Deadspin | Aric Almirola beats playoff drivers in NASCAR Xfinity postseason opener at Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Part-time NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Aric Almirola ran down playoff chief Cole Custer within the closing laps of Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway and pulled away for his second victory of the season within the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

In a Round of 12 playoff opener that ended with a number of sad drivers and a handful of post-race conversations between playoff contenders, Almirola picked up his first win on the 1.5-mile monitor and the sixth of his profession.

Almirola beat Custer to the end line by 0.660 seconds, with Chandler Smith trailing in third after elevating Custer’s ire by squeezing the No. 00 Ford into the skin wall as Custer chased Smith for the lead — earlier than Almirola made his late-race run.

To seal the win, Almirola needed to overcome a brush with the skin wall on Lap 124 and a ensuing lower tire that pressured him to the pits. An opportune warning that interrupted a cycle of inexperienced flag stops on Lap 145 was all Almirola wanted to get again on equal footing with the opposite contenders.

Almirola is the fourth driver to win two races this season within the No. 20 JGR Toyota, becoming a member of Christopher Bell, John Hunter Nemechek and Ryan Truex.

“I’m wore out,” mentioned Almirola, who handed Custer for the lead on Lap 197 of 200. “That was a hard day at the office for a guy that’s been sitting on the couch. I just pushed too hard there when we had the issue on pit road (a slow stop), and I got in the fence and cut the right-rear tire down.

“I knew I needed to put my head down and go to work after that. We obtained fortunate to get the warning once we did, and we have been out of tires, so the truth that it went inexperienced there to the tip (for the ultimate 49 laps) … that is the place we have been sturdy. We have been actually sturdy on the lengthy runs.”

After the race, Custer had a brief conversation with Smith and vowed revenge.

“Everybody desires to attempt to discuss afterwards,” Custer said. “At the tip of the day, he put me within the fence, and he will pay for it.”

Smith countered that he didn’t believe Custer ever had position to his outside.

“We’re racing for the win and 5 further playoff factors,” said Smith, who led 114 laps. “You’ve obtained a really, very legitimate assertion, I perceive, however I additionally would not change what I did, as a result of I used to be giving myself the most effective shot to win.”

Non-playoff driver Connor Zilisch finished fourth, followed by Sheldon Creed, who improved his position in the playoff standings by four spots with his seventh top five in the last nine races.

Pole winner Brandon Jones, who didn’t make the postseason, was fifth, followed by playoff drivers Austin Hill, Shane van Gisbergen, Jesse Love and Riley Herbst.

In another post-race conversation, Hill apologized to Herbst for Lap 90 contact that sent Herbst’s Ford spinning through the infield grass at the end of the second stage. In yet another tete-a-tete between playoff drivers, Sammy Smith took AJ Allmendinger to task for early contact that damaged Smith’s Chevrolet.

Smith finished 22nd and heads to next Saturday’s playoff race at Talladega 12th in the standings, 23 points below the cut line for the Round of 8.

Allmendinger (17th Saturday) and Parker Kligerman (12th) are 10th and 11th in the playoff standings, 13 and 15 points below the cutoff, respectively.

The shockingly bad luck haunting top-seeded Justin Allgaier continued in force on Saturday. Racing in close quarters with Creed after a restart on Lap 70, Allgaier’s No. 7 Chevrolet broke loose, slid across traffic and nosed into the inside wall on the backstretch.

After frantic repairs, Allgaier attempted to return to the race, but a cut left-front tire sent him into the outside wall and out of action in 36th place.

Allgaier’s exit came eight days after a series of accidents knocked him out of the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway and cost him the regular-season championship.

“I do not know if I’ve had a stretch of races which were like these final three or 4 weeks,” Allgaier said. “We’re not out of it by any stretch. Obviously, that is why you do all of the work to get all of the bonus factors you may.

“We’ve got a long road the next two weeks. I’ve got the team that can do it. We’ve just got to go have some luck on our side.”

Allgaier fell from first to ninth within the standings and trails Herbst by one level within the battle for the ultimate berth within the Round of 8.

Custer now leads the sequence by 5 factors over Chandler Smith, with Hill 15 factors again. Fourth-place Sam Mayer, who ran thirteenth at Kansas, is 28 factors behind Custer and three factors forward of Creed in fifth.

Van Gisbergen and Love are sixth and seventh within the playoff standings, respectively eight and three factors above lower line for the following spherical.

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race – Kansas Lottery 300

Kansas Speedway

Kansas City, Kansas

Saturday, September 28, 2024

1. (6) Aric Almirola (P), Toyota, 200.

2. (3) Cole Custer (P), Ford, 200.

3. (2) Chandler Smith (P), Toyota, 200.

4. (4) Connor Zilisch, Chevrolet, 200.

5. (15) Sheldon Creed (P), Toyota, 200.

6. (1) Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, 200.

7. (10) Austin Hill (P), Chevrolet, 200.

8. (22) Shane Van Gisbergen # (P), Chevrolet, 200.

9. (7) Jesse Love # (P), Chevrolet, 200.

10. (16) Riley Herbst (P), Ford, 200.

11. (18) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 200.

12. (8) Parker Kligerman (P), Chevrolet, 200.

13. (5) Sam Mayer (P), Chevrolet, 200.

14. (24) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 200.

15. (20) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 200.

16. (12) Ryan Sieg, Ford, 200.

17. (14) AJ Allmendinger (P), Chevrolet, 199.

18. (28) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 199.

19. (29) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 199.

20. (25) JJ Yeley, Ford, 199.

21. (23) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 199.

22. (13) Sammy Smith (P), Chevrolet, 199.

23. (19) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 198.

24. (21) Kyle Sieg, Ford, 198.

25. (38) Leland Honeyman #, Chevrolet, 198.

26. (33) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, 197.

27. (26) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 197.

28. (32) Blaine Perkins, Ford, 197.

29. (36) Ryan Vargas, Chevrolet, 196.

30. (35) Patrick Emerling, Chevrolet, 196.

31. (17) Corey Heim(i), Toyota, 195.

32. (34) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 194.

33. (31) Logan Bearden, Ford, 190.

34. (30) Daniel Dye(i), Chevrolet, 189.

35. (27) Dawson Cram(i), Chevrolet, Fuel Pressure, 174.

36. (9) Justin Allgaier (P), Chevrolet, Accident, 73.

37. (37) Brad Perez, Chevrolet, Oil Pump, 61.

38. (11) Taylor Gray(i), Toyota, Engine, 45.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 121.036 mph.

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 28 Mins, 43 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.660 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 6 for 33 laps.

Lead Changes: 14 amongst 5 drivers.

Lap Leaders: C. Smith (P) 1-9;B. Jones 10;C. Smith (P) 11-36;A. Almirola (P) 37-48;C. Smith (P) 49;C. Custer (P) 50-75;S. Mayer (P) 76-93;C. Smith (P) 94-136;C. Custer (P) 137-144;B. Jones 145-147;C. Custer (P) 148-155;C. Smith (P) 156-190;C. Custer (P) 191-196;A. Almirola (P) 197-200.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Chandler Smith (P) 5 occasions for 114 laps; Cole Custer (P) 4 occasions for 48 laps; Sam Mayer (P) 1 time for 18 laps; Aric Almirola (P) 2 occasions for 16 laps; Brandon Jones 2 occasions for 4 laps.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 20,81,00,9,1,18,21,7,98,48

Stage #2 Top Ten: 1,20,00,81,88,21,18,9,38,39

–By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.