Brandon Jones earns first Xfinity win after chaotic Kansas race

With playoff contenders battling for the lead Cole Custer and Tyler Reddick, Jones took the field four-wide following a restart on Lap 191 of 200 and grabbed the lead for the first time in the race.

He held off the field on another restart and challenges from Chase Briscoe and Reddick on the final lap to come away with the win in Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300.

The win is Jones’ first in 177 career starts in the NASCAR Xfinity and Truck series. He has won races in ARCA and K&N Pro Series East.

"I knew this was going to happen. I knew we would get to this race track, did not advance in the playoffs and have a shot to go to the final round, but I'm super-excited, man," Jones said after the race. "This team has been through hell and back with me for a couple years now.

"I can't believe we pulled this off today."

Asked what was going through his mind on the final laps, Jones said, “I’m not going to lie about this. My foot was literally shaking on the accelerator on that last lap. I’m not even sure if I was wide open at the time, when I was doing it. 

"There was a lot of nerves. A lot of emotion going through my mind, but I saw it coming and got pretty pumped.”

After the race, Custer tried to approach Reddick on pit road to talk to him about an incident on the track but it turned into a physical confrontation, first between the drivers and then crew members.

Reddick ended up finishing second in the race, Briscoe third, Michael Annett was fourth and Justin Allgaier rounded out the top-five.

On Lap 146, Annett hit the wall to bring out a caution just as Reddick began his green-flag pit stop. All of the lead-lap cars elected to pit with Custer the first off pit road.

When the race returned to green on Lap 152, Custer was followed by Briscoe, Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain and Justin Haley.

Just after the restart, Briscoe rocketed to the lead while Custer fell off the pace after contact from Haley. 

With 40 laps remaining in the race, Briscoe held a small lead over Bell with Reddick running third. 

John Hunter Nemechek spun off Turn 2 on Lap 164 to bring out another caution. Most of the lead-lap cars elected to pit but Annett stayed out and inherited the lead.

When the race went green on Lap 169, Annett was followed by Briscoe, Reddick, Bell, Chastain and Jones. Briscoe quickly powered back into the lead.

With 25 laps to go, Custer used a three-wide move to take third as Briscoe and Bell continued to run first and second.

On Lap 185, Garrett Smithley moved up the track in front of leader Briscoe. Briscoe hit Smithley and Bell ran into back of Briscoe, doing serious damage to both of the race cars. 

Both Briscoe and Bell had to pit for repairs, which handed the lead over to Custer. The race returned to green on Lap 191 with Custer out front, followed by Reddick, Jones, Noah Gragson and Haley.

Briscoe restarted 12th and Bell 13th.

On the restart, Custer got into the wall as the field went four-wide and Jones moved into the lead for the first time.

Gragson and Joey Gase hit the wall on Lap 192 to bring out another caution. Jones continued to lead when the race returned to green on Lap 196.

Allgaier moved into second after the restart as Briscoe moved into third. Briscoe then moved into second on Lap 198, before being overtaken by Reddick on the final lap.

Stage 2 

Custer held off a stiff challenge from Bell to take the Stage 2 victory.

Reddick was third, Allgaier fourth and Briscoe ended up fifth.

Following the break between Stages 1 and 2, all of the lead-lap cars elected to pit with Bell the first off pit road. On the restart on Lap 52, Bell was followed by Custer, Reddick, Allgaier and Briscoe.

On Lap 54, Chastain moved up to the third spot and began challenging Custer for second.

After 60 laps, Custer had closed the gap on Bell and began working him over trying to make a pass for the lead. Chastain remained in third.

On Lap 63, Custer went to the outside of Bell and grabbed the lead for the first time in the race. Reddick then got around Chastain to move into third.

Harrison Burton spun in Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 70 after contact with Austin Cindric to bring out another caution. The damage to Burton’s No. 18 Toyota was too extensive and he was forced to take his car to the garage.

A handful of cars elected to pit but on the restart on Lap 75, Custer continued to lead followed by Bell and Reddick.

On Lap 80, Cindric was forced to pit under green with a flat tire after contact with Nemechek on the track.

Cindric again pit under green with a tire issue on Lap 87.

Stage 1 

Bell led all 45 laps on his way to the Stage 1 victory, easily holding off Custer.

Gragson was third, Reddick fourth and Allgaier rounded out the top-five.

Bell, who started on the pole, ran out to an early lead but the caution came out on Lap 4 when the engine in Ryan Truex’s No. 8 Chevrolet let go.

When the race returned to green on Lap 12, Bell was followed by Cindric, Reddick, Custer and Allgaier.

After 15 laps, Bell maintained a small lead over Custer as Gragson moved into third.

With 20 laps remaining in the first stage, Bell’s lead over Custer had expanded to 1-second as Gragson remained in third. Chastain was fourth and Reddick fifth.

Cindric pit on Lap 37 under green with what he believed to be a loose wheel. His team later confirmed the right-front tire did have a problem.

Cla	#	Driver		Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Laps Led	Retirement	Points	Bonus
1	19	Brandon Jones		Toyota	200	2:31'10.000	10		45
2	2	Tyler Reddick		Chevrolet	200	00.272			50
3	98	Chase Briscoe		Ford	200	00.623	33		44
4	1	Michael Annett		Chevrolet	200	01.603	3		38
5	7	Justin Allgaier		Chevrolet	200	02.839			45
6	51	Jeremy Clements		Chevrolet	200	02.866			31
7	11	Justin Haley		Chevrolet	200	03.325			31
8	23	John Hunter Nemechek		Chevrolet	200	03.754			31
9	39	Ryan Sieg		Chevrolet	200	04.459			28
10	10	Ross Chastain		Chevrolet	200	05.075
11	00	Cole Custer		Ford	200	05.095	85		45
12	20	Christopher Bell		Toyota	200	05.469	69		44
13	9	Noah Gragson		Chevrolet	200	07.227			37
14	07	Ray Black Jr.		Chevrolet	200	16.046			23
15	90	Alex Labbé		Chevrolet	199	1 lap			22
16	92	Dillon Bassett		Chevrolet	199	1 lap			21
17	08	Gray Gaulding		Chevrolet	199	1 lap			20
18	86	Brandon Brown		Chevrolet	197	3 laps			19
19	4	B.J. McLeod		Chevrolet	197	3 laps			18
20	5	Matt Mills		Toyota	197	3 laps			17
21	36	Josh Williams		Chevrolet	197	3 laps			16
22	74	Kyle Weatherman		Chevrolet	196	4 laps			15
23	52	David Starr		Chevrolet	196	4 laps			14
24	93	CJ Mclaughlin		Chevrolet	195	5 laps			13
25	22	Austin Cindric		Ford	194	6 laps			12
26	61	Chad Finchum		Toyota	194	6 laps			11
27	01	Stephen Leicht		Chevrolet	194	6 laps			10
28	15	Tyler Matthews		Chevrolet	194	6 laps			9
29	99	Josh Bilicki		Toyota	194	6 laps			8
30	78	Vinnie Miller		Toyota	194	6 laps			7
31	66	Bobby Earnhardt		Toyota	192	8 laps			6
32	35	Joey Gase		Toyota	184	16 laps		Accident	5
33	0	Garrett Smithley		Chevrolet	180	20 laps		Accident	4
34	18	Harrison Burton		Toyota	70	130 laps		Accident
35	17	Bayley Currey		Chevrolet	49	151 laps		Suspension
36	89	Landon Cassill		Chevrolet	28	172 laps		Vibration	1
37	38	J.J. Yeley		Chevrolet	13	187 laps		Electrical	1
38	8	Ryan Truex		Chevrolet	4	196 laps		Engine	1