It was a fantastic battle to close out the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Kansas Speedway this weekend, but it ended with a Cup Series veteran overcoming a rising star and the defending series champion.
The last restart of the race came with 49 laps to go. Chandler Smith was able to work his way around Cole Custer for the lead a few laps into the run and began to run off for about 10-15 laps.
Custer, however, would make up the gap and spent a good 15 laps throwing everything and the kitchen sink to get back around Smith. But it wasn’t enough until he finally got back past on lap 191.
This allowed Aric Almirola to catch back up. Almirola had hit the wall back on lap 123 and pitted due to a flat tire, but caught a break when the last caution came out due to a tire rolling onto the track during green flag pit stops.
Almirola cut through the field on his second chance and made up a three-second gap during the Custer and Smith battle. Almirola would take advantage of Custer’s pass on Smith to get around his fellow Joe Gibbs Racing driver.
Almirola then struck with four laps to go, taking the lead from Custer and securing the win. It’s the start to a long playoff season for Almirola, who will be competing in all seven playoff races in this car.
Custer was not happy following the race, confronting Smith and saying that he raced him “like a clown”.
The Winners
The win by Almirola may seem to just be that, but in reality, it’s a big step in the Xfinity Series Owner’s Playoffs.
The No. 20 car is now locked into the next round, meaning that Almirola will be driving these next two races much differently from the rest of the field. It would be surprising if he doesn’t flip the stages at both races.
It was another great race for Connor Zilisch, but it almost ended on the very first lap.
Zilisch’s massive save led to the young driver spending the next stage or so riding in the teens and just learning, before moving up in the final stage.
He ended up finishing fourth, highest of the JRM cars and proof he isn’t just a road course wizard.
Speaking of road course wizards, I’m pretty sure Shane van Gisbergen has to be the first playoff driver in NASCAR history to have never even seen a facility before they raced there in the playoffs.
It was a very prototypical van Gisbergen oval day. He started off racing in the 20s, then into…
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