Pit Stops : Kansas Speedway

Kansas Lottery 300

Saturday, September 9th, 2023

Kansas Speedway , Kansas City, KS

Kansas Speedway logo
  • 9
  • 24
  • 6

  • Kansas Speedway
  • Kansas Lottery 300
  • Pole Winner: Justin Allgaier
  • Age: 37
  • Team : No. 7 - BRANDT Chevrolet
  • Owner: JR Motorsports
  • Crew Chief: James Pohlman
  • Justin Allgaier won the Pole Award for the Kansas Lottery 300 with a lap of 30.646 seconds, 176.206 mph.
  • This is his ninth pole in 431 NASCAR Xfinity Series races.
  • This is his second pole and 19th top-10 start in 2023.
  • This is his first pole in 14 races at Kansas Speedway.
  • Sammy Smith (second) posted his 16th top-10 start of 2023 and his first in two races at Kansas Speedway.
  • Cole Custer (third) posted his fourth top-10 start at Kansas Speedway. It is his 21st in 26 races this season.
  • Sammy Smith (second) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

  • Saturday, September 9th, 2023
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer
Nemechek dominates Kansas; Kligerman clinches final NASCAR Xfinity Playoff spot

There were no mixed feelings on Parker Kligerman’s part—he was ecstatic that John Hunter Nemechek asserted absolute domination over the rest of the field in Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway.

Nemechek’s sixth victory of the season assured Kligerman, who finished a strong fourth, of a berth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs, which open next Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Kligerman outlasted Riley Herbst, who entered the race with a one-point advantage for the final Playoff spot but ran afoul of the left rear of Kligerman’s car after a restart in Stage 2.

Nemechek did all he could to overtake Austin Hill for the Regular Season Championship. He won the first and second stages and beat runner-up Brandon Jones to the finish line by a whopping 7.521 seconds. Hill ran fifth to secure the regular-season title by five points after leading by 23 entering the race.

After Herbst had trouble, the only circumstance that could have kept Kligerman out of the Playoffs was a victory by Jones. Nemechek would have none of that.

“(Crew chief) Ben (Beshore) and all the guys made the right adjustments all day,” said Nemechek, who won for the second time at Kansas and the eighth time in his career. “They brought a really fast hot rod… Overall, just super pumped, super ecstatic.

“I’m looking forward to getting the Playoffs started next week at Bristol. We came in here trying to get the Regular Season Championship. I thought that we were going to have a 60-point day this weekend, and that’s what we did. We controlled what we could control. We did everything that we possibly could.

“So, let’s go to the Playoffs—I’m ready.”

Sheldon Creed finished third, 11.881 seconds behind Nemechek, followed by Kligerman and Hill.

“I was definitely the biggest John Hunter fan on the last run there,” quipped Kligerman, who finished 25 points ahead of Herbst for the final Playoff spot in a battle that featured substantial swings throughout the season. “I’m really proud of this whole Big Machine Racing team… We executed at a high level.

“With what I’ve seen 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 going to race for a championship.”

Just short of midway through Stage 2, much of the suspense disappeared from the race for the final Playoff spot. On a restart on Lap 65, Kligerman had difficulty getting his No. 48 Chevrolet into gear. Creed, immediately behind Kligerman, ran into the back of the 48 and moved to the right.

Herbst, who started two cars behind his rival for the final berth, clipped the left rear of Kligerman’s car with the right front of the No. 98 Ford, cutting his right front tire and damaging the quarter panel.

Herbst lost two laps on pit road changing tires, but he regained both circuits in short order, taking a wave-around at the end of Stage 2 and as the beneficiary during the eighth caution for a dramatic Lap 97 wreck at the front of the field involving Creed, Sammy Smith, pole winner Justin Allgaier and Jones.

Back on the lead lap, Herbst charged through the field and reached the ninth position, but another flat right front tire forced him to pit road on Lap 127 and ended his chances to secure a Playoff berth.

As it turned out, Daniel Hemric clinched the 11th of 12 Playoff spots by starting the race, leaving Kligerman and Herbst to battle for the last one. They join Nemechek, Hill, Allgaier, Cole Custer, Sam Mayer, Chandler Smith, Creed, Josh Berry, Sammy Smith and Jeb Burton, all of whom had qualified for the Playoffs before Saturday’s race.

Though Hill secured the regular-season title, he feels his Richard Childress Racing team has work to do to match Nemechek’s pace in the upcoming seven Playoff races.

“Just happy that we were able to bring home the Regular Season Championship, get the extra 15 bonus points--which is huge,” Hill said. “But we’ve got to go to work. We’ve got to be better. The 20 (Nemechek) was the class of the field all day.

“Really kind of stunk up the show there, so we’ve got to go back to the drawing board, figure out what we’ve got to do better for next time.”

Berry, Brett Moffitt, Derek Kraus, Joe Graf Jr. and Kaz Grala finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

  • Drivers Entered: 39 (1 drivers will not make the race)
  • Laps Scheduled: 200
  • Margin of Victory: 07.521 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 2 Hours 44 Minutes 45 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 109.256
  • Cautions: 10 for 49 laps
  • Lead Changes: 7
  • Green Flag Passes: 1,345 (8.9 passes per green flag lap)

  • Kansas Speedway
  • Kansas Lottery 300
  • Race Winner: John Hunter Nemechek
  • Age: 26
  • Team : No. 20 - Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota
  • Owner: Joe Gibbs Racing
  • Crew Chief: Ben Beshore
  • John Hunter Nemechek won the Kansas Lottery 300, his eighth victory in 93 NASCAR Xfinity Series races.
  • This is his sixth victory (career-high) and 19th top-10 finish in 2023.
  • This is his second victory and third top-10 finish in three races at Kansas Speedway.
  • Brandon Jones (second) posted his sixth top-10 finish in nine races at Kansas Speedway. It is his seventh top-10 finish in 2023.
  • Sheldon Creed (third) posted his first top-10 finish in two races at Kansas Speedway.
  • Parker Retzlaff (11th) was the highest finishing rookie.
  • This is the 200th NASCAR Xfinity Series victory for Toyota. A total of 149 races were won the Toyota Camry body and 51 have been won in the Toyota GR Supra.
  • Of Toyota's 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series wins, Joe Gibbs Racing is responsible for 193 of the victories.
  • Big Machine Racing's Parker Kligerman has earned the final spot in the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs.
John Hunter Nemechek pits
Kansas City, Kansas - September 9, 2023 : John Hunter Nemechek, driver of the #20 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota, pits during the NASCAR Xfinity Series Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway.
Jamie SquireGetty Images

Pit Stop Summary Report

Aggregate of each driver's pit stops during the race.

 
DRIVER
START
FINISH
STATUS
# STOPS
DRIVER / PIT CREW
FASTEST
SLOWEST
AVG TIME
RANK
DRIVER
AVG TIME
RANK
PIT CREW
AVG TIME
RANK

Cole Custer
3
36
Accident
1
42.084
42.084
42.084
1
27.637
2
14.447
2
Sheldon Creed
16
3
Running
3
41.607
43.057
42.146
2
27.866
5
14.281
1
Austin Hill
9
5
Running
3
41.440
44.863
42.765
3
28.084
8
14.681
4
Sammy Smith
2
35
Accident
2
42.554
43.167
42.861
4
28.017
7
14.844
5
Riley Herbst
8
23
Running
1
42.932
42.932
42.932
5
28.418
14
14.514
3
John Hunter Nemechek
7
1
Running
3
41.735
44.161
42.949
6
27.557
1
15.392
7
Justin Allgaier
1
18
Running
3
42.961
43.801
43.520
7
28.349
13
15.171
6
Brandon Jones
4
2
Running
2
43.352
43.946
43.649
8
27.886
6
15.764
8
Josh Berry
6
6
Running
3
41.932
46.801
44.179
9
28.219
11
15.960
12
Parker Kligerman
15
4
Running
3
43.334
45.894
44.364
10
28.505
17
15.860
10
Derek Kraus
18
8
Running
3
43.868
45.175
44.674
11
28.859
24
15.815
9
Kaz Grala
31
10
Running
3
43.462
45.886
44.878
12
28.196
10
16.682
13
Joe Graf Jr
11
9
Running
4
43.729
47.033
45.728
13
29.774
26
15.954
11
Jeb Burton
17
12
Running
2
45.997
46.040
46.019
14
28.618
20
17.401
14
Daniel Hemric
5
34
Running
1
46.085
46.085
46.085
15
27.833
4
18.252
20
Rajah Caruth
22
29
Running
1
46.125
46.125
46.125
16
27.807
3
18.318
21
Connor Mosack
20
14
Running
2
45.451
47.053
46.252
17
28.509
18
17.742
15
Josh Williams
24
13
Running
3
45.512
47.607
46.363
18
28.245
12
18.118
19
Jeremy Clements
21
15
Running
1
46.536
46.536
46.536
19
28.452
15
18.084
18
Parker Retzlaff
26
11
Running
3
45.771
47.952
46.646
20
28.785
22
17.861
17

Pit Stop Detailed Report

Each 2- and 4-wheel pit stop during the race.

DRIVER
LEADER LAP
DRIVER LAP
DRIVER TIME
CREW TIME
TOTAL
TYPE

Justin Allgaier
92
92
28.313
14.648
42.961
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Justin Allgaier
148
146
28.583
15.215
43.798
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Justin Allgaier
47
47
28.152
15.649
43.801
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Parker Kligerman
139
139
28.186
15.148
43.334
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Parker Kligerman
47
47
28.184
15.681
43.865
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Parker Kligerman
92
92
29.144
16.750
45.894
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Brett Moffitt
139
139
28.067
17.081
45.148
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Brett Moffitt
47
47
28.117
18.384
46.501
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Brett Moffitt
92
92
28.160
20.787
48.947
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Jeb Burton
139
139
28.547
17.450
45.997
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Jeb Burton
47
47
28.689
17.351
46.040
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Ryan Ellis
92
92
28.988
17.751
46.739
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Ryan Sieg
139
139
28.577
17.548
46.125
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Ryan Sieg
92
92
28.422
19.152
47.574
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Daniel Hemric
176
96
27.833
18.252
46.085
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Cole Custer
47
47
27.637
14.447
42.084
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
John Hunter Nemechek
92
92
27.421
14.314
41.735
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
John Hunter Nemechek
47
47
27.636
15.315
42.951
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
John Hunter Nemechek
139
139
27.614
16.547
44.161
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Kaz Grala
139
139
28.316
15.146
43.462
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE