Gray claims Kansas Lottery 300 with early pit call

Taylor Gray celebrated with his crew in victory lane.

Taylor Gray’s crew got him into the lead with a well-executed pit stop strategy during the final green-flag pit sequence, and the young driver held off a late charge from Sheldon Creed to win the Kansas Lottery 300 by 0.718 seconds on Saturday night at Kansas Speedway.

The win was the second of Gray’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series career and his first on a 1.5-mile intermediate oval. His previous victory came last October at short-track Martinsville Speedway. The 21-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing driver started 10th, moved into the top five by lap 7, and never ran lower than seventh the rest of the night. The win lifted Gray three spots to ninth in the series standings.

The pit call

Crew chief Jason Ratcliff called Gray in on lap 144, three laps earlier than Brandon Jones and Creed, who pitted together on lap 147. Gray cycled out with a lead of roughly three seconds, and the race stayed green to the checkered flag.

Jones, winner of both stages and leader of a race-high 67 laps, served a pass-through penalty for a tire violation during his final stop. The penalty wiped out any realistic shot at the win. He recovered to finish eighth.

Creed, with Justin Allgaier behind him, closed steadily over the final 25 laps but never got close enough to make a move. Gray said he could feel Creed’s Chevrolet eating its tires as he pushed the limits to make a challenge. The tire degradation let Gray stretch the margin back out over the final two laps. Creed brushed the outside wall late but held on for second.

“It’s been a tough start to our season for sure,” Gray said in his post-race press conference, pointing to a March race at Las Vegas where contact from Creed had ended a run at the front.

Gray credited Ratcliff, the winningest crew chief in series history with 58 career victories, for calling the race that made the difference. The veteran’s last Kansas Speedway win came in 2003 with driver David Green.

“[He’s] definitely a father figure type person,” Gray said of Ratcliff, adding that he teases the veteran about his age. Gray also acknowledged the pressure of a deep Joe Gibbs Racing pipeline that includes 18-year-old teammate Brent Crews, who made his first start on a track larger than 1.25 miles on Saturday and finished fifth.

Carson Kvapil’s car suffered extensive damage during a scary flip-and-roll accident in lap 2. The roll cage stayed intact, and Kvapil walked away from the incident.

Kvapil flips on lap 2

The race opened in chaos. On lap 2, contact from William Byron turned pole-sitter Carson Kvapil’s Chevrolet sideways off turn 2. Parker Retzlaff, with nowhere to go, piled into the car, knocking the rear airborne and sending it barrel-rolling down the backstretch. Kvapil’s car came to rest on its roof

Safety workers used tethers and a tow truck to right the car. Once right side up, Kvapil climbed out to a big cheer from the crowd. He made the mandatory trip to the infield care center, where he was evaluated and released.

“That was one heck of a ride. I was not ready for that,” Kvapil said in a trackside interview with CW Sports.

Byron apologized over the team radio, saying he knew the cars were three-wide but was already committed off the corner. Retzlaff told CW Sports he had no time to react and was frustrated by an overly aggressive opening, with a competition caution already scheduled for lap 21. Kvapil and Retzlaff finished 37th and 36th.

Creed banks $100 thousand despite runner-up finish

Creed’s runner-up finish also earned the $100 thousand Dash 4 Cash bonus for the first time in his career. The bonus, on Creed’s fifth attempt, goes to the highest finisher among the four drivers eligible at a given race. For Kansas, those drivers were Creed, Allgaier, Brent Crews, and Kvapil.

Creed had to work for it. He dropped to the rear of the field at the green flag after his car failed pre-race inspection, then drove all the way to the front.

Allgaier finished third, following stage finishes of third in both. That added one point to his series lead, which now stands at 131 points over second-place Creed.

Gray, Creed, Allgaier, and defending series champion Jesse Love qualified for the third Dash 4 Cash race of the season, the Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway on Apr. 25.

With a lot of tape, William Sawalich’s crew got his car back into action after an accident on lap 37.

Hill-Love tangle collects Sawalich

On lap 37, Love and Richard Childress Racing teammate Austin Hill raced side-by-side through turns 3 and 4 for sixth position and the last of the stage one points. Love held the middle lane, Hill the outside. Coming off turn 4, Love crowded the No. 21 Chevrolet down toward the apron. Hill’s car lost aerodynamic balance and spun out.

As Hill fought for control, William Sawalich, driving blind through the tire smoke, T-boned the No. 21. The left-side damage ended Hill’s night..

Hill aired his frustration on his team radio. “I’ll remember this,” he said, in reference to what he considered unnecessarily close racing from his own teammate.

After an evaluation at the infield care center, Hill told reporters his spotter, Derek Kneeland, had warned him Love was getting tight on his door. Hill said he expected more room from his teammate.

Sawalich said he had expected Hill to keep drifting up the track. “I didn’t see him until I was basically into him,” he told reporters.

Love, the defending series champion, rallied from the contact to finish fourth and took responsibility afterward.

“I’m aware that I put him in a really bad aero spot tonight,” Love said, adding he planned to speak with Allgaier and other experienced teammates before drawing final conclusions.

The early exit snapped Hill’s streak of 18 consecutive races finished, which had been second in the series behind Love’s. Love extended his own series-leading streak to 24. Love held third in the standings; Hill dropped two places to eighth.

Corey Day led the opening 16 laps but tangled with Sammy Smith on lap 101, sending Day to the rear. A subsequent flat tire further hampered his night. Day finished 12th, ending a streak of eight straight top-10 finishes.

Cars lined up behind the pace car at the start of the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway.

Weather and format notes

Practice and qualifying were canceled Friday afternoon after severe weather moved across the area. NASCAR’s performance metric formula set the starting lineup, putting Kvapil on the pole.

The race ran 200 laps over 300 miles and took 2 hours, 33 minutes, and 55 seconds to complete, at an average speed of 117 mph. Eleven lead changes unfolded among eight drivers, and seven cautions slowed the field for 37 laps. Green flag fell at 6:09 p.m.

Iowa rockers Not Quite Brothers entertained at a post-race concert on the speedway infield, quickly winning over the crowd with a couple of Van Halen covers.

Up next

The NASCAR Cup Series AdventHealth 400 runs at Kansas Speedway at 1:00 p.m. Sunday. The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series heads to Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, Apr. 25. Hill swept both Talladega O’Reilly Series races last season, and Love took his first career series win at the Alabama track in April 2024. Both drivers are expected to figure prominently in the Ag-Pro 300, teamwork questions or not.