Briscoe rolls at Kansas to punch ticket to Xfinity finale
KANSAS CITY, Kansas, Oct 18, (AP): Chase Briscoe must have figured the best way to stay out of trouble was by staying up front.
The red-hot driver of the No. 98 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing swept the first two stages of the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Kansas Speedway, then he dominated after a restarted with four laps to go to capture the first race in the round of eight and clinch his spot in the season finale at Phoenix.
Daniel Hemric was second and Ryan Sieg, who made a couple of pit gambles that left him with a fresh set of tires with seven laps to go, rallied from 10th on the final restart to finish third. Playoff contender Justin Haley also avoided trouble and was fourth with Josh Williams rounding out the top five.
Playoff contenders Noah Gragson and Austin Cindric were involved in an early wreck. Brandon Jones and Justin Allgaier were in one later in the race, which also sent Anthony Alfredo on a wild skid on his roof through Turn 1.
Allgaier avoided major damage, though, and came away leading the rest of the playoff field 11 points above the cut-line heading to Texas and Martinsville. Jones is two points back and Cindric nine back, the last driver above the cutoff and two points clear of Haley. Ross Chastain is 12 points below the cut line, with Sieg and Gragson next.
It could be a heck of a start to a big fall for Briscoe, who led 159 laps on the night. He’s one of the front-runners to take over the No. 14 car in the Cup Series now that Clint Bowyer is stepping away for a spot in the television booth.
The race was red-flagged on a restart with 28 laps to go when the field went four-wide into Turn 1 a few rows back of the lead, and a massive wreck involving playoff drivers Allgaier and Jones sent Alfredo sliding on his roof along the outer wall.
Alfredo’s car briefly burst into flames before coming to rest on its top on the track apron.
Alfredo, who had been running in the top five most of the night, had to wait
upside-down for a wrecker to lift his car onto its tires before he could climb
out. Nobody was hurt in the wreck, which also collected Riley Herbst and
Brandon Brown.
Allgaier and Jones somehow escaped with minor damage and were able to continue.
The playoff standings took their first big shake-up just 16 laps into the opening stage.
Meanwhile, Brett Moffitt wasn’t about to finish second again – not with a spot in the NASCAR Truck Series finale on the line.
So when Zane Smith tried to pass him with three laps to go, Moffitt moved down ever so slightly and sent his teammate into a spin along the backstretch. Then, the 28-yearold from Iowa held off a field full of playoff contenders, winning a two-lap shootout to the checkered flag at Kansas Speedway.
Moffitt got a big push from another teammate, Sheldon Creed, on the final restart and then beat the winner of the first two stages to the finish line. It was Moffitt’s first win of the season after a maddening four runner-up finishes.
It couldn’t have come at a better time, either. It was the first of three
Truck races that will trim the playoff field from eight to four for the finale, and the victory means that Moffitt won’t have to worry about qualifying the next two events.
Austin Hill finished third with Grant Enfinger fourth and Chandler Smith fifth.
Smith wound up finishing 11th and is the last driver above the cut line. Enfinger is seven points back after his top-five run, while Matt Crafton is next after finishing eight. Ben Rhodes and Tyler Ankrum are the last two in the standings.
Moffitt, who was second in the July race at Kansas, had the lead with 10 to go when Smith went around him. Moffitt began riding the wall and quickly closed the gap, then passed Smith as the GMS Racing pair hit the start-finish line.
Smith got a run on Mofitt down the back stretch but got too close to the No. 23 Chevrolet, and the 21-year-old Smith came oh-so close to saving his own truck as he slid down the entire back stretch.