There’s no secret that Kansas Speedway is one of Brandon Jones‘ best tracks. He once again delivered for Joe Gibbs Racing in Saturday’s (Sept. 27th) NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the track.
While the stat sheet points out that Jones won from the pole, it wasn’t a race he dominated by any means. The majority of his 54 laps led came in the final stage after Justin Allgaier‘s chokehold on the early parts of the race. As we’ve seen countless times, Allgaier took the green-and-white checkered flags to sweep the first two stages.
After a slow stop plunged Allgaier into traffic, his teammate Connor Zilisch took control of the race. In the end, experience at the track gave Jones the upper hand he needed to tame the flames of a red-hot Zilisch, who went on to finish runner-up.
Austin Hill clawed his way to third after a less-than-stellar qualifying effort for the No. 21 team. Sammy Smith and Sheldon Creed battled door-to-door to the checkered flag for fourth, with Smith getting the nod by a fender.
Taylor Gray, Jesse Love, Nick Sanchez, Brenden Queen and Dean Thompson rounded out the top 10.
The Winners
The JGR playoff duo of Jones and Taylor Gray were stout the entire day. This comes at a perfect time for the team, as it helps put it back on the map in a playoff fight that looked to be tilted more toward JR Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing and even Haas Factory Team. If JGR can score a win at the Charlotte ROVAL next weekend, they would sweep the Xfinity Series’ Round of 12, which would be a huge boost for the team.
Kaulig Racing can thank their lucky stars for that wild incident that took Justin Bonsignore out of the running. It turned what would have been a forgettable day for the organization into a great day, all things considered, thanks to the team’s bold strategy to run long. Even though they aren’t in the playoffs, it still will pay dividends that Queen, Daniel Dye and Christian Eckes walked away with top 15s.
The Losers
Allgaier’s day could be summed up as a tutorial on what not to do when closing out a race. It stings even worse when it comes in the playoffs, as that is when you have to perform at your highest level. While it won’t affect the team this round in terms of potentially getting eliminated, it could affect the team’s confidence moving forward.
Sam Mayer also rode the same train as Allgaier to the back of the field after staying out. Mayer ran solidly in the top five the entire day and could’ve easily scored a solid result alongside his teammate. While the attempt to win by doing something different is admirable, it got them burnt when it was all said and done. That’s how gambling goes though; when you go all in, you either score big or leave emptyhanded.
Carson Kvapil had zero presence in the top 10 for the majority of the race. It was bizarre seeing the No. 1 so far off of his three teammates that were in contention for the win at some point during the race. The team has got to figure something out before next week, because it’s a miracle that they ended up keeping their head above the cut line after today.
Fuel for Thought
We all know the chaos that the Charlotte ROVAL brings to the table for a cutoff race. The four below the cut line are only out by 14 points or less heading into the most dramatic track in the playoffs aside from Talladega Superspeedway. We might be treated to a cinematic conclusion to the Round of 12 for the series.
Even with Zilisch being a runaway favorite for the win, it could be spectacular. Don’t forget that Parker Kligerman was mere seconds away from taking the white flag and scoring a clutch win to advance last year. On top of that, the race was won by Mayer holding off the likes of AJ Allmendinger and Shane van Gisbergen. Next Saturday has all the makings for an instant classic for the series.
Paint Scheme of the Week
Something about Austin Green‘s Overplay No. 32 stood out in the Midwest sun. The bright pink and dark purple just work so well together to make that car eye-catching in the sea of cars on restarts. It also has a cat and stars on it, so what’s there not to like?
(Photo: Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
Where to Next?
The Xfinity Series will take on the Blue Cross NC 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL on Saturday, Oct. 4, at 5 p.m. ET. Watch Mayer try to defend his title at the track on The CW.
