Nemechek took the lead for the final time with 30 of 200 laps remaining and cruised to a more than five-second win over Daniel Hemric in Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway The win is the first for Nemechek in the series in his 15th start. He has been running a partial schedule with Chip Ganassi Racing this season in the No. 42 Chevrolet. The win also comes at the site of his father, Joe Nemechek’s, final win in the NASCAR Cup Series. "This means a lot, especially at Kansas. In 2004, I forgot how old I was, but dad swept the weekend in the Xfinity and Cup series. It's pretty special," Nemechek said in Victory Lane. "Thanks to Chip Ganassi for giving me this opportunity. "I knew I messed up (overshooting my pit stall). I had done that once earlier this year and they told me not to think about, just go out there and do my best. When that last caution came, I knew we had a chance. "Daniel and I raced hard together all day. We got the track position and this thing was on rails at the end. I feel like we've been contending for wins all year. We just hadn't pulled through. To check the first one off - that's the hardest one to get - hopefully now we can go on and we're racing for an owner's championship in Homestead." The race got off to a rocky start with a wreck on Lap 1 that collected four playoff contenders. With two races remaining in the semifinal round, title favorites Christopher Bell and Justin Allgaier find themselves below the cutoff line to advance to the Championship 4. Nemechek, 21, had to overcome his own issues during the race, once overshooting his pit stall and pitting a second time late for loose lug nuts. Elliott Sadler finished third, Shane Lee was fourth and Tyler Reddick completed the top-five. “I was unbelievably loose on that whole last run,” Hemric said. “I’m not sure what happened. It just wasn’t meant to be I guess. It will happen when it happens, just not today.” Following a round of green-flag pit stops with 50 to go, Hemric opened up a more than 3-second lead over Nemechek, in part due to Nemechek overshooting his pit stall during his stop. With 40 laps remaining, Hemric continued to hold a 3-second advantage over Nemechek. They were followed by Reddick, Sadler and Matt Tifft. A caution was displayed with 36 to go when Vinnie Miller’s car stalled on pit road. Most of the lead-lap cars elected to pit and Sadler was the first off pit road thanks to a two-tire pit stop. Matt Tifft stayed out and led the way on the restart with 32 to go. Sadler quickly moved into the lead after the restart as Hemric moved into second. With 31 to go, Hemric went to the outside of Sadler and retook the lead. With 30 to go, Nemechek went low and took the lead from Hemric. With 10 laps remaining, Nemechek had moved out to a more than 5-second advantage over Hemric. Stage 2 Nemechek took the Stage 2 win under caution when a late-stage wreck collected Ryan Preece, who was running third at the time. Hemric ended up second, Reddick was third, Sadler fourth and Tifft completed the top-five. Following the break between Stages 1 and 2, Hemric was first off pit road and remained in the lead on the restart on Lap 52. On Lap 57, a caution was displayed after Ja Junior Avila got loose while running three-wide and spun out. The race returned to green on Lap 61 with Hemric still out front. Nemechek was able to power around Hemric on the outside to grab the lead through Turns 1 and 2 shortly after the restart. With 10 laps remaining in the stage, Nemechek held a small lead over Hemric. They were followed by Preece, Reddick and Sadler. With five to go in the stage, Nemechek had moved out to more than a one second lead over Hemric. With two laps to go, Joey Gase got into Garrett Smithley and the two collected Ryan Preece in the incident which placed the race under caution. Preece was running third at the time. Stage 1 Hemric held off a furious charge from Nemechek to claim the Stage 1 win. Preece finished third, Lee was fourth and Sadler completed the top-five. Hemric started on the pole but the field had not even gotten through Turns 1 and 2 on the first lap when Allgaier got loose and slid up and into Bell, which triggered a multi-car wreck and damaged the fortunes of several playoff drivers. Also involved and receiving serious damage were Austin Cindric, Cole Custer, Michael Annett and Spencer Gallagher. Allgaier immediately took his No. 7 Chevrolet to the garage, his day done. Cindric and Bell were also unable to continue. “That was a pretty big hit, bigger than what I was expecting,” Cindric said. “It’s just unfortunate. It looks like just a racing deal there – (Allgaier) got loose under (Bell) and cleared out a few of us up front. “I’m thankful to still be in the playoffs and still have a shot. I felt like we had a shot to win today. We’ll move on, have a week to think about it, go to Texas. Looks like we’re going to have to win (to advance).” Allgaier took responsibility for the incident. “That one’s on me. I’m super disappointed for everybody involved,” he said. “Not only did we wreck our day but a lot of the other competitors. Hate it for those guys. Hopefully we can get to Texas next week and rebound from it.” When the race returned to green on Lap 12, Hemric continued to lead followed by Jones and Reddick. Before the completion of another lap, Brandon Jones got loose and ended up slamming into the wall to bring out another caution. The race tried another attempt to return on green on Lap 17. On Lap 25, Gallagher appeared to blow a tire entering Turn 1 and hit the wall to bring out another caution. Hemric remained in the lead on the restart on Lap 34. With 10 laps remaining in the first stage, Hemric maintained a small lead over Nemechek with Preece close behind in third. The cars of Ross Chastain and Alex Labbe had to start the race from the rear of the field as each made an engine change.<doc-sep>Nemechek and second-place finisher Daniel Hemric combined to lead most of the 200-lap race, with Nemechek leading 64 and Hemric leading 128. They were the only two drivers to lead more than two laps. Hemric and Nemechek also were stage winners. Hemric won the first 45-lap stage of the race and Nemechek was up front when the second stage ended at lap 90. "We really showed the strength of Richard Childress Racing's NASCAR Xfinity Series program this weekend, especially with this No. 21 South Point Chevrolet,” Hemric said. “It was great to run up front and earn stage points, and the pit crew did a great job to get us off pit road like we needed to all day. Unfortunately, I was just unbelievably loose that whole last run. That was the loosest I had been all weekend or at any mile-and-a-half we've been to in a couple of months. I'm not sure what happened; it just wasn't meant to be, I guess. We did a lot of things well, way more things well than bad. I am proud of that. I'm proud of our effort, proud of our pit crew and the things we did. I don't know. I just have to have faith that it will all work out the way it is supposed to when it is supposed to, just not today." Nemechek took the race lead from Hemric on Lap 60, but during the caution after the second stage, Hemric beat him off pit road to retake the lead. Elliott Sadler got out of the pits first with a two-tire pit stop during a Lap 164 yellow flag, but soon after the restart, Hemric and Nemechek moved into the first two positions in the running order and exchanged the lead back and forth. Nemechek took his final lead of the race on Lap 171 and pulled away. Saturday’s race got off to a slow start with a string of three cautions in the first 25 laps, the first coming on the Lap 1 because of a nine-car wreck between Turns 1 and 2. Four of the eight playoff drivers—Justin Allgaier, Austin Cindric, Christopher Bell, and Cole Custer—were collected in the incident. Allgaier, Bell, and Cindric retired from the race with their heavily-damaged race cars. Bell was credited with a 37th-place finish, Allgaier 38th, and Cindric 39th. “I didn’t really see much of anything,” Bell said. “Just kind of driving around there. Just heartbroken. This is one of my favorite race tracks we go to, and especially after the run I had last year, this is the race that I was looking forward to whenever we started the year back in February. Our Rheem Camry was fast throughout practice, and we qualified second, so felt like we were going to be able to contend for the win, but I think this is—actually this is not the first time I’ve been out on the first lap. We’ll try and make up for it at Texas, and we still got a lot of race tracks that I can win races at, so hopefully, we’ll move on from here.” Custer was able to continue, but he wound up several laps down after going to the garage for repairs to his power steering. He finished 26th. The other four playoff drivers finished in the top-10. In addition to Hemric, Elliott Sadler and Tyler Reddick were in the top-five in third and fifth. Matt Tifft finished sixth. KANSAS LOTTERY 300 RACE RESULTS: 1. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Chevrolet 2. Daniel Hemric, No. 21 Chevrolet 3. Elliott Sadler, No. 1 Chevrolet 4. Shane Lee, No. 3 Chevrolet 5. Tyler Reddick, No. 9 Chevrolet 6. Matt Tifft, No. 2 Chevrolet 7. Ryan Reed, No. 16 Ford 8. Ty Majeski, No. 60 Ford 9. Ryan Sieg, No. 39 Chevrolet 10. Jeremy Clements, No. 51 Chevrolet 11. Ryan Truex, No. 11 Chevrolet 12. Alex Labbe, No. 36 Chevrolet 13. Garrett Smithley, No. 23 Chevrolet 14. Quin Houff, No. 15 Chevrolet 15. Joey Gase, No. 35 Chevrolet 16. Chad Finchum, No. 40 Toyota 17. David Starr, No. 52 Chevrolet 18. Ja Junior Avila, No. 8 ?? ? 19. Spencer Boyd, No. 76 Chevrolet 20. Josh Bilicki, No. 45 Toyota 21. Ryan Preece, No. 18 Toyota 22. Vinnie Miller, No. 78 Chevrolet 23. B.J. McLeod, No. 01 Chevrolet 24. Josh Williams, No. 90 Chevrolet 25. Ross Chastain, No. 4 Chevrolet 26. Cole Custer, No. 00 Ford 27. Bobby Earnhardt, No. 66 Toyota 28. Mike Harmon, No. 74 Chevrolet 29. Angele Ruch, No. 38 Chevrolet 30. Chase Briscoe, No. 98 Ford 31. Timmy Hill, No. 13 Toyota 32. Stephen Leicht, No. 99 Chevrolet 33. Spencer Gallagher, No. 23 Chevrolet 34. Jeff Green, No. 93 Chevrolet 35. J.J. yeley, No. 37 Chevrolet 36. Brandon Jones, No. 19 Toyota 37. Christopher Bell, No. 20 Toyota 38. Justin Allgaier, No. 7 Chevrolet 39. Austin Cindric, No. 22 Ford 40. Michael Annett, No. 5 Chevrolet UP NEXT: The NASCAR Xfinity Series will take a weekend off before continuing the second round, or round of eight, of its 2018 playoffs on Nov. 3 at Texas Motor Speedway. The Texas race will be the second of three contests this round with only two races remaining after it in the 2018 season. Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers have dominated Xfinity Series races at TMS as of late. Erik Jones is the defending winner of the fall race there, while Ryan Blaney won the most recent Xfinity Series bout at the track in April. Cup drivers won't be in the race this time around, as they've been barred from competing in Xfinity Series playoff competition.<doc-sep>
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – John Hunter Nemechek grabbed his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in a race that threw the championship battle into chaos. Pulling away with three laps after the final restart on Lap 169 of 200, Nemechek took the checkered flag 5.200 seconds ahead of Daniel Hemric to win the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway, the venue where his father, Joe Nemechek, won his final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race in 2004. Though Nemechek fell far behind Hemric after sliding through his pit box during a green-flag stop on Lap 150, he caught a break when Vinnie Miller stalled near the exit from pit road to cause the seventh and final caution on Lap 164. RELATED: Race results | Full schedule for Kansas Nemechek powered his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet from sixth place on the restart and passed Hemric for good after a side-by-side battle on Lap 171. “When that caution came, I knew we had a chance,” Nemechek said. “Luckily, Daniel and I raced each other hard and clean all day. We got the track position, and this thing was on rails today. I feel like we’ve been contending for wins all year. We just haven’t pulled through. “To check the first one off—that’s the hardest one to get. Hopefully, we can go on. We’re racing for the owners’ championship at Homestead.” Nearly 200 laps before Nemechek crossed the finish line, however, a shocking, monumental crash jolted the hopes of four title contenders and turned the Playoff standings upside-down. Third-place starter Justin Allgaier, second in points, got loose in the second corner on Lap 1 and clipped the No. 20 Toyota of series leader Christopher Bell, turning Bell’s car into the outside wall. Allgaier’s No. 7 Chevrolet bounced off Bell’s Camry like a pinball and collected the No. 22 Ford of Playoff driver Austin Cindric. Allgaier and Cindric were unable to continue. Bell’s team tried in vain to repair his Toyota, but Bell retired after completing two laps. Also damaged in the first-lap incident was the No. 00 Ford of Cole Custer, which fell 10 laps down while his team tried to fix the power steering. Custer earned a hard-fought 26th-place finish but fell to seventh in the Playoff standings. “I was the cause of the incident, unfortunately,” a rueful Allgaier said after exiting the infield care center. “That one’s on me. I’m super disappointed for everybody involved. “Not only did we wreck our day but a lot of the other competitors. Hate it for those guys. Hopefully we can get to Texas next week and rebound from it.” The wreck wiped out the Playoff point advantage Bell and Allgaier held at the start of the Round of 8. Bell, Allgaier and Cindric finished 37th, 38th and 39th, respectively. “I didn’t really see much of anything,” Bell said of the accident. “Just kind of driving around there. Just heartbroken. This is one of my favorite race tracks we go to, and especially after the run I had last year (his first Xfinity win), this is the race that I was looking forward to whenever we started the year back in February.” Bell nevertheless was well aware of the benefit his six series wins have given him, having entered the round with 44 playoff points, five more than Allgaier. “That’s the beauty of this format,” Bell said. “NASCAR’s done such a great job at giving us something to race for during the regular season. We’ve done our job winning six races this year, so we’ve accumulated some bonus points, so hopefully that can carry us through this bad stretch here and maybe we can find ourselves in Victory Lane later on in this round. “If not, hopefully the bonus points will get us there.” Cindric, who came to Kansas in eighth place and leaves in the same position, didn’t have the luxury of a points cushion. MORE: Multicar crash erupts on Lap 1 “I’m thankful to still be in the Playoffs and still have a shot,” said Cindric. “I felt like we had a shot to win today. We’ll move on, have a week to think about it, go to Texas. Looks like we’re going to have to win (to advance).” Hemric, who led 128 laps, leaves Kansas as the series leader, 23 points above the cut line. Allgaier dropped below the Playoff cut line behind Matt Tifft in fifth.