Martin Truex Jr. holds on for Kansas win; Round of 8 set

Posted on October 22, 2017October 22, 2017 by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Race results | Stage recaps | At-track photos | Detailed breakdown
SHOP: Truex Jr. gear

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Martin Truex Jr. survived a restart penalty and an unscheduled pit stop to return to what has become a thoroughly familiar locale — Victory Lane — in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.

In a dramatic race that brought Truex his seventh Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win of the season, calamity eliminated four drivers from the series Playoffs. Jamie McMurray, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Matt Kenseth and Kyle Larson all saw their postseason hopes end with the final event in the Round of 12.

The shocker was Larson, who fell out of the race on Lap 77 when his engine exploded on the frontstretch after dropping a cylinder a few laps earlier. The driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet finished 39th in a 40-car field and dropped to ninth in the standings, nine points behind Jimmie Johnson.

The seven-time champion moved into the Round of 8 despite spinning twice in the space of five laps late in the race. But Johnson was the prime beneficiary when NASCAR parked Kenseth, after a massive wreck on Lap 198, for a violation of the damaged vehicle policy — specifically having too many crewmen over the wall to work on the car on pit road.

MORE: Multi-car stack-up sidelines several

Racing just hours after Furniture Row Racing road-crew fabricator Jim Watson succumbed to a heart attack, Truex finished 2.284 seconds ahead of runner-up Kurt Busch to become the first driver to sweep both Kansas races in the same year. The victory was Truex’s second at the track and the 14th of his career.

“Just can’t say enough about all these guys on this Furniture Row/Bass Pro Toyota,” Truex said. “Just really proud of them. Definitely racing with heavy hearts today with losing Jim (Watson) last night. Want to send our condolences to his family and all of his friends. He was a heck of a guy and a great worker and put a lot of speed in these Furniture Row Toyotas, so glad we could get him one here.

“Excited to get another one here at Kansas. This feels really awesome. It’s really Furniture Row’s home track (closest to the team’s Denver, Colorado, headquarters). It just feels really good to finally get – to finally get another one here. We got that one in the spring after so many heartbreaks, and then today it looked like it was going to happen and we just persevered.”

Ryan Blaney charged from a 40th-place starting spot — the result of an inspection failure after qualifying — to finish third and cruise into the Round of 8.

“We started off in the back, and I was able to make some good ground early,” said Blaney, who starts the Round of 8 as the seventh seed, 60 points behind Truex, who increased his series-leading playoff point total to 69.

“We were able to run up through there and made good adjustments throughout the day, which got us in a spot to be up toward the front towards the end and advance. It was a solid day for our team. We overcame a lot coming from the back, and they should be proud of that.”

Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin ran fourth and fifth, respectively, to advance to the Round of 8. Kevin Harvick also stayed alive in the postseason with an eighth-place result, as did Kyle Busch with a 10th-place finish.

Johnson came home 11th after avoiding serious damage during his two spins, the first of which sent his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet sliding across the frontstretch grass.

WATCH: See Johnson’s spins

It wasn’t a problem-free race for Truex either. On a Lap 36 restart after a competition caution, Truex dipped below the white line on the apron before reaching the start/finish line—a point of admonition in the drivers’ meeting earlier in the day.

After serving a pass-through penalty, Truex remained on the lead lap and began to work his way forward, but an unscheduled pit stop on Lap 91 because of a loose wheel put the No. 78 Toyota a lap down. Brett Moffitt’s crash into the Turn 2 wall with four laps left in Stage 2 kept him on the lead circuit after the other contending cars had come to pit road for green-flag stops.

“Just couldn’t believe some of the things that were happening and thought there was no way that we were going to win that race at some point,” Truex said. “That first restart violation really caught me by surprise and that hurt, but that wasn’t the last blow we had to take. There was the loose wheel we had to pit for under green and getting a lap down and being able to stay out through that last stage and get that lap back was crucial.

“Without that, we didn’t have a shot. Then we got back mid-pack and had a couple really good restarts to get some track position and then really fought the car through that part of the race and had to make some big adjustments. I felt like at the end we got dialed in pretty good. I’m pretty happy with that.”

Posted on October 22, 2017October 22, 2017 by Staff Report

RELATED: Full race results

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs field was whittled from 12 drivers to eight on Sunday following an elimination race at Kansas Speedway, with Martin Truex Jr. winning.

Kansas was the site of the third and final race in the Round of 12, with the four drivers lowest in the standings eliminated from the postseason and the ability to compete for a championship in Miami.

MORE: Devastating blow for Larson | Best photos from Kansas

The following drivers advanced to the Round of 8; they are listed by official seeding and points.

1. Martin Truex Jr., 4,069 points
2. Kyle Busch, 4,042 points
3. Brad Keselowski, 4,026 points
4. Kevin Harvick, 4,017 points
5. Jimmie Johnson, 4,017 points
6. Denny Hamlin, 4,014 points
7. Ryan Blaney, 4,009 points
8. Chase Elliott, 4,006 points

WHO’S OUT: Kyle Larson, Matt Kenseth, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Jamie McMurray

MORE: Two spins from Jimmie | In-car of wreck

UP IN SMOKE: Kyle Larson’s engine trouble produced a story line perhaps no one saw coming: The No. 42 was eliminated from the Round of 12. Larson entered the day third in the standings, but severe engine issues relegated him to a 39th-place finish. He could only watch helplessly from the garage as he dropped below the cutoff line.

BUBBLE BOYS: The playoff picture was tight entering Kansas, with plenty of big names on the bubble. Ryan Blaney entered the day seventh, but started from the rear of the field after his post-qualifying time was disallowed. Jimmie Johnson sat on the cutoff line, with Kyle Busch (-7) and Matt Kenseth (-8) below him. Blaney’s charge through the field cemented his spot in the next round, while Busch and Johnson capitalized on misfortune that befell both Larson and Kenseth.

PLAYOFF BONANZA: Martin Truex Jr. will be the top seed for the Round of 8 by virtue of his playoff points. He has 69. The point totals for the eight playoff drivers will reset to 4,000 for the Round of 8, with each driver’s playoff points total added to that.

Posted on October 22, 2017June 21, 2021 by Pat DeCola

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Eight down, eight remain.

Four more drivers were eliminated from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs following a wild race at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, including perennial championship contender Matt Kenseth and one of the top drivers of the year in Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson. Roush Fenway Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and CGR’s Jamie McMurray were also eliminated.

As surprising as it was to see Larson, a four-time 2017 winner, eliminated via an engine expiring too early, a pit-road miscue by Kenseth’s No. 20 pit crew also stood out.

On Lap 197, several cars made contact coming off Turn 2, blocking the track on the backstretch. The wreck was major — collecting 14 cars — but Kenseth’s Toyota appeared fixable enough that it could return to the track and fight for the eighth and final transfer spot. Kenseth brought the car to pit road, the team began to work on it, and then the No. 20 team was subsequently disqualified from the race for having too many pit crew members — seven — over the wall while under the five-minute clock, per NASCAR’s damaged vehicle policy.

Just like that, with no ride lined up for 2018 at the moment, Kenseth’s potential last shot at a second Monster Energy Series title came to a screeching halt.

“I really don’t have a lot good to say right now. I’m more than disappointed,” Kenseth said in the garage after exiting his car. ” … We showed some flashes of brilliance this season, been off and on, been fast at times, had great pit stops at times, just haven’t been able to put it all together like a championship team needs to. Unfortunately, this is an example of that. I hope that I can do a better job here the next four weeks and hopefully go get a win.”

WATCH: Johnson’s pair of spins

Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez, Aric Almirola, Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano, Ryan Newman, Trevor Bayne, Austin Dillon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski were also among those involved in the crash, which brought out the red flag. Several were able to continue, including Elliott, who wound up placing fourth to move on to the Round of 8.

No. 20 crew chief Jason Ratcliff talked about the pit-road incident shortly after the wrecked car was loaded into the team’s hauler to make the long trek back to North Carolina.

He mentioned that “two of the (crew members) were holding tires,” as per their game plan, but that there was a miscommunication because of how close their pit box was to pit entrance and the shortness of time to properly convey what needed to happen.

“I think in the heat of the battle, I mean … that’s one thing about that pit stall. It makes it difficult,” said the 14-time race-winning crew chief. “When you get to pit road really quick, you have a little less time to communicate. … We just missed a head count there. … We have a game plan. This worked really good for us all year. I don’t know if somebody just missed the call there or I didn’t communicate properly or, yeah. Typically, it boils down to communication.”

As Kenseth moves on from his time racing full-time in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series with JGR, Ratcliff also took a moment to reflect on his final few races with the 2003 champion, who he teamed up with starting in 2013. The duo combined for 13 of Kenseth’s 38 career race victories.

“We’ve had some great runs at Martinsville and there would be nothing greater than going there and finally getting that win with Matt. I think that would be special,” he said. “Would it make up for not having a shot at Homestead? No, but boy, it would be sweet to have that happen with just a few races to go in the season.”

Posted on October 22, 2017June 18, 2021 by Staff Report

Stage 1 results

Kyle Busch came to Kansas on the outside of the NASCAR Playoff bubble in ninth place, while Kyle Larson seemed to be in a relatively safe spot in the standings up in third. But the two Kyles went in opposite directions in Stage 1 of Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, shaking up the playoff picture in the Round of 12 elimination race.

Busch used fresher tires to scoot past Ryan Blaney on Lap 54 and win the stage, which ended under caution. It was Busch’s 14th stage win of the season.

Meanwhile, Larson had to bring the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet down pit road on Lap 65, where the hood was raised. Larson shut off the engine briefly before restarting it and re-entering the track. Eleven laps later, smoke billowed out of the back of Larson’s car, bringing out a caution and ending Larson’s day.

“I felt it drop a cylinder or something,” Larson told NBCSN. “Disappointing way to finish our race and probably our season. But we’ll be all right.”

Earlier, pole-sitter Martin Truex Jr. led the first 35 laps, but a restart violation forced the No. 78 Toyota to come down pit road for a pass-through penalty. The No. 78 failed to establish the inside line above the white line on the restart.

RELATED: Truex earns restart penalty

Ryan Blaney, who started at the back because of a qualifying time that was disallowed, moved rapidly through the field and finished fourth in Stage 1. Blaney was one of the cars that stayed off pit road after a Lap 46 caution for Brett Moffitt’s No. 83 car smacking the wall in Turn 2. After that, Blaney held the lead until Busch passed him.

A competition caution came out on Lap 30 to check track conditions following heavy rain storms that moved through the Kansas City, Kansas, area overnight Saturday.

Finish	Driver	Team	Race points
1.	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	10
2.	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	9
3.	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	8
4.	Ryan Blaney	Wood Brothers Racing	7
5.	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	6
6.	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	5
7.	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	4
8.	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	3
9.	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	2
10.	Erik Jones	Furniture Row Racing	1

Stage 2 results

Denny Hamlin won Stage 2 on older tires as he stayed out when there was a caution with five laps to go in the stage. Kevin Harvick, who went to pit road, finished second as different strategies played out among the NASCAR Playoff contenders in Kansas.

Jimmie Johnson, another car that stayed out, fell back to 10th and picked up just one race point as a result. Kyle Busch was seemingly cruising to the stage victory, but he came in for tires and finished in fifth place.

Hamlin and Brad Keselowski both picked up pit-road penalties coming out of the stage that made their attempts to win the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway that much tougher.

Johnson, Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were the drivers in danger of being eliminated as the race entered the Final Stage. Matt Kenseth, who finished fourth in the stage, moved into the eighth and final transfer spot heading into the Final Stage.

Ultimately, Larson, McMurray, Stenhouse and Kenseth did not advance to the Round of 8.

Finish	Driver	Team	Race points
1.	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	10
2.	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	9
3.	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	8
4.	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	7
5.	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	6
6.	Erik Jones	Furniture Row Racing	5
7.	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	4
8.	Ryan Blaney	Wood Brothers Racing	3
9.	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	2
10.	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	1

Posted on October 22, 2017October 24, 2017 by Holly Cain

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Moments after climbing out of his car, the smoke still settling after a massive engine failure early in Sunday’s playoff cutoff race at Kansas Speedway, Kyle Larson stood outside his team’s trailer and succinctly and honestly summed up his feelings to a waiting crowd of reporters.

“It’s painful,” Larson said quietly. “It sucks.”

As crewmen stood around his No. 42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet yards away, one of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Playoffs favorites could only shake his head and be philosophical about the situation. He entered the Hollywood Casino 400 ranked third in the championship standings and was considered a favorite to advance to the Homestead-Miami season finale in four weeks to race for his first NASCAR championship.

Instead, he parked his car in the Kansas garage and patiently and politely answered reporters’ questions – trying to put his massive disappointment into words.

After doing so, Larson walked away to watch the rest of the race in the privacy of his team hauler. Soon after Larson closed the door, NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin approached and walked right inside — undoubtedly ready to comfort the 25-year-old.

MORE: Top photos from Kansas

Larson was scored 39th out of 40 drivers by the time the first stage was complete Sunday. His only hope was for those ahead of him in the standings — specifically Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson — to have their own issues. Kenseth was caught up in a wreck and exited the race early, but Johnson and Kyle Busch drove to strong finishes to advance into the Round of 8.

Larson was left one spot below the cutoff line.

Crappy way to end our run at the championship but that’s just part of it sometimes. 25yrs old, gonna have more opportunities with this team!

— Kyle Larson (@KyleLarsonRacin) October 22, 2017

“Disappointing way to finish our race and our season,” Larson said. “But we’ll be all right. Things happen. The 78 had the engine issue last year after being the best car all year and then us this year. Disappointing.

“I’m not stunned because freak things happen in every sport …,” Larson continued. “Not always does the best team win.”

Posted on October 22, 2017October 22, 2017 by Holly Cain

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Goodyear executives have given a thumbs-up review of the two-day Goodyear tire test on the new Charlotte Motor Speedway road course last week.

Drivers Jamie McMurray, Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Daniel Hemric ran laps Oct. 17-18 on the newly introduced 2.42-mile, 18-turn road course at Charlotte.

Stu Grant, Goodyear’s Manager of Worldwide Racing, said Sunday morning before the race at Kansas Speedway that the tire company was in good shape preparing for the inaugural Charlotte road course race set for Sept. 30 next year as the final race in the opening round of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

“Actually we ended up having a very good test and come out of there with a very good tire recommendation,” Grant said. “We started off with a Watkins Glen road course-type setup, thought that would be a good start. That’s what we ran back a year ago with [AJ] Allmendinger (who first tested the road course in January). We built some special tires with different compounds because we weren’t sure where we were going to land with the configuration. The first thing we did was try to figure out what the chicane on the backstretch would look like.

“We worked with NASCAR to fiddle around and try to get the configuration of that right. We went through our test program and ended up on a setup that was the Watkins Glen road course construction on a slightly softer tread compound.”

Grant said although the drivers had some off-course excursions, the feedback was valuable and ultimately positive.

“It was nice and it was unanimous among the drivers in terms of which setup to pick,” Grant said. “It’s always nice to leave a test when everybody agrees on the same tire. That’s where we landed. We were happy from a tire standpoint. Now NASCAR and the race track (may) look at making some changes to the curbing. And unless they make a major change, we’re good to go.”

Posted on October 22, 2017October 22, 2017 by Team Release

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — James “Jim” Watson, a road-crew fabricator for Furniture Row Racing’s NASCAR Cup Series teams, passed away Saturday night at the age of 55 after suffering a heart attack.

A native of Greenfield, Wisconsin (near Milwaukee), Jim had been a member of Furniture Row Racing since February 2017. He worked for Roush Fenway Racing from 2006-2015 and spent last season with HScott Motorsports. Jim was a longtime race car driver, competing in dirt late models and in asphalt super late models throughout southeast Wisconsin.

He is survived by his wife, Laurie, and daughter Brittany.

“On behalf of Furniture Row Racing we extend our deepest sympathies to Jim’s family,” said Joe Garone, president of Furniture Row Racing. “He was an outstanding and talented member of our racing family, whose life was dedicated to racing since his early days as a race-car driver in Wisconsin. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jim’s wife Laurie, daughter Brittany and to his entire family and friends. Our No. 77 and 78 teams will be racing with heavy hearts today.”

Posted on October 21, 2017October 22, 2017 by Holly Cain

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Even the calm, cool and collected seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson admits to feeling some pressure entering Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Three championship drivers and an esteemed assortment of popular young racers sit just above or just below the elimination cutoff line with one race remaining to set the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8 field.

The reigning series champ Johnson sits in eighth place in the championship standings with only the top eight drivers in the standings advancing to the next three-race series of the playoffs — the penultimate round of competition before the Homestead-Miami championship finale. One position ahead of Johnson in the standings is 23-year old Ryan Blaney, in only his second full-time Monster Energy Series season.

He crashed out at Talladega but still holds a slim two-point edge over Johnson.

Should Kyle Busch — the 2016 spring race Kansas winner — or Matt Kenseth — a two-time Kansas winner — take the trophy Sunday, they would automatically advance into the Round of 8. Both former series champions enter Sunday’s race ranked below Johnson and currently sit below the cut line for playoff advancement.

It all makes for rather dramatic anticipation.

“It really is challenging. And then you think of this track and the speed that the Gibbs cars have had, this has been a great track for Matt and Kyle both,” Johnson said of the No. 20 and No. 18 Joe Gibbs Toyota drivers.

“I could go out there and put myself in a nice position in the points and maintain this eighth-place on the bubble and Matt or Kyle wins and shifts that whole thing down.

“So, it’s going to be a challenging weekend. We need to hit the track with the mindset of winning largely because of the two, speaking of Matt and Kyle, those guys are both capable of winning here and shifting the points all around.”

Getty Images

Johnson has three top-five finishes in his last five starts here and won in May of 2015, but finished 24^th in his No. 48 Lowe’s Chevy earlier this season at Kansas.

Busch, who is seven points behind Johnson in the standings, hasn’t finished worse than fifth place at Kansas since 2011. The 2015 Cup champion won the race in May, 2016 and this spring led 59 laps, finishing fifth.

Kenseth, who is 10th in the standings, is eight points behind Johnson. He has 10 top-10s in the last 14 races at Kansas, including back-to-back wins in 2012-13. He was 12th in May.

For both Joe Gibbs Racing drivers — Busch and Kenseth — last weekend’s race at Talladega, Ala. created a more dramatic Kansas than either would prefer. Busch finished 27th at Talladega and was involved in a crash. Kenseth finished 14th.

“We’ve done our job all this year to build our points up and do the best possible job we know how to do because you always know you’re supposed to build that point cushion for Talladega,’’ said Busch, who will start seventh on Sunday.

“As crazy as it is in this world, we all plan for one race to knock us out of the Playoffs. That [Talladega] seems to be the race that will knock us out again. We’ll have to fight through it this weekend in Kansas and try to do it to get enough points so we can outdo the two guys in front of us if nobody else has trouble and go from there. …

As for Kansas, he conceded, “Challenging aspects all through the weekend, that’s what makes it intense and a bit unpredictable, if you will.

“Hopefully the speed that we’ve shown so far this weekend in our M&M’s Camry has been pretty good. I would love to make sure we’re one of the guys that’s moving on, one of the top eight to the next round of the Playoffs.

Kenseth, the 2003 Cup champion, remained a little more philosophic about Kansas. He will start the No. 20 DeWalt Toyota third on Sunday.

“You have all year to collect all those points, which we didn’t do a very good job of getting very many,’’ Kenseth said. “I know Talladega is very unique. But all three races are equally as important, really. If you look at [points leader] Martin [Truex] and [Talladega winner] Brad [Keselowski], they got their wins the first two weeks, so then this week doesn’t really matter.

“So to me, it’s just another weekend, another opportunity to go out and try to win, try to get this ship turned around a little bit.”

And so ultimately, it comes down to the purest of racing intention, the simplest of concepts.

“We’ve got to go out there and just perform and know that we need a win,’’ Busch said. “A win would make everything easy.’’

Posted on October 21, 2017October 21, 2017 by Pat DeCola

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Getting pushed to the win? That’s the kind of thing we typically would’ve seen last week at Talladega Superspeedway in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Erik Jones and race-winner Christopher Bell illustrated a bit of a different interpretation of that Saturday at Kansas Speedway in the Kansas Lottery 300, albeit unintentionally and with something more than the garden-variety bump-draft.

In the waning laps, Bell managed to maneuver his No. 18 Toyota around Jones’ dominant No. 20, sliding up the track before being rear-ended by the Monster Energy Series regular. Bell drove away from the run-in to the win, and Jones limped to the finish with the brunt of the damage.

According to Jones, the contact was unavoidable from his standpoint. The positioning of Bell, he says, was not.

“I just don’t think that’s the way to do it,” Jones said on pit road following the race. “I get he was clear, but he wasn’t clear for the run I was having on the top. I was in the gas and there’s no way I could slow up enough to let him in. It’s just unfortunate. It took me out of the race. Obviously, it worked out for him. I don’t know, I just don’t really appreciate that. I don’t think many people do. It is what it is.”

Jones led a race-high 186 of 200 laps and appeared set to cruise-control his way to a third XFINITY win of the season before the contact with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate derailed his day. The 21-year-old was saddled with a 15th-place disappointment, while Bell earned his first career win in just his fifth series start.

“I tried to drive in really deep into Turn 3 and clear him and get back to the top. I hate that we didn’t get to race it out and he didn’t get to finish, but it’s my first XFINITY win and it’s something I’m really proud of,” Bell said in Victory Lane.

“I’m going to apologize and it sucks that we couldn’t race it out or that he didn’t finish the race. I don’t know man, I cleared him there. We were both on old tires and we were both sliding around.”

Bell, for his part, told reporters in his post-race press conference that he’s planning to reach out to Jones immediately if he doesn’t cross paths with him before leaving the Kansas track.

Jones told NASCAR.com that he’s “never seen him run anyone dirty,” but that they’ll “absolutely” have a conversation.

“We definitely need to talk about it,” he continued. “Obviously, Christopher is in the Toyota development line and coming up through the ranks. I’m sure we’ll be racing each other for a long time. It’s not the way we want to race as teammates or fellow racers, so we’ll have to work it out.

“That’s racing. It’s not always going to go your way and it didn’t go our way today.”

Posted on October 21, 2017October 21, 2017 by Reid Spencer

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 may have been the opening race in the Round of 8 of the NASCAR XFINITY Series Playoffs, but the real drama involved two Joe Gibbs Racing teammates outside the championship battle.

On Lap 197 of 200 at Kansas Speedway, Christopher Bell caught and passed Erik Jones for the lead, clearing Jones’ No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a slide job and drifting up to the outside wall right in front of his JGR teammate.

Under a full head of steam, Jones plowed into the back of Bell’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, wrecking the No. 20 Camry, which slowed markedly and finished 15th, a lap down.

Bell took the checkered flag with pole-sitter Tyler Reddick and some hard feelings on Jones’ part in his wake.

“It’s not dirt racing,” Jones complained, referencing Bell’s dirt-track background. “He’s not clear. I can’t just stop on the top. I didn’t expect him to drive in on the bottom so hard he wouldn’t be able to hold his lane.

“It’s unfortunate. I thought we were going to race for the win, and unfortunately, it wasn’t much of a race — it was more of a wreck. We’ll just have to move on.”

Jones had led four times for 186 laps before Bell ran him down from more than two seconds back in the closing laps. The series leader in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Bell got the victory in his fifth start, becoming the first driver to get his maiden XFINITY win at the 1.5-mile track.

Bell also is the 10th straight different winner in the series.

“I never want to wreck anyone, especially my teammate,” Bell said. “I don’t know. My spotter said ‘Clear.’ I drove it in really deep. I felt like I cleared him – I don’t know.

“It’s my first XFINITY win. I’m sorry that Erik didn’t finish the race, but, man, I’m just stoked. This thing was awesome. To be able to win in the XFINITY Series is something I dreamed of as a kid. We were both on old tires. We were sliding around…

“Bummed for the way it finished, but I’m glad it held on, man. I was getting tire smoke in the car there those last couple of laps, and I was worried we weren’t going to make it.”

WATCH: Bell celebrates, analyzes incident with Jones

Ryan Blaney ran third, followed by playoff drivers and JR Motorsports teammates William Byron and Justin Allgaier, the latter of whom collected 11 stage points and took over the top spot in the standings by two points over Byron, who had to start from the rear of the field because of unapproved pre-race adjustments to his No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.

Elliott Sadler, another JRM entry, recovered from a spin in Turn 4 on Lap 76 to finish seventh and is third in the Playoff standings, 11 points behind Allgaier.

“A tire came apart — I don’t know whether I ran over something or not,” said Sadler, who turned sideways in the path of oncoming traffic. Eventual sixth-place finisher Austin Dillon did a masterful job of avoiding Sadler’s spinning car.

“I gave ’em a big target, but nobody hit us,” a relieved Sadler said after the race.

WATCH: In-car view of Sadler’s wreck

Beyond the top three Playoff positions, little was decided. With two races left in the Round of 8, there’s an eight-point gap between fourth-place Brennan Poole, who ran 12th on Saturday, and eighth-place Cole Custer, who brought his No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford to pit road with two laps left because of a cut tire and finished 19th, two laps down.

Daniel Hemric also endured one of the toughest days among the remaining eight Playoff contenders, incurring a one-lap penalty when his Richard Childress Racing crew serviced his No. 21 Chevrolet outside his pit stall. He wound up 18th, one lap down, and slipped to seventh in the postseason standings.

The XFINITY Series’ next race is scheduled Nov. 4 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Note: Two teams were found with one unsecured lug nut each in a post-race check — the Team Penske No. 22 Ford of third-place finisher Blaney and the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota of eighth-place Matt Tifft. The rule book’s suggested penalty for such an infraction is a $10,000 fine for each crew chief.

Contributing: Staff reports