Brandon Jones Picks Up First Xfinity Series Win at Kansas

KANSAS CITY, KS – After Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 took a sharp turn with 16 laps left, Brandon Jones sped away on two straight restarts to collect his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory.

Jones stretched his advantage after a restart on lap 196 of 200, with first Chase Briscoe and then Tyler Reddick giving chase. Jones held off both pursuers and crossed the finish line .272 seconds ahead of Reddick, with Briscoe .623 seconds behind the leader.

“My foot was literally shaking on the accelerator on that last lap,” Jones said in victory lane. “I’m not even sure if I was wide open at the time that I was doing it. There was a lot of nerves and a lot of emotion going through my mind, but I saw it coming, and I was pretty pumped.”

Briscoe was leading, with pole winner and series leader Christopher Bell right behind when the two drivers closed fast on the No. 0 of Garrett Smithley on Lap 184. Smithley steered toward the top of the track and pinched Briscoe’s Ford into the outside wall.

With no room to maneuver, Bell plowed into Briscoe’s car, sending Bell’s No. 20 Supra sliding across the infield grass with major damage to the right front. Briscoe recovered to run third after his crew replaced the rear bumper cover on his No. 98 Mustang, but Bell had to settle for a 12th-place finish.

Bell, however, retained the series lead by 11 points over Custer and 12 over third-place Reddick, as the “Big Three” remained comfortably above the cut line for the Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Justin Allgaier ran fifth and is fourth in the standings, two points ahead of Briscoe.

Austin Cindric’s championship hopes took a severe blow when the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford tangled with the No. 18 Toyota of Harrison Burton on Lap 70. After an intense exchange of positions moments before, Cindric tagged the right rear of Burton’s car, turning it sideways.

But Burton remained in Cindric’s path, and both cars sustained damage when they collided in the middle of the track. Burton retired with a broken right front suspension. Ultimately, with a succession of unscheduled pit stops, Cindric finished 25th, six laps down, and dropped to eighth in the Playoff standings, 30 points below the cutoff for the Championship 4.

Jeremy Clements, Justin Haley, John Hunter Nemechek, Ryan Sieg, and Ross Chastain finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

Race Results – Kansas Lottery 300

            1. (2)  Brandon Jones, Toyota, 200.

            2. (4)  Tyler Reddick (P), Chevrolet, 200.

            3. (11)  Chase Briscoe # (P), Ford, 200.

            4. (38)  Michael Annett (P), Chevrolet, 200.

            5. (7)  Justin Allgaier (P), Chevrolet, 200.

            6. (6)  Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 200.

            7. (12)  Justin Haley #, Chevrolet, 200.

            8. (15)  John Hunter Nemechek #, Chevrolet, 200.

            9. (13)  Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 200.

            10. (9)  Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 200.

            11. (5)  Cole Custer (P), Ford, 200.

            12. (1)  Christopher Bell (P), Toyota, 200.

            13. (10)  Noah Gragson # (P), Chevrolet, 200.

            14. (23)  Ray Black II, Chevrolet, 200.

            15. (17)  Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 199.

            16. (21)  Dillon Bassett, Chevrolet, 199.

            17. (19)  Gray Gaulding, Chevrolet, 199.

            18. (18)  Brandon Brown #, Chevrolet, 197.

            19. (25)  BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, 197.

            20. (27)  Matt Mills, Chevrolet, 197.

            21. (30)  Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 197.

            22. (20)  Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, 196.

            23. (28)  David Starr, Chevrolet, 196.

            24. (34)  CJ McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 195.

            25. (3)  Austin Cindric (P), Ford, 194.

            26. (35)  Chad Finchum, Toyota, 194.

            27. (29)  Stephen Leicht, Chevrolet, 194.

            28. (32)  Tyler Matthews, Chevrolet, 194.

            29. (31)  Josh Bilicki, Toyota, 194.

            30. (36)  Vinnie Miller, Chevrolet, 194.

            31. (37)  Bobby Earnhardt, Toyota, 192.

            32. (24)  Joey Gase, Toyota, Accident, 184.

            33. (33)  Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, Accident, 180.

            34. (16)  Harrison Burton(i), Toyota, Accident, 70.

            35. (22)  Bayley Currey(i), Chevrolet, Suspension, 49.

            36. (26)  Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, Vibration, 28.

            37. (14)  JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, Electrical, 13.

            38. (8)  Ryan Truex, Chevrolet, Engine, 4.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 119.074 mph.

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 31 Mins, 10 Secs.

Margin of Victory: 0.272 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 8 for 41 laps.

Lead Changes: 12 among 5 drivers.

Lap Leaders: C. Bell (P) 1-47;C. Custer (P) 48;C. Bell (P) 49-61;C. Custer (P) 62-73;C. Bell (P) 74;C. Custer (P) 75-93;C. Bell (P) 94-101;C. Custer (P) 102-151;C. Briscoe # (P) 152-165;M. Annett (P) 166-168;C. Briscoe # (P) 169-187;C. Custer (P) 188-190;B. Jones 191-200.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Cole Custer (P) 5 times for 85 laps; Christopher Bell (P) 4 times for 69 laps; Chase Briscoe # (P) 2 times for 33 laps; Brandon Jones 1 time for 10 laps; Michael Annett (P) 1 time for 3 laps.

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service