Kyle Busch may have won and dominated the XFINITY Series race at Kansas Speedway – leading 150 of the 200 laps en route to the victory – but it was a wild day in the Midwest. Big championship implications, several cautions, and wild restarts all led to some hurt feelings and damaged racecars throughout the day.
A total of 10 cautions for 51 laps ensured that there weren’t very many green flag runs, but caution in particular may have had the biggest points implication. On lap 166, a six-car crash involved three Chase drivers: Darrell Wallace Jr., Justin Allgaier, and Ryan Reed.
Another Chaser, Brendan Gaughan, also encountered problems, spinning after contact with Ross Chastain on lap 178.
Wallace’s car was so badly damaged, he was unable to return to the race and finished 33rd. Reed was dealing with electrical issues all day but was able to finish 16th, two laps down. Allgaier finished 14th just one lap down despite the fact that his car was pieced together with duct tape. Gaughan spent several laps in the garage but was able to return and finish 31st, several laps down.
Finally, Erik Jones was the victim of some contact with Kyle Larson and Ty Dillon on a late-race restart. Larson admittedly got a little over-aggressive and Jones had to come to pit road for damage as he had a tire going down. Jones finished 15th, one lap down.
Elliott Sadler finished the race second, followed by Daniel Suarez, Joey Logano, and Larson.
As expected, the multiple cautions and wrecks had a major impact on the points. The points were reset prior to the race at Kansas. Afterwards, Elliott Sadler and Daniel Suarez are still showing as tied and are 12 points to the good over fifth. Blake Koch is third and holds a five-point advantage over the cutoff point.
Allgaier and Jones are currently showing as tied for the fourth position. Reed is then two points behind Jones. Gaughan is in seventh, 17 points behind the cutoff line. Wallace is just behind Gaughan with 18 points to make up.
The XFINITY Series is off for the next two weeks and will race on Saturday, November 5th at Texas Motor Speedway for the second of three races in the Round of 8.