Winning a race because you were the leader when it started raining is anticlimactic, but Noah Gragson will gladly accept any victory.
Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway did not even reach the halfway point when rain struck the track. As the first two stages had already been completed, NASCAR elected to end the event after 93 of 200 laps and awarded the win to Gragson, who was leading at the time as the Stage #2 winner. It is Gragson’s fifth NASCAR Xfinity Series win of the year, which ties him with Ty Gibbs for the most among all drivers in 2022, and second in a row.
Gragson took the lead shortly after the restart on lap 76, which was set up by Jeremy Clements‘ spin. He remained the leader when rain hit on lap 83 and resulted in a caution, but NASCAR elected to resume shortly after as there were only five laps left until the stage’s conclusion.
Gibbs clashed with Gragson’s JR Motorsports team-mate Justin Allgaier in the battle for second, which the latter won.
“I feel like we were just got into a weird restart line, but when the three guys stayed out, I just picked the wrong one,” Gibbs said. The “three guys” referred to Austin Hill, Brett Moffitt, and Ryan Sieg who decided against pitting prior to the late restart. “I thought it was the right one and it wasn’t.
“Then we went back racing and off of (turn) four I made contact with Justin. I felt like I hit the wall hard, and I didn’t, and I got mad then whipped it down and hit him in the door; and the stupid part is it hurt my car more than it hurt his. I feel like his car is okay, but they’re going to have to put a door on it when they get back to the shop and that’s just inexcusable for me, and I’m very disappointed in my actions and I apologise to them. I thought it was worse honestly than it was when I watched on TV it wasn’t. So, I apologise to Jason (Burdett, Allgaier’s crew chief), Justin, and Dale (Earnhardt Jr., JRM owner) and the whole group, the whole #7 group, and I just can’t be doing that stuff. It was my fault, I just felt like I hit the wall harder than I did, and I came back down and hit him and I just can’t be doing that.”
Race results
| Finish | Start | Number | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Status |
| 1 | 5 | 9 | Noah Gragson | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 93 | Running |
| 2 | 9 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 93 | Running |
| 3 | 2 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 93 | Running |
| 4 | 1 | 19 | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 93 | Running |
| 5 | 15 | 48 | Ross Chastain* | Big Machine Racing Team | Chevrolet | 93 | Running |
| 6 | 4 | 16 | A.J. Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 93 | Running |
| 7 | 10 | 8 | Josh Berry | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 93 | Running |
| 8 | 11 | 18 | Sammy Smith | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 93 | Running |
| 9 | 8 | 1 | Sam Mayer | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 93 | Running |
| 10 | 16 | 07 | Brett Moffitt | SS-Green Light Racing | Ford | 93 | Running |
| 11 | 3 | 2 | Sheldon Creed | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 93 | Running |
| 12 | 6 | 21 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 93 | Running |
| 13 | 14 | 10 | Landon Cassill | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 93 | Running |
| 14 | 13 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing | Ford | 93 | Running |
| 15 | 7 | 11 | Daniel Hemric | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 93 | Running |
| 16 | 12 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 93 | Running |
| 17 | 20 | 02 | Brandon Brown | Our Motorsports | Chevrolet | 93 | Running |
| 18 | 22 | 23 | Anthony Alfredo | Our Motorsports | Chevrolet | 93 | Running |
| 19 | 21 | 31 | Myatt Snider | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 93 | Running |
| 20 | 37 | 68 | Kris Wright* | Brandonbilt Motorsports | Chevrolet | 93 | Running |
| 21 | 17 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing | Chevrolet | 92 | Running |
| 22 | 28 | 66 | J.J. Yeley | MBM Motorsports | Ford | 92 | Running |
| 23 | 31 | 08 | David Starr | SS-Green Light Racing | Ford | 92 | Running |
| 24 | 29 | 36 | Josh Williams | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 92 | Running |
| 25 | 27 | 45 | Rajah Caruth* | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 92 | Running |
| 26 | 34 | 78 | Stefan Parsons* | B.J. McLeod Motorsports | Chevrolet | 92 | Running |
| 27 | 35 | 26 | Derek Griffith | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 92 | Running |
| 28 | 25 | 44 | Howie DiSavino III | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 92 | Running |
| 29 | 26 | 77 | Dillon Bassett | Bassett Racing | Chevrolet | 92 | Running |
| 30 | 36 | 35 | Joey Gase | Emerling-Gase Motorsports | Toyota | 92 | Running |
| 31 | 24 | 91 | Mason Massey | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 91 | Running |
| 32 | 33 | 5 | Garrett Smithley | B.J. McLeod Motorsports | Chevrolet | 91 | Running |
| 33 | 38 | 6 | Ryan Vargas | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | 91 | Running |
| 34 | 32 | 38 | C.J. McLaughlin | RSS Racing | Ford | 91 | Running |
| 35 | 23 | 4 | Bayley Currey | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | 90 | Running |
| 36 | 18 | 34 | Jesse Iwuji | Jesse Iwuji Motorsports | Chevrolet | 89 | Running |
| 37 | 30 | 47 | Brennan Poole* | Mike Harmon Racing | Chevrolet | 73 | Transmission |
| 38 | 19 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Our Motorsports | Chevrolet | 51 | Engine |
| DNQ | 13 | Akinori Ogata | MBM Motorsports | Toyota |
* – Ineligible for points