The Xfinity Series returns this week for some racing in sunshine with the Kansas Lottery 300 at the mile and a half track of Kansas Speedway.
This is race number two for the first round of the playoffs.
Thirty-nine teams have brought cars for 38 starting spots; meaning one driver will not make the field.
Craftsman Truck Series regular Rajah Caruth is driving the Hendricks number 17 car this week.
The drivers have been divided into two groups for 25 minute practice sessions before making a qualifying run.
Ryan Sieg topped the leaderboard early in group one practice with ARCA race winner Brenden Queen in second.
Goodyear brought a new right side tire to Kansas. The tires are showing a fall off of around two and a half seconds during a run.
Group two drivers include the playoff drivers.
After practice, the crew discovered an issue in the rear of Daniel Dye’s car and he will not make a qualifying run in order for the crew to make repairs to the car.
Fourth overall, Sammy Smith tops the leaderboard in group two with Jesse Love in second but seventh overall.
The first driver to make a qualifying run is Kole Raz who posted a time of 32.647 seconds and nearly lost the car when he got loose in turn four. Many of the drivers are getting very loose on their qualifying runs.
With a time of 31.140 seconds Brandon Jones puts his number 20 car on the pole with teammate Taylor Gray alongside.
The Starting lineup for the Kansas Lottery 300:
Brandon Jones
Taylor Gray
Sam Mayer
Brenden Queen
Justin Allgaier
William Sawalich
Connor Zilisch
Rajah Caruth
Dean Thompson
Dr. Patrick Staropoli
Sheldon Creed
Jesse Love
Nick Sanchez
Sammy Smith
Ryan Sieg
Justin Bonsignore
Austin Hill
Harrison Burton
Carson Kvapil
Christian Eckes
Matt DiBenedetto
Anthony Alfredo
Parker Retzlaff
Kyle Sieg
Jeremy Clements
Jeb Burton
Leland Honeyman
Blaine Perkins
Brennan Poole
Mason Massey
Austin Green
Kole Raz
Joey Gase
Ryan Ellis
Nick Leitz
Josh Williams
Garret Smithley
Daniel Dye
All 12 of the playoff drivers start in the top 20.
Glen Reen did not qualify for the race.
Stages one and two are 45 laps each with stage three lasting 110 laps for a total of 200 laps around the mile and a half track.
Harrison Burton will have to start the race from the back of the field after the crew found a fuel line issue after qualifying.
Former Kansas City Chief Tamba Hali gave the command to start the engines.
Brandon Jones brings the field down for the green flag start of the race from the inside lane with teammate Taylor Gray alongside. Jones edges out for the lead but Taylor Gray comes up one the outside the battle for the lead.
Lap two, Taylor Gray takes the lead. Drivers are getting three wide in the field.
Lap Three, the top five are Taylor Gray, Sam Mayer, Brandon Jones, Justin Allgaier, and Brenden Queen.
Lap five, Justin Allgaier passes Sam Mayer for third with Taylor Gray leading the race and Brandon Jones in second.
Lap eight, Taylor Gray has a near half second lead on Brandon Jones. Justin Allgaier battles with Brandon Jones for second.
Lap 13, Justin Allgaier passes Taylor Gray to take the lead; Brandon Jones, Sam Mayer, and Connor Zilisch round out the top five.
Lap 17, Justin Allgaier has pulled out to a lead of nearly a second on Taylor Gray.
Lap 19, the top six drivers are in the playoffs and seven of the top eight.
Lap 20, Justin Allgaier has pulled out to a lead of a second and a half on Taylor Gray.
Taylor Gray and Brandon Jones are reporting issues with their cars.
Lap 23, Justin Allgaier continues to increase his lead and is now over two seconds out in front of Brandon Jones; Taylor Gray, Sam Mayer, and Connor Zilisch round out the top five.
Lap 26, after starting the race from the back of the field, Harrison Burton has entered the top 20.
Lap 32, Justin Allgaier continues to pull away from the field and is now nearly three seconds out in front.
The top five are Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Sam Mayer, Taylor Gray, and Connor Zilisch.
Lap 34, Justin Allgaier is now over three seconds out in front of Brandon Jones. He has begun lapping cars.
There are 26 cars on the lead lap.
With seven laps remaining in stage one, nine of the top 10 drivers are playoff drivers; only Brenden Queen in seventh is not a playoff driver.
Lap 40, Connor Zilisch battle for fourth.
With a lead of over five seconds, Justin Allgaier wins stage one for his 12th stage win of the season.
The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Justin Allgaier
Brandon Jones
Sam Mayer
Connor Zilisch
Taylor Gray
Brenden Queen
Jesse Love
Austin Hill
Sammy Smith
Dean Thompson
Nick Leitz takes his car to the garage with mechanical issues.
Drivers come down pit road for service with Brandon Jones edging out to win the race off of pit road first.
Taylor Gray had a slow pit stop with an air gun issue.
Brandon Jones brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two with Justin Allgaier alongside on lap 55. Getting a push from Sam Mayer, Brandon Jones edges out in front but Justin Allgaier comes up on the inside to take the lead.
The top five are Justin Alllgaier, Brandon ones, Sammy Smith, Sam Mayer, and Connor Zilisch.
The caution flag comes out on lap 59 when Jeb Burton gets loose and spins out and goes slideways down the track but keeps it off the wall.
Justin Allgaier brings the field down for the green flag restart with Brandon Jones alongside on lap 64. Jones gets out in front for the lead with Allgaier on his bumper. Drivers are spread out all across the track.
Lap 65, Justin Allgaier passes Brandon Jones for the lead.
The top five are Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Sam Mayer, Connor Zilisch, and Sammy Smith.
Lap 70, Justin Allgaier has pulled out to a near one second lead on Brandon Jones; Sam Mayer, Connor Zilisch, and Taylor Gray round out the top five.
Lap 73, Justin Allgaier has led 50 laps so far.
Lap 79, Justin Allgaier has pulled ut to a lead of over a second on Brandon Jones; Sam Mayer, Connor Zilisch, and Sammy Smith round out the top five.
With eight laps remaining in stage two, Justin Allgaier has a lead of over two seconds on Brandon Jones.
With three laps remaining in stage two, Brandon Jones is slowly closing the gap on leader Justin Allgaier and in now less than two seconds behind.
Earning the stage sweep, Justin Allgaier wins stage two.
The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Justin Allgaier
Brandon Jones
Sam Mayer
Connor Zilisch
Sammy Smith
Taylor Gray
Dean Thompson
Austin Hill
Sheldon Creed
Justin Bonsignore
Drivers come down pit road for service with Brandon Jones winning the race off of pit road. Justin Allgaier comes out in sixth place after a slow stop.
Nick Leitz has returned to the track 54 laps down.
Brandon Jones brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three with Connor Zilisch alongside on lap 96. With a push from Sam Mayer, Connor Zilisch gets out in front for the lead.
The top five are Connor Zilisch, Brandon Jones, Sammy Smith, Sam Mayer, and Austin Hill. Justin Allgaier is just outside the top five in sixth.
Lap 102, Brandon Jones battles with Connor Zilisch for the lead.
Drivers are getting three and four wide back in the field as they battle for position.
Justin Allgaier passes Sam Mayer for fifth.
With 85 laps to go, Connor Zilisch has a lead of over a second on Brandon Jones; Sammy Smith, Austin Hill, and Justin Allgaier round out the top five.
Eighty to go, Connor Zilisch has a near second and a half lead on Brandon Jones; Sammy Smith, Austin Hill, and Justin Allgaier round out the top five. Allgaier is over six seconds back after leading the race by several seconds before the end of stage two.
With 70 laps to go, Justin Allgaier is closing in on fourth place driver Austin Hill and scrapes the wall.
Justin Allgaier reports to his team that he is showing them why track position is so important.
Jusitn Allgaier and Austin Hill battle for fourth.
With 66 laps to go, Connor Zilisch has less than a second lead on Brandon Jones; Sammy Smith, Justin Allgaier, and Austin Hill round out the top five.
With 65 laps to go, Brandon Jones has closed to under half a second on Connor Zilisch and swapping the lead back and forth.
Brandon Jones takes the lead with 63 laps to go.
With 60 laps remaining in the race, the drivers are in their window to make a pit stop and make it to the end of the race. Sam Mayer is the first driver to make his green flag stop.
With 57 laps to go, Justin Allgaiejr makes his green flag pit stop.
With 56 laps to go, Brandon Jones makes his pit stop.
With 55 to go, leader Connor Zilisch comes down pit road for service. Nick Sanchez is the new leader.
Parker Retzlaff was caught speeding on pit road and will have to serve a passthrough penalty.
Nick Sanchez makes his pit stop and gives the lead over the Christian Eckes.
Christian Eckes makes his green flag pit stop and gives the lead over to Brenden Queen.
Brenden Queen, Ryan Sieg, and Daniel Dye have yet to make their pit stops.
The caution flag comes out with 45 laps to go when Justin Bonsignore gets into the wall hard. Nick Sanchez made contact with Bonsignore sending him around and into the inside wall head on.
There are just 14 cars on the lead lap.
Leader Brenden Queen is among the several drivers who come down pit road for service. Brandon Jones wins the race off of pit road.
Justin Allgaier leads the race and brings the field down for the green flag restart with Sam Mayer alongside with 38 laps remaining in the race. Drivers spread out three and four wide through the field with Brandon Jones takes the lead; Connor Zilisch, Austin Hill, Sammy Smith, and Sheldon Creed round out the top five. Justin Allgaier is back in seventh place.
With 35 laps to go, Justin Allgaier has fallen out of the top 10 in eleventh.
With 34 laps to go, Connor Zilisch comes up to battle Brandon Jones for the lead.
Thirty to go, Brandon Jones has a half second lead on Connor Zilisch; Austin Hill, Sammy Smith, and Taylor Gray round out the top five. Justin Allgaier continues to fall through the field and is now back in 13th.
Leader Brandon Jones is the only driver in the race who has won a previous race at Kansas.
Just 23 laps remaining in the race with Brandon Jones nearly a second out in front of Connor Zilisch; Austin Hill, Sammy Smith, and Sheldon Creed round out the top five.
Just 17 laps remain in the race; Brandon Jones has a near two second lead on Connor Zilisch; Austin Hill, Sammy Smith, and Sheldon Creed round out the top five.
Ten to go! Brandon Jones has a lead of over two and a half seconds on Connor Zilisch.
Nic Sanchez passes Brenden Queen for eighth place.
Seven to go, Brandon Jones passes Rajah Caruth to put him a lap down; there are only 17 cars on the lead lap.
Brandon Jones takes the white flag.
Brandon Jones wins the race and earns a spot in the next round of the playoffs.
The unofficial results of the Kansas Lottery 300:
Brandon Jones
Connor Zilisch
Austin Hill
Sammy Smith
Sheldon Creed
Taylor Gray
Jesse Love
Nick Sanchez
Brenden Queen
Dean Thompson
William Sawalich
Daniel Dye
Justin Allgaier
Christian Eckes
Carson Kvapil
Sam Mayer
Kyle Sieg
Rajah Caruth
Ryan Sieg
Harrison Burton
Leland Honeyman
Patrick Staropoli
Matt DiBenedetto
Josh Williams
Anthony Alfredo
Ryan Ellis
Parker Retzlaff
Brennan Poole
Austin Green
Jeb burton
Mason Massey
Jeremy Clements
Joey Gase
Garrett Smithley
Kole Raz
Blaine Perkins
Justin Bonsignore
Nick Leitz
Connor Zilisch and Justin Allgaier have earned a spot in the next round of the playoffs based on points earned.