Aric Almirola scores Kansas victory, locks No. 20 team into Round of 8: Part-time NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Aric Almirola ran down Playoff leader Cole Custer in the closing laps of Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway and pulled away for his second victory of the season in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.(Read more)(9-28-2024)

Making a pass for the lead with three laps remaining, #20-Aric Almirola won the Kansas Lottery 300 Xfinity Series Season race at Kansas Speedway. It’s his second win in 2024, as Almirola, Ryan Truex, Christopher Bell and John Hunter Nemechek all have scored two wins apiece for the No. 20 team.
#00-Cole Custer finished second, as he struggled to pass #81-Chandler Smith for the lead late in the race. Smith finished third, leading a race-high 114 laps. #88-Connor Zilisch earned a fourth-place finish in his oval debut and #18-Sheldon Creed rounded out the top five.
#9-Brandon Jones, #21-Austin Hill, #97-Shane van Gisbergen, #2-Jesse Love and #98-Riley Herbst completed the top 10.
Almirola won the opening stage while #1-Sam Mayer earned the Stage 2 win, dropping to 13th in the finishing order.
There were 14 lead changes among five drivers and six cautions for 33 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 121.036 mph.
See race details at: Race Results, Driver Points Standings, Owner Points Standings, Cumulative Report, Penalty Report.

Kansas Paint Schemes

Race Fast Facts – Kansas:
Aric Almirola (P) won the Kansas Lottery 300, his sixth victory in 112 Xfinity Series races.
This is his second victory and fifth top-10 finish in 2024.
This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in four races at Kansas Speedway.
Cole Custer (P) (second) posted his first top-10 finish in six races at Kansas Speedway. It is his 19th top-10 finish in 2024.
Chandler Smith (P) (third) posted his first top-10 finish in two races at Kansas Speedway.
Shane Van Gisbergen (P) (eighth) was the highest finishing rookie.
Cole Custer (P) leads the point standings by 5 points over Chandler Smith (P).

Xfinity Series Standings after Kansas(Race 27 of 33):
1)#00-Cole Custer 2,079, +41
2)#81-Chandler Smith 2,074, +36
3)#21-Austin Hill 2,064, +26
4)#1-Sam Mayer 2,051, +13
5)#18-Sheldon Creed 2,048, +10
6)#98-Shane van Gisbergen 2,046, +8
7)#2-Jesse Love 2,041, +3
8)#98-Riley Herbst 2,039, +1
Currently below elimination line
9)#7-Justin Allgaier 2,038, -1
10)#16-AJ Allmendinger 2,026, -13
11)#48-Parker Kligerman 2,024, -15
12)#8-Sammy Smith 2,016, -23
See the Drivers Points Standings and Owners Points Standings.

Race Updates:
Lap 200: #20-Almirola wins at Kansas. #00-Custer, #81-Smith, #88-Zilisch and #18-Creed round out the top five.
Lap 197: #20-Almirola clears #00-Custer for the lead with three laps remaining.
Lap 195: #00-Custer leads #20-Almirola by three-tenths of a second.
Lap 190: #00-Custer gets the lead from #81-Smith. #20-Almirola slides into second.
Lap 182: #00-Custer and #81-Smith trade paint while battling for the lead. #20-Almirola continues cutting into the lead, only eight-tenths of a second back.
Lap 180: #81-Smith is hanging on to the lead over #00-Custer. #20-Almirola has cut the gap to 1.2 seconds.
Lap 175: #00-Custer is closing in on #81-Smith for the race lead. #20-Almirola runs third, two seconds back.
Lap 158: #20-Almirola passes #21-Hill for third. Almirola is running the closest to the front on fresh tires, 3.8 seconds off the lead.
Lap 155: #81-Smith takes the lead from #00-Custer with 45 laps remaining in the race. Custer scraped the wall off Turn 4.
Lap 152: #20-Almirola has charged to fourth on the restart.
Lap 149: #1-Mayer, #44-Poole, #16-Allmendinger, #98-Herbst and #48-Kligerman take the wave around to get back on the lead lap.
Lap 148: #9- Jones, #11-Williams, #10-Dye, #97-van Gisbergen, #38-DiBenedetto, #5-Alfredo, #2-Love, #20-Almirola, #14-Yeley and #43-Ellis pit for fresh tires.
Lap 144: #00-Custer pits one lap later than the team wanted. The caution is out for a loose tire on pit road and is stopped int he grass. #9-Jones is scored as the race leader. #11-Williams, #10-Dye, #97-van Gisbergen, #38-DiBenedetto, #5-Alfredo, #2-Love, #14-Yeley and #43-Ellis had yet to pit.
Lap 143: #81-Smith pits from second position.
Lap 142: #88-Zilisch pits from third position. #48-Kligerman and #31-Retzlaff also pit.
Lap 141: #1-Mayer, #16-Allmendinger and #98-Herbst all make pit stops.
Lap 140: #21-Hill is the first playoff driver to pit for fresh tires with 60 laps remaining.
Lap 137: #39-Sieg pits from sixth position for his final scheduled stop.
Lap 136: #00-Custer takes the lead from #81-Smith.
Lap 126: #20-Almirola pits with a flat right-rear tire.
Lap 123: #20-Almirola slaps the wall through Turns 1 and 2 running in ninth.
Lap 122: #26-Heim gets loose through Turns 1 and 2 and smacks the outside wall. He pitted for a flat tire.
Lap 120: #00-Custer is beginning to reel in #81-Smith for the lead, closing the gap to under one second.
Lap 111: #20-Almirola has cracked the top 10 after restarting outside the top 20.
Lap 98: #81-Smith grabs the lead on the restart with a shove from #18-Creed. #88-Zilisch is up to third.
Lap 94: #20-Almirola has another bad stop when a pit gun broke and dropped outside the top 20.
Lap 90: #1-Mayer wins Stage 2, his second stage victory of the season. #20-Almirola, #00-Custer, #81-Smith, #88-Zilisch, #21-Hill, #18-Creed, #9-Jones, #38-DiBenedetto, #39-Sieg score stage points. Hill and #98-Herbst made contact off Turn 4, turning Herbst into the grass.
Lap 76: #7-Allgaier blows a left-front tire entering Turn 3 on the restart and clobbers the wall. He will go to the garage and be finished. #1-Mayer takes the lead on the restart.
Lap 70: The field gets stacked off Turn 2 and #7-Allgaier spins, crashing into the inside wall.
Lap 68: #2-Love, #97-van Gisbergen, #51-Clements, #43-Ellis and a few others pit for tires and adjustments.
Lap 65: #45-Perez is stalled on the track in Turns 3 and 4. #8-Smith is the free pass to get back on the lead lap.
Lap 62: #18-Creed, #20-Almirola and #7-Allgaier are trading lines for positions six through eight. Almirola is mired back in traffic after winning the opening stage.
Lap 54: #00-Custer surges ahead on the restart to keep the lead. #1-Mayer moves up to second, with #21-Hill dropping to fourth.
Lap 52: #9-Jones makes an additional stop for loose lug nuts.
Lap 49: #00-Custer takes the lead off pit road. #21-Hill gains five spots. #20-Almirola drops six spots to seventh. #16-Allmendinger had an uncontrolled tire.
Lap 47: #8-Smith pits before the pits are open to repair the right-rear quarter panel.
Lap 45: #20-Almirola wins Stage 1, his fourth stage victory of the season. #81-Smith, #00-Custer, #9-Jones, #1-Mayer, #18-Creed, #21-Hill, #7-Allgaier, #98-Herbst and #48-Kligerman all earn stage points.
Lap 44: #19-Gray blows an engine on the frontstretch to bring out the caution, ending the stage.
Lap 41: #8-Smith is the first playoff driver to go a lap down, running 28th.
Lap 37: #20-Almirola takes the lead from #81-Smith with eight laps remaining in the stage.
Lap 32: #19-Gray has lost a cylinder, running lap times nearly two seconds off the pace.
Lap 27: Running against the wall, #20-Almirola has moved by #9-Jones and #00-Custer for second.
Lap 23: #00-Custer passes #9-Jones for second. #81-Smith leads by nearly two seconds.
Lap 19: #18-Creed has moved into the top 10 after starting 15th. #8-Smith has driven back to 30th.
Lap 11: #81-Smith clears #9-Jones on the restart. #00-Custer and #20-Almirola are side-by-side for third position.
Lap 5: #8-Smith spins on the backstretch after making contact with the wall when he lost the air from #16-Allmendinger.
Lap 3: #51-Clements makes a pass-through penalty for switching lanes on the restart.
Lap 1: #81-Smith jumps to the lead on the initial restart with polesitter #9-Jones moving back to second. #88-Zilisch got loose through Turns 3 and 4 and saved his car.

Cars to the rear: #15-Logan Bearden, #27-Jeb Burton, #38-Matt DiBenedetto, #45-Brad Perez, #92-Dawson Cram (unapproved adjustments); #42-Leland Honeyman (engine change).

Pit Stall Selections

For the third time this season, #9-Brandon Jones will lead the field to the green flag, as he won the pole for the Kansas Lottery 300 Xfinity Series race at Kansas Speedway (175.553 mph). It is his 11th career pole.
#81-Chandler Smith was the best playoff driver in qualifying in second (175.291 mph). Regular season champion #00-Cole Custer ranked third (175.006 mph), with #88-Connor Zilisch (174.842 mph) and #1-Sam Mayer (174.780 mph) rounding out the top five.
#20-Aric Almirola, #2-Jesse Love, #48-Parker Kligerman, #7-Justin Allgaier and #21-Austin Hill complete the top 10.
Playoff drivers that will start the 300-mile race outside the top 10 include: #8-Sammy Smith (13th), #16-AJ Allmendinger (14th), #18-Sheldon Creed (15th), #98-Riley Herbst (16th), #97-Shane van Gisbergen (22nd).
See the complete Starting Lineup.

Qualifying Fast Facts — Kansas
Brandon Jones won the Pole Award for the Kansas Lottery 300 with a lap of 30.76 seconds, 175.553 mph.
This is his 11th pole in 296 NASCAR Xfinity Series races.
This is his third pole and 10th top-10 start in 2024.
This is his second pole in ten races at Kansas Speedway.
Chandler Smith (P) (second) posted his 21st top-10 start of 2024 and his first in two races at Kansas Speedway.
Cole Custer (P) (third) posted his fifth top-10 start at Kansas Speedway. It is his 20th in 27 races this season.
Jesse Love (P) (seventh) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

Qualifying Order

Practice for the Kansas Lottery 300 Xfinity Series race at Kansas Speedway is complete. The top five, slowest, news and notes:
#88-Connor Zilisch 171.788 mph
#19-Taylor Gray 171.712 mph
#27-Jeb Burton 171.706 mph
#26-Corey Heim 171.559 mph
#21-Ausitn Hill 170.999 mph
Slowest: #74-Ryan Vargas 164.293 mph
Most laps run: #81-Chandler Smith, 26
Notes: #10-Daniel Dye spun off Turn 4 in Group A practice.
See full Kansas Practice Results.

Crew Rosters

Goodyear Tire Notes

There are 38 drivers/teams on the entry list for the Kansas Lottery 300 Xfinity Series race at Kansas Speedway. All 38 cars will qualify for the race with no cars going home.
Notables: #07-Patrick Emerling, #10-Daniel Dye, #14-JJ Yeley, #15-Logan Bearden, #19-Taylor Gray, #20-Aric Almirola, #35-Joey Gase, #45-Brad Perez, #74-Ryan Vargas, #88-Connor Zilisch, #92-Dawson Cram.
See the full Kansas Entry List.

Kansas At-Track Schedule