to the Playoff’s Round of 8, captured his third Truck stage victory of the 2023 season. Purdy settled in second while Rhodes, Heim, Eckes, Zane Smith, Drew, Enfinger, Hocevar and Majeski were scored in the top 10. By then, DiBenedetto and Crafton were the two Playoff contenders who failed to collect a first round of stage points as they were scored in 11th and 13th on the track while Hocevar managed to clinch his way into the Round of 8 by points for the first time in his career.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Sanchez pitted while Enfinger, who pitted during the first caution period, remained on the track to inherit the lead.

    The second stage started on Lap 35 as Enfinger and Sanchez occupied the front row. At the start, Sanchez managed to rocket ahead of Enfinger to reassume the lead on the inside lane as the field fanned out through the first two turns and entering the backstretch. With Rhodes challenging and overtaking Enfinger for the runner-up spot, he then proceeded to challenge Sanchez for the lead during the proceeding lap. Despite leading Laps 37 and 38 by a hair over Sanchez amid a heated duel, Sanchez would manage to slide in front of Rhodes’ No. 99 Kubota Ford F-150 through Turns 3 and 4 as he retained the lead with a clear racetrack by Lap 39. By then, Purdy made an unscheduled pit stop under green due to reports of a loose wheel to his pole-winning No. 4 Bama Buggies Chevrolet Silverado RST.

    At the Lap 40 mark, Sanchez was leading by three-tenths of a second over a tight seven-truck battle for the lead that involved Hocevar, Rhodes, Eckes, Zane Smith, Enfinger and Heim, all of whom were separated by a second and were contending in the Playoffs, while DiBenedetto and Crafton trailed in the top nine. With nine of 10 Playoff contenders running first through ninth, Majeski, the 10th Playoff contender, was mired back in 20th while Taylor Gray was the highest-running non-playoff competitor running in 10th place on the track.

    By Lap 50, Hocevar, who overtook Sanchez for the lead two laps earlier, was leading in his No. 42 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Silverado RST by nine-tenths of a second over Sanchez while Zane Smith, Heim and Rhodes were in the top five ahead of Eckes, Enfinger and DiBenedetto. By then, Crafton fell back to 12th while teammate Majeski was still mired in 19th in between Jack Wood and Jesse Love.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 60, Hocevar notched his third Truck stage victory of the 2023 season after muscling away from the field by more than two seconds. Sanchez trailed in second followed by Heim, Zane Smith and Enfinger while Eckes, Rhodes, Rajah Caruth, DiBenedetto and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10. By then, the remaining Playoff competitors, Crafton and Majeski, were mired back in 12th and 17th, respectively.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Hocevar returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Heim exited pit road first while Sanchez, Zane Smith, Hocevar and Eckes followed suit.

    With 66 laps remaining, the final stage started as Heim and Sanchez occupied the front row. At the start, Heim took off with the lead from the inside lane as Sanchez engaged in a three-wide battle with Hocevar and Zane Smith for the runner-up spot through Turn 1. Smith and Hocevar then went three-wide on Heim for the lead through the backstretch as nearly the entire front-runners also fanned out in three tight-packed lanes. With Hocevar receiving no drafting help through the backstretch, however, Heim, who had Sanchez drafting help, managed to rocket his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro ahead of Smith through Turns 3 and 4 to clear the field and retain the lead during the following lap.

    Then with 63 laps remaining, Crafton’s Playoff hopes took a hit when he fell off the pace as a result of hitting the backstretch’s outside wall two laps earlier while battling in the top 12. Not long after, trouble struck for his teammate Rhodes, whom Crafton was battling for the final transfer spot to the Playoffs, as he was losing spots on the track amid reports of having a tire going down and making contact with the wall, but he continued to remain on the track as he plummeted to 26th while Crafton pitted his No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 and dropped out of the lead lap category. Amid the issues for both ThorSport Racing Playoff contenders, Heim retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Hocevar and four-tenths of a second over Zane Smith with 60 laps remaining.

    Then with 52 laps remaining, Hocevar, who spent the last few laps engaged in a fierce battle with Heim for the lead, overtook him to reassume the top spot. With Hocevar retaining the lead over Heim and Eckes with less than 50 laps remaining, the night went from bad to worse for Crafton, who pitted for a second time under green for repairs to his truck amid his late incident with the wall as he lost more laps from the leaders. By then, DiBenedetto, who was running eighth, was within close distance of racing his way into the Round of 8 over Rhodes, who still retained the final transfer spot to the next round but was mired back in 27th on the track.

    As Rhodes, who went a lap down earlier, pitted for four fresh tires with 43 laps remaining, Hocevar found himself being intimidated for the lead by Heim, who trailed by two-tenths of a second, while third-place Zane Smith trailed by more than three seconds. By then, Eckes and Sanchez were in the top five while Taylor Gray, Enfinger, DiBenedetto, Majeski and Garcia were running in the top 10.

    With 39 laps remaining, Heim pitted under green from the runner-up spot. A bevy of names that included the leader Hocevar, Taylor Gray, Stewart Friesen, Jake Drew, rookie Daniel Dye, Rajah Caruth, Hailie Deegan and Majeski pitted during the proceeding laps while Zane Smith, Sanchez, Eckes and Enfinger would pit during the next lap as DiBenedetto, who drew himself back into contention to still transfer to the Round of 8 but is still needing to make a pit stop, assumed the lead. DiBenedetto would then pit with 35 laps remaining as Tanner Gray assumed the lead.

    Once the last wave of lead lap competitors pitted, among which included late leaders Tanner Gray, Jack Wood and Bret Holmes, Heim, who slid through his pit box during his green flag pit stop but managed to run ahead of Hocevar on the track, cycled back into the lead with 27 laps remaining. By then, Heim was leading by more than a second over Hocevar followed by Zane Smith, Eckes and Sanchez while Taylor Gray, DiBenedetto, Friesen, Caruth and Jake Drew were in the top 10. By then, Enfinger, who was penalized for speeding during his green flag pit stop, was back in 17th in front of Majeski while Rhodes and Crafton were mired in 26th and 35th, respectively.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Heim continued to lead by more than a second over Hocevar while Zane Smith, Sanchez and Eckes continued to run in the top five. By then, DiBenedetto, who was running seventh, was still scored eight points below the top-eight cutline behind Rhodes, who was still mired in 26th on the track while teammate Crafton was running 35th on the track and scored 12 points below the cutline.

    Three laps later, the caution flew due to an accident involving Mason Maggio in Turn 3. During the caution period, the front-runners led by Heim remained on the track. With the event reaching its final 10-lap mark with the caution flag still displayed, some running in the middle of the pack, including Enfinger, Majeski and Rhodes, pitted for service while the rest led by Heim remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green with eight laps remaining, Heim received a strong push from Zane Smith’s No. 38 RTA Ford F-150 to boost ahead of Hocevar and retain the lead. Smith then made his move to Heim’s outside in a bid for the lead through the first two turns and through the backstretch while Hocevar tried to make it a three-way battle for the lead. Shortly after and amid the tight battle for the lead, the caution returned after Caruth and Tanner Gray wrecked across the frontstretch, with Caruth spinning across the frontstretch grass after getting turned by Gray while Gray spun back across the track and pounded the outside wall. At the moment of caution, Heim managed to retain the lead ahead of Zane Smith and Hocevar.

    Down to the final two laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Heim and Zane Smith dueled for the lead through the first two turns and through the backstretch. Then exiting the backstretch, Eckes gained a massive run on the leaders as he bolted his No. 19 PEAK/NAPA Nightvision Chevrolet Silverado RST to the outside of Smith entering Turn 3. Eckes, Zane Smith and Heim then went three wide entering the frontstretch, with Heim nearly getting loose, as they battled for the lead and potential win.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Eckes was out in front by a hair over both Zane Smith and Heim while Taylor Gray, DiBenedetto and Hocevar battled for fourth place behind. Through the first two turns, Heim and Zane Smith muscled ahead of Eckes to make it a tight two-truck battle for the lead between them entering the backstretch. Then through the backstretch, Eckes crossed over to the inside lane and managed to overtake both Zane Smith and Heim for the lead entering Turn 3 before he slid up the track and stalled Smith’s momentum, which caused Smith to get loose. With Smith losing his momentum, Eckes managed to keep his foot on the gas pedal and muscle away from the field to cross the checkered flag with the victory in dramatic fashion and by three-tenths of a second.

    With the victory, Eckes, who had secured a spot for the Round of 8 in the 2023 Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs based on points prior to Friday night’s event at Kansas, scored his fourth career victory in the series, his third of the season and his first since winning at Darlington Raceway in May. Ironically, all three of Eckes’ Truck victories this season have occurred in two-lap shootouts, but tonight was the first where Eckes won under green flag conditions, as the New York native and his No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet team proceeded toward their quest to win this year’s Truck Series championship.

    “That was wild,” Eckes said on FS1. “I didn’t know if I was gonna win it or not. We had like a sixth-place truck all day, but that caution coming out, I knew we’d have a shot at it. Here we are. We haven’t won in a really long time, so [I] wanted to kind of set the tone and went a hell of a way to the Round of 10. [Finishes of] Second, third and first. Can’t beat that. Proud of all of these guys. Man, it’s awesome to be back in Victory Lane, for sure.”

    Behind Eckes, Taylor Gray notched a career-best runner-up result in his 29th Truck career start followed by Matt DiBenedetto, who made a strong rally to finish third for his second top-five result of the season. The result, however, was not enough for DiBenedetto and the No. 25 Rackley W.A.R. team to advance to the Round of 8 as their Playoff run came to an end.

    “Honestly this team fought so hard, worked their tail off to give me a good-looking truck and a good-handling truck all night,” DiBenedetto, who will be departing Rackley W.A.R. at the conclusion of the 2023 season, said. “Man, we made the most of it, for sure. Just so thankful for these guys, Rackley Roofing…I hate we missed [advancing to the Round of 8], man. It stinks we had an issue at Milwaukee and it took us out of it. We could be in that next round, but this team, they deserve to hold their heads high, for sure.”

    Like DiBenedetto, Matt Crafton’s hopes for a fourth championship came to an end amid his late contact with the wall and series of unscheduled pit stops that resulted in him finishing in 33rd in the final running order and below the top-eight cutline. This season marks the second in a row where Crafton and his No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford team have failed to transfer past the Round of 10.

    “It is what it is,” Crafton said. “The cards were dealt. It folded really crappy for us, but at the end of the day, we had some speed. When [the truck] jumped sideways off of [Turn] 2, it hadn’t done that all night. Just caught me off guard. I gotta thank [my crew]. They worked their butts off today just from practice, wrecking that truck in practice and then, wrecking during the race. It wasn’t meant to be. We’ll go on and do it again next year.”

    Amid the disappointment for DiBenedetto and Crafton, good fortune came for Ben Rhodes, who ended up 25th and managed to secure the eighth and final transfer spot to the Round of 8 by a mere margin. As a result, he and his No. 99 ThorSport Racing Ford team will continue their quest for a second Truck Series title.

    “We were edgy all day long ever since we unloaded,” Rhodes said. “We kind of were predicting that it was gonna come to us in the race and it kind of went the opposite way. We ended up having a tire going down that caused me to hit the wall, it was just a mistake on myself. Mixed emotions tonight for this Kubota Ford F-150 team. The expectation is to make it to the next round, so just meeting the expectation isn’t necessarily a cause for celebration. We’re happy to advance, but at the same time, we’ve got to smoothen out some rough edges and make sure that bringing less mistakes and faster, more comfortable trucks.”

    Heim, who led 40 laps, finished fourth while Zane Smtih fell back to fifth. Hocevar, Friesen, Sanchez, Tyler Ankrum and Jake Drew completed the top 10 on the track.

    Corey Heim, Christian Eckes, Grant Enfinger, Carson Hocevar, Zane Smith, Ty Majeski, Ben Rhodes and rookie Nick Sanchez have officially transferred to the Round of 8 and will continue their quests to win this year’s Truck Series championship while Matt DiBenedetto and Matt Crafton have been eliminated from the Playoffs.

    There were 18 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 34 laps. In addition, 13 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Christian Eckes, two laps led

    2. Taylor Gray

    3. Matt DiBenedetto, two laps led

    4. Corey Heim, 40 laps led

    5. Zane Smith, one lap led

    6. Carson Hocevar, 32 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    7. Stewart Friesen

    8. Nick Sanchez, 43 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    9. Tyler Ankrum

    10. Jake Drew

    11. Jake Garcia

    12. Rajah Caruth

    13. Jesse Love

    14. Chase Purdy, one lap down

    15. Dean Thompson, one lap down

    16. Jack Wood, one lap down, two laps led

    17. Grant Enfinger, one lap down, four laps led

    18. Ty Majeski, one lap down

    19. Colby Howard, one lap down

    20. Bret Holmes, one lap down, two laps led

    21. Bayley Currey, two laps down

    22. Lawless Alan, two laps down

    23. Daniel Dye, two laps down

    24. Timmy Hill, two laps down

    25. Ben Rhodes, two laps down, two laps led

    26. Tanner Gray, three laps down, four laps led

    27. Kaden Honeycutt, three laps down

    28. Chase Janes, three laps down

    29. Justin Carroll, four laps down

    30. Hailie Deegan, four laps down

    31. Spencer Boyd, five laps down

    32. Greg Van Alst, five laps down

    33. Matt Crafton, nine laps down

    34. Jennifer Jo Cobb, nine laps down

    35. Mason Maggio – OUT, Accident

    36. Spencer Davis – OUT, Suspension

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. Corey Heim – Advanced

    2. Christian Eckes – Advanced

    3. Grant Enfinger – Advanced

    4. Carson Hocevar – Advanced

    5. Zane Smith – Advanced

    6. Ty Majeski – Advanced

    7. Ben Rhodes – Advanced

    8. Nick Sanchez – Advanced

    9. Matt DiBenedetto – Eliminated

    10. Matt Crafton – Eliminated

    The Round of 8 in the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs is set to commence next Thursday, September 14, at Bristol Motor Speedway. Coverage of the event is set to occur at 9 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Briscoe to make 100th Cup career start at Kansas

    Briscoe to make 100th Cup career start at Kansas

    Competing in his third full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series, Chase Briscoe is within reach of achieving a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Playoff event at Kansas Speedway, the driver of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang will achieve 100 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series.

    A native of Mitchell, Indiana, Briscoe made his inaugural presence in the Cup circuit at the start of the 2021 season, where he took over the No. 14 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing previously piloted by Clint Bowyer and Briscoe’s idol Tony Stewart. By then, he was coming off a dominant campaign in the Xfinity Series, where he won nine races and made the Championship 4 round before finishing fourth in the final standings. Starting 30th, Briscoe finished 19th in his Cup Series debut despite ending up three laps behind the leaders. After finishing no higher than 11th twice during the first 13 scheduled events, he achieved his first top-10 result in NASCAR’s premier series with a sixth-place run at Circuit of the Americas in May. Briscoe went on to achieve another sixth-place run at Road America in July and a ninth-place result at Watkins Glen International in August.

    During the inaugural Cup event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in August, Briscoe was in contention of achieving his first victory until the start of the final two-lap shootout, where he went off the course in the first turn and rejoined the racing surface behind leader Denny Hamlin, thus prompting NASCAR to penalize Briscoe for cutting the track. Despite the penalty, Briscoe withstood his ground while battling Hamlin for the lead and eventually bumped and spun Hamlin in the infield road course turns. Yielding the lead shortly after, Briscoe ended up 26th after being parked by NASCAR, which also resulted with the Indiana native engaged in a post-race discussion with Hamlin following the incident. With an average-finishing result of 19.9 during the 26-race regular-season stretch, Briscoe did not make the 2021 Cup Playoffs. Nonetheless, he capped off the season with four top-15 results, a 23rd-place result in the final standings and the 2021 Cup Rookie-of-the-Year title over Anthony Alfredo. By then, Briscoe became the third competitor to sweep the rookie title across NASCAR’s top three national touring series.

    After finishing 22nd during the Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum, Briscoe commenced the 2022 Cup season on a strong note by finishing in third place during the 64th running of the Daytona 500 in February after rallying from an early spin. Three races later, he held off Ross Chastain and Tyler Reddick during a three-lap shootout to score his first career victory in the Cup Series and become the 200th competitor overall to win in NASCAR’s premier series. The Phoenix victory along with a ninth-place run at Martinsville Speedway in April and a fourth-place result during the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May were enough for Briscoe and the No. 14 team to qualify for the 2022 Cup Playoffs. Despite attaining respective finishes of 27th, 13th and 14th during the Round of 16, the Indiana native transferred into the Round of 12. For the Round of 12, he finished in the top 10 during the round’s three events, which included a late ninth-place run at the Charlotte Roval in October to claim the eighth and final transfer spot to the Round of 8 by a mere margin over reigning series champion Kyle Larson. During the Round of 8, however, Briscoe earned respective finishes of fourth, 36th and ninth, which were not enough for him to transfer to the Championship 4 round. Nonetheless, Briscoe went on to finish fourth in the finale at Phoenix in November and cap off his sophomore Cup season in ninth place in the final standings.

    At the start of this season, where he inked a multiyear contract extension to remain at Stewart-Haas Racing, Briscoe ended up 35th during the 65th running of the Daytona 500 after being involved in a late accident. Three races later, he would achieve his first top-10 result of the season at Phoenix by finishing seventh. Briscoe then notched three consecutive top-five finishes in April, but would finish no higher than 17th during the next nine events. During the latter span, Briscoe’s team would be issued a L3-level penalty from NASCAR due to counterfeiting a part of their Next Gen car during the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. As a result, Briscoe was docked 120 driver/owner points and 25 Playoff points, with crew chief Johnny Klausmeier being issued a six-race suspension and a $250,000 fine. The points penalty demoted Briscoe from vying for an early Playoff spot to near the top-30 cutline in the regular-season standings. Despite finishing 10th at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July, sixth at Indianapolis and securing pole position for the regular-season finale at Daytona in August, Briscoe did not accumulate enough points or any victories during the regular-season stretch to make up for his infraction as he missed the 2023 Cup Playoffs. Coming off a 15th-place finish at Darlington Raceway, he is currently situated in 30th place in the standings.

    Through 99 previous Cup starts, Briscoe has achieved one victory, two poles, nine top-five results, 19 top-10 results, 480 laps led and an average-finishing result of 19.1.

    Briscoe is primed to make his 100th Cup Series career start at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, September 10, with the event’s coverage to occur at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Haley to make 100th Cup career start at Kansas

    Haley to make 100th Cup career start at Kansas

    Competing in his second full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series, Justin Haley is within reach of achieving a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Playoff event at Kansas Speedway, the driver of the No. 31 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will achieve 100 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series.

    A native of Winamac, Indiana, Haley made his inaugural presence in the Cup Series at Talladega Superspeedway in April 2019, where he piloted the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports. By then, he was also campaigning in his first full-time season in the Xfinity Series for Kaulig Racing. Starting 38th, Haley ended up in 32nd place after getting collected in a multi-car wreck on the backstretch with seven laps remaining. After finishing 34th in his second Cup career start at Sonoma Raceway in June, Haley pulled off an upset at Daytona International Speedway in July when he achieved his first career victory in the rain-shortened Coke Zero Sugar 400. His road to victory occurred with 30 laps remaining when contact between race leader Austin Dillon and Clint Bowyer triggered a multi-car wreck that eliminated a majority of the field. Haley, who avoided the carnage and moved up into the top five, then became the leader when initial leader Kurt Busch pitted during an extensive caution period and moments before the race was red-flagged due to a lightning strike. With the event remaining under a red flag period for hours, NASCAR called the event official on Lap 127 of 160 and awarded the first Cup win for both Haley and Spire Motorsports as Haley became the 193rd different competitor to achieve a win in NASCAR’s premier series. Despite not qualifying for the 2019 Cup Playoffs due to being a part-time series competitor, the Daytona victory made Haley eligible to compete in the 2020 All-Star Race.

    In 2020, Haley, who remained as a full-time Xfinity competitor for Kaulig Racing, campaigned in two Cup events, with his first occurring in the 62nd running of the Daytona 500, where he debuted Kaulig Racing in NASCAR’s premier series. He earned a transfer spot for the 500 after posting the fastest-qualifying time in a non-chartered entry and rallied from being involved in a late incident to finish in 13th place during the main event. Haley went on to finish 14th in the All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway in July and 31st at Talladega in October, both while competing for Spire Motorsports.

    For the 2021 season, Haley, who remained at Kaulig in the Xfinity circuit, competed in all but five of the 36-race Cup schedule. Thirty-five of his starts occurred with Spire Motorsports, with his best on-track results being eighth at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course and sixth at Daytona in August. His lone start not with Spire occurred with Kaulig at Talladega in October, where he finished in 20th place. Overall, Haley concluded the season with 21 top-30 results and an average-finishing result of 28.5.

    Six months prior to the conclusion of the 2021 season, Kaulig Racing announced that the team would be fielding a full-time Cup Series entry for Haley to drive for the 2022 season. Assuming control of Kaulig’s newly formed No. 31 entry, he commenced the season with a 19th-place result in the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum in February despite winning the third Heat qualifying event and starting towards the front. He proceeded to finish 23rd during the first two scheduled events before posting four consecutive top-20 results. At Darlington Raceway in May, Haley posted his first top-five result of the season by finishing third. Despite finishing seventh at Atlanta Motor Speedway in July and achieving 15 top-20 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, he did not qualify for the 2022 Cup Playoffs. Haley went on to tie his season-best result of the season in third place at Texas Motor Speedway in September before finishing fifth at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in October. He ended up recording a total of three top-five results, four top-10 results, 44 laps led and an average-finishing result of 18.4 throughout the 36-race schedule before capping off his first full-time Cup season in 22nd place in the final standings.

    Commencing this season with a 32nd-place finish in this year’s Daytona 500, Haley recorded three top-10 results during the first 17-scheduled events, with his best on-track finish being a sixth-place run at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course in April. Then during the inaugural Chicago Street Course, he assumed the lead on Lap 48 and led through Lap 70 until he was overtaken by eventual winner Shane van Gisbergen and ended up in a strong runner-up result. Despite finishing eighth during the following weekend at Atlanta, seven consecutive results of finishes outside the top 15 were not enough to boost Haley and the No. 31 team into the Playoffs for a second consecutive season. Coming off a 31st-place finish at Darlington, the Indiana native is currently situated in 24th place in the standings with a total of five top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 20.6 through 27 events. This season is also scheduled to be Haley’s last at Kaulig as he is set to join Rick Ware Racing for the 2024 Cup season.

    Through 99 previous Cup starts, Haley has achieved one victory, five top-five results, 12 top-10 results, 72 laps led and an average-finishing result of 22.1.

    Haley is primed to make his 100th Cup Series career start at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, September 10, with the event’s coverage to occur at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Mike Kelley to call 100th Cup event as crew chief at Kansas

    Mike Kelley to call 100th Cup event as crew chief at Kansas

    In his return as a full-time crew chief in the NASCAR Cup Series, veteran Mike Kelley is set to achieve a milestone mark. By participating in this weekend’s Cup Series Playoff event at Kansas Speedway, Kelley will call his 100th career race as a crew chief in NASCAR’s premier series.

    A native of Pinellas County, Florida, Kelley, who competed as a Pinellas Park racer in the 1990s before becoming a crew member and car chief working with icons that included Dale Earnhardt, Ernie Irvan, Ray Evernham, Jack Roush and Kurt Busch, made his inaugural presence as a crew chief in the Cup Series at the start of the 2014 season when he was paired with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., whom Kelley worked with and won back-to-back Xfinity Series championships in 2011 and 2012. By then, Kelley had also racked up 12 career victories and 13 poles in the Xfinity circuit as a crew chief while working with eight different competitors.

    In their first event paired in the Cup Series, Kelley led Stenhouse and the No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Fusion team to a seventh-place result in the 56th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in February. Three races later, Stenhouse notched a career-best runner-up result at Bristol Motor Speedway in March as the No. 17 team cracked the top 10 in points. The remainder of the regular-season stretch, however, ended up being a struggle for both Stenhouse and Kelley as they only managed two additional top-10 results and dropped outside of the top-20 mark in the standings, which prevented them from making the 2014 Cup Playoffs. The low point for the duo was when both failed to qualify for the Playoff event at Talladega Superspeedway in October. For the other nine Playoff events, Stenhouse finished no higher than 15th before capping off the 2014 season in 27th place in the final standings.

    The following season, Kelley assumed the role as car chief for Stenhouse’s No. 17 Ford team while Nick Sandler, a former head engineer for Stenhouse’s teammate Carl Edwards, became Stenhouse’s new Cup crew chief. In 2016, however, Kelley returned to crew chief Stenhouse for a single event, which occurred at Talladega in May while on an interim role as Sandler was suspended for the event as a result of an unapproved steering wheel coupler that was found on Stenhouse’s car during the previous weekend’s practice session at Richmond Raceway. During the Talladega event, Stenhouse ended up 16th in the final running order after being involved in a multi-car wreck on the final lap.

    In 2019, Kelley departed Roush Fenway Racing and joined Front Row Motorsports as a full-time Cup crew chief for the No. 36 Ford Mustang team piloted by former Xfinity Series competitor Matt Tifft. Through the first 20-scheduled events, Tifft and Kelley could only manage to post three top-20 results and a single top-10 result, which occurred at Daytona in July, as they were mired in 31st place in the regular-season standings. Then for the final 16-scheduled events, Front Row Motorsports swapped Kelley’s team role that resulted with him becoming a crew chief for veteran David Ragan and the No. 38 FRM Ford Mustang team, a role that was previously held by Seth Barbour with Barbour assuming Kelley’s old role with Tifft. In spite of the move that reunited Kelley with Ragan, whom he notched two Xfinity victories with in 2009, the duo finished no higher than 11th for the remainder of the season as Ragan settled in 30th place in the final standings.

    Four years later, Kelley, who moved to JTG-Daugherty Racing in 2020 and served as a competition director for the organization and the team’s driver Stenhouse, was elevated to the role of becoming Stenhouse’s Cup crew chief for a second time. In their first driver-crew chief pairing with JTG-Daugherty Racing, Stenhouse and Kelley commenced this season on a high note by winning the 65th running of the Daytona 500 after Stenhouse survived two overtime attempts and retained the lead on the final lap amid a multi-car wreck to achieve an upset victory for himself and the team. The 500 victory was Kelley’s first overall as he also achieved his first Cup career win as a crew chief. With the 500 victory guaranteeing Stenhouse and Kelley a spot for the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs, the duo led the No. 47 team to an additional six top-10s and 13 top-15 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch before officially entering the Playoffs as one of 16 teams vying for this year’s title. Currently, Kelley and Stenhouse are coming off a 16th-place result in the Playoff opener at Darlington Raceway and are ranked in 15th place in the Playoff standings while being four points below the top-12 cutline to transfer to the Round of 12.

    Through 99 previous Cup events, Kelley has achieved one victory, three top-five results, 13 top-10 results and 26 laps led while working with three different competitors.

    Kelley is primed to call his 100th Cup Series event as a crew chief at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, September 10, at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Kansas

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Kansas

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. William Byron: Byron started on the pole at Kansas and recovered from an early speeding penalty, and a later brush with the wall, to finish third.

    “It’s not about how you start,” Byron said, “it’s how you finish. Unless you finish by writing a $100,000 check to NASCAR for a failed inspection.”

    2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin outdueled Kyle Larson in a wild finish at Kansas to win the AdventHealth 400. After a back-and-forth battle over the final laps, Hamlin got position on Larson and clipped Larson’s rear, spinning the Hendrick driver, but he held on to finish second.

    “You can hear all about it on my new podcast,” Hamlin said. “It’s called ‘Actions Detrimental To Kyle Larson.’”

    3. Kyle Larson: Larson finished second at Kansas after a spirited battle with Denny Hamlin over the closing laps. Hamlin clipped the rear of Larson’s car, and Larson hit the wall, while Hamlin took the win.

    “Right in the middle of my interview after the race,” Larson said, “the Ross Chastain-Noah Gragson fight broke out. So it interrupted some harsh words I had in store for Denny Hamlin. So, that fight did me a favor: it prevented me from saying something I would greatly regret later.”

    4. Christopher Bell: Bell finished last at Kansas after contact with Ross Chastain on Lap 157 sent him into the wall and out of the race.

    “I guess Chastain is on a mission,” Bell said. “That mission is to touch everyone, with either his car or his fist.”

    5. Ross Chastain: Chastain finished fifth at Kansas and then clashed with Noah Gragson after the race.

    “If Noah Gragson has a problem with my driving,” Chastain said, “then he’s no different than 34 other drivers.”

    6. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished eighth at Kansas.

    “What else is new?” Truex said. “Ross Chastain ‘made contact’ with someone. Ross must have been pretty angry with Gragson because Ross was ‘right cross’ with him.”

    7. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished 16th at Kansas.

    “We’re gonna be talking about this Ross Chastain-Noah Gragson incident for a while,” Blaney said. “What’s most amazing is that, given Chastain’s various and multiple clashes with other drivers, I’m surprised he punched someone before they punched him.”

    8. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 11th at Kansas and is fifth in the point standings.

    “I was just named to ‘NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers’ list,” Harvick said. “There are a lot of drivers on that list that I respect a great deal, 73 to be exact. And then there’s Kyle Busch.”

    9. Tyler Reddick: Reddick finished ninth in the AdventHealth 400.

    “NASCAR ratings are down,” Reddick said. “But after Ross Chastain’s punch of Noah Gragson, I expect the impact to be anything but a black eye for the sport.”

    10. Joey Logano: Logano rebounded from two consecutive 30th or worse finishes with a sixth at Kansas.

    “My former Penske teammate Brad Keselowski had to be happy to see that Ross Chastain-Noah Gragson clash. Why? Well, for at least a day, Brad wasn’t the owner of the ‘most punchable face’ title.”

  • Chastain and Gragson trade blows on pit road

    Chastain and Gragson trade blows on pit road

    What started as a heated discussion devolved into a punching match.

    As Denny Hamlin celebrated his victory, Sunday, in the Advent Health 400, Noah Gragson approached Ross Chastain to chew him out. He grabbed him and the talk continued, until Chastain connected with his left cheek.

    “There’s no talking to the guy,” Gragson told Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, after the scuffle.

    It ceased just as quickly as it started, after multiple officials swarmed them both to break up the fight.

    “Sucks that they all get involved,” he said. “Just let us two work it out and finish it off.”

    This stems from an incident during the race, in which Chastain put Gragson into the wall off Turn 4. Based on Gragson’s comments, post-race, it happened somewhere between Lap 200 and 210.

    “Yeah, definitely crowded him up off of (Turn) 4, and he took a swipe at us in 3, and then he came down and grabbed a hold of me, and a very big man once told me we have a no-push policy here at Trackhouse,” Chastain said.

    Gragson adds his name to the growing list of drivers displeased with Chastain’s aggressive style of racing. Most famous of which is Hamlin, who spent several laps, last season, at Gateway to put on some fun-dumb racing with him. Then again at The Clash and climaxed a few weeks later at Phoenix.

    As for Gragson, it wasn’t the first time, either.

    “He did the same thing after Talladega on the plane and nothing happened,” Chastain told Jeff Gluck of The Athletic.

    Only this time, Gragson was tired of nobody confronting Chastain.

    “The guy just runs into everyone,” he said. “When you’ve got guys like Chase Elliott saying, ‘Go beat his ass,’ everyone is sick and tired of him and nobody has the balls to go up and get him.”

    What repercussions this leads to for Chastain, down the road, only time will tell. For now, however, he leaves Kansas with a 27-point lead over Christopher Bell.