(KANSAS CITY, KS) -- It took him 134 races, but Brandon Jones made sure that his first career Xfinity win came in a fashion that fans will remember for a long time. The 22-year old Atlanta native survived the craziness and snagged the victory in Saturday's frantic Hollywood Casino 300 at Kansas Speedway, becoming the races' third consecutive first time winner.
"I've been a winner in a lot of different series, but this is the biggest one I've ever had. This is huge," Jones said of his victory.
This race had everything.
A surprise first-time winner, championship contenders plagued by misfortune, an unfortunate wreck involving the leaders and a lapped car, and a pit-road fight.
Jones took the lead from Cole Custer with 10 laps remaining, then had to hold off the field on a restart with five laps remaining. Jones stayed poised despite having never been in that situation
"I had confidence that if he got in clean air, he was going to be really solid at the end," said Jones' crew chief, Jeff Meendering. "We had really good speed most of that race even when we were back in traffic," Meendering added.
Jones' car definitely showed speed, more-so on shorter runs. However, the majority of the race belonged to Jones' teammate, Christopher Bell and Cole Custer. Bell, the pole sitter dominated stage one, leading all 45 laps and picking up another playoff point. Custer took the lead from Bell in stage two and won the second stage.
A long run ensued during stage three, allowing Custer to show the speed that he's had on 1.5-mile tracks this season.
Then things got weird.
Michael Annett ended the long-run when he got into the wall with 50 to go. Briscoe took advantage of Custer's miscues on the restart and grabbed the lead. John Hunter Nemechek spun out with 37 to go, bringing out another caution. Annett stayed out and assumed the lead, but was quickly overtaken by Briscoe. Bell methodically reeled Briscoe in as the laps wound down.
While battling for the lead, Bell and Briscoe both attempted to clear the lapped car of Garrett Smithley. However, Smithley made contact with Briscoe and collected Bell as well. The accident effectively ended Bells' chances of winning, ended Smithley's day and caused severe damage to Briscoes' machine.
Smithley's accident comes weeks after a highly criticized incident in the Cup Series, where Smithley made contact with Kyle Busch at Las Vegas.
"We were on like 70 lap tires, just riding," Smithley said, "I hate it. It was a big mistake, but we'll move on from it. He (his spotter) said he said something, but I didn't get the memo," Smithley added.
"It's frustrating," Briscoe said, "We're literally racing for our lives trying to win a championship."
Tyler Reddick capped off his entertaining day with second place, but a cut on his forehead due to a post-race altercation with Custer due to an on-track disagreement. The altercation also consisted of multiple crew members.
"I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed in his crew members not letting us handle it ourselves. It's just between me and him and that's the way it should have been," Reddick said.
Custer's topsy-turvy day concluded with an 11th place finish despite leading a race-high 85 laps.
Briscoe and Annett rebounded to finish third and fourth respectively, Justin Allgaier, the only playoff driver who did not have troubles, finished fifth. Jeremy Clements, Justin Haley, Nemechek, Ryan Seig and Ross Chastain rounded out the top ten.
Playoff driver Noah Gragson finished 13th. Bell led 69 laps, but finished the day in 14th following his accident with Smithley.
Austin Cindric, who came in fourth in points, found himself in an early race incident with Harrison Burton that caused significant damage. Cindric also battled tire problems throughout the day and finished 25th.
The Round of 8 will resume in two weeks at Texas Motor Speedway. Bell comes into the race as the points leader, 49 points above the cutline. Custer is second, 38 above the cut. Reddick still has a 37-point buffer and Allgaier holds a two-point margin over Briscoe for the final transfer spot. Annett, Gragson and Cindric are currently on the outside-looking-in by 12, 17 and 30 points respectively.
Results: 1. Brandon Jones, 2. Tyler Reddick, 3. Chase Briscoe, 4. Michael Annett, 5. Justin Allgaier, 6. Jeremy Clements, 7. Justin Haley, 8. John Hunter Nemechek, 9. Ryan Seig, 10. Ross Chastain, 11. Cole Custer, 12. Chrsitopher Bell, 13. Noah Gragson, 14. Ray Black II, 15. Alex Labbe, 16. Dillon Bassett, 17. Gray Gaulding, 18. Brandon Brown, 19. BJ McLeod, 20. Matt Mills, 21. Josh Williams, 22. Kyle Weatherman, 23. David Starr, 24. CJ McLaughlin, 25. Austin Cindric, 26. Chad Finchum, 27. Stephen Leicht, 28. Tyler Matthews, 29. Josh Bilicki, 30. Vinnie Miller, 31. Bobby Earnhardt, 32. Joey Gase, 33. Garrett Smithley, 34. Harrison Burton, 35. Bayley Curry, 36. Landon Cassill, 37. JJ Yeley, 38. Ryan Truex.
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