Kyle Busch wins Kansas Lottery 300, few Xfinity Chase drivers left unscathed

 Kyle Busch led 150 of 200 laps Saturday in winning the Xfinity Series’ Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway.

Busch earned his 85th Xfinity win and ninth of the year.

Busch did it in a race where only three of the eight remaining Chase drivers finished on the lead lap. Busch had been a lap down and took a wavearound after a caution came out in the middle of green-flag stops.

“There was a lot of things trying to work against us there towards the end,” Busch said. “We just persevered and made it through everything.”

Busch has won the past three Xfinity race at Kansas Speedway.

All five Chase drivers who finished off the lead lap were involved in accidents with less than 35 laps left in the race.

Busch was followed by Elliott Sadler,Daniel Suarez, Joey Logano and Kyle Larson. The third Xfinity Chase driver on the lead lap was Blake Koch (ninth).

MORE: Race results

MORE: Point standings

WHO HAD A GOOD RACE: Elliott Sadler finished second, earning his 15th straight top 10 … Daniel Suarez led six laps and finished third, his seventh top five in eight races … Regan Smith finished sixth for his first top 10 in three Xfinity starts this year … Matt DiBenedetto finished 11th. In 15 Xfinity starts this season, it’s only the second race he’s finished.

WHO HAD A BAD RACE: Cole Custer was involved in three cautions, including a five-car wreck on Lap 165 that collected Chase drivers Darrell Wallace Jr and Justin Allgaier. Custer finished 35th, Wallace 33rd and Allgaier 14th … Brendan Gaughan was another Chase causality, spinning out of Turn 4 with 23 laps left and slid through the grass, receiving significant damage. After being cleared in the medical center, Gaughan dashed back to his car, returning to the race with less than 10 laps left and finishing 31st … Erik Jones raced up front most of the day until contact with Kyle Larson on a restart with 24 to go sent him into Ty Dillon. Jones’ Toyota began smoking from damage, and he pitted before finishing 15th, one lap down.

NOTABLE: If Team Penske’s No. 22 car does not win the Nov. 5 race at Texas Motor Speedway, it will have been a full year since the team’s last victory.

NEXT:  O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway on Nov. 5 at 3:30 p.m. ET

Today’s Xfinity race at Kansas: Start time, weather, TV radio info

The Xfinity Series will begin the second round of its inaugural Chase today at Kansas Speedway with the Kansas Lottery 300, which can be seen on NBCSN.

Here’s everything you need to know about the race.

(All times are ET)

START: Nico Hernandez, a 2016 USA Olympic bronze medalist will give the command to start engines at 2:57 p.m. The green flag is scheduled for 3:06 p.m.

DISTANCE: The race is scheduled for 200 laps (300 miles) around the 1.5-mile track.

PRERACE SCHEDULE: The Xfinity garage opens at 8:30 a.m. The driver/crew chief meeting is at 1:15 p.m. Driver introductions are at 2:30 p.m.

NATIONAL ANTHEM: Samantha Dawn, from Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, will perform the National Anthem at 2:51 p.m.

TV/RADIO: NBCSN will broadcast the race with its coverage beginning at 2:30 p.m. with Countdown to Green, followed by race coverage at 3 p.m. Motor Racing Network’s radio broadcast will begin at 2:30 p.m. and also can be heard at mrn.com. SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will have MRN’s broadcast.

FORECAST: wunderground.com predicts a temperature of 78 degrees at race time with a 3 percent chance of rain at the start of the race.

LAST TIME: Kyle Busch has won the last two Xfinity Series races at Kansas, leading a combined 90 laps in 2014 and 2015.

STARTING LINEUP: Qualifying is scheduled for noon.

XFINITY CONTENDERS TO APPLY ROUND OF 12 LESSONS AT KANSAS

RELATED: Chase Grid

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – The first round of the first Chase for NASCAR's XFINITY Series trimmed the field of championship hopefuls from 12 to eight.

The three-race subset also served as a learning tool for those who advanced to the second round, which begins Saturday with the Kansas Lottery 300 (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) here atKansas Speedway.

"I learned that in the first race of the first round the intensity level was very high,"Daniel Suarez (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota) said Friday. "It was definitely more high than what I was expecting."

Elliott Sadler (JR Motorsports No. 1 Chevrolet) won the Chase opener held atKentucky Speedway. Suarez was a close second, won the following week at Dover and finished third last weekend at Charlotte, unofficially taking the mantle of Chase favorite with four races remaining.

"I thought everyone was going to go out there to try to be consistent and to try to make it for the next round and that wasn't the case," Suarez said. "Everyone was going for the win and everything got a little crazy in the first race in Kentucky.

"But, honestly I'm very proud of everyone …. We had three races with three top-three finishes which I think is something really good for the first round. We have to do exactly the same thing for the second round and after that try to put ourselves in a good position for Homestead and pull everything we have for that last race and the most important race of the year."

Sprint Cup Series regular Joey Loganowon the Charlotte event, the only race not won by an XFINITY Series regular in the Round of 12. 

Suarez, 24, said he expects the level of intensity seen in that opening race to return here this weekend as drivers and teams try to knock out an early win and qualify for the Round of 8.

"For some reason everyone – I thought everyone was going to be more relaxed in the first race but for some reason everyone was very, like I said, the intensity level was very high," he said. "And, then for the second race it was lower and everyone was more relaxed because everyone was a little bit too crazy in the first one. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same in this second round.

"I don't think that I was myself, I don't think I got super crazy in Kentucky and we ended up with a pretty good result. Actually I felt like we should've won that race, we just came up one lap short.

"I felt like everything that we learned the whole year we are trying to put that in the most important part of the year in the Chase in the first round and second round in order to get to the last race at Homestead and so far it's been working out. So, hopefully we can keep it up and move forward."

Justin Allgaier (JRM), Erik Jones (JGR),Brendan Gaughan (Richard Childress Racing), Ryan Reed (Roush Fenway Racing), Darrell Wallace Jr. (RFR) andBlake Koch (Kaulig Racing) complete the Round of 8 for the XFINITY Series Chase.

Suarez, Sadler and Jones are the only drivers in the postseason with victories this season.

Gaughan, who has 15 top 10s, including a season-best runner-up at Road America, said the first round taught his team that "organizationally, to make sure we are prepared. 

"Make sure … we have everything kind of set and ready.

"Another thing Shane (Wilson, crew chief) and I learned was (we) still are clowns that do it our way. It works for us. We don't scream and yell. … He doesn't get down on me when I hit a wall twice at Kentucky. And I don't bark at him when I think he makes the wrong call on pit road or we unload and it doesn't handle quite the way I want.

"We're going to do it the way we think it needs to be done, stay patient and stay on each other’s team. A lot of pressure comes on these guys … and a lot of people succumb to that pressure."

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers have won the last three XFINITY Series races at Kansas.

Heads up:Kansas weekend

Here are the hot topics, trending news and key story lines to get you ready for this weekend's races at Kansas Speedway.

WEATHER

The good news? It doesn't appear likely that a hurricane will impact this weekend's racing at Kansas. The highest chance of percipitation is around 20 percent, according to Weather.com.

Otherwise, we're looking at consistent temps hovering around 81 degrees most of Saturday and Sunday, while it will be mostly cloudy and a little cooler (70 degrees) when cars roll on Friday, according to the National Weather Service.

KEY TIMES



Sprint Cup Series: The Sprint Cup Series holds its first practice Friday at 1 p.m. ET (NBCSN/NBC Sports App), with Coors Light Pole qualifying at 6:15 p.m. ET (NBCSN/NBC Sports App).

 The Hollywood Casino 400 is at 2:15 p.m. ET Sunday (NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

XFINITY Series: The XFINITY Series opens practice Friday at 2:30 p.m. ET (NBCSN/NBC Sports App) and qualifies Saturday at noon ET (CNBC/NBC Sports App). The Kansas Lottery 300 is Saturday at 3 p.m. ET (NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).



CATCH DRIVERS LIVE



We'll stream every driver press conference in the Kansas media center at NASCAR.com/presspass. Click here for a full schedule. Click here to tune into the live stream.

LAST TIME

Like last week, Joey Logano is the defending race winner. The Team Penske driver led 42 of 269 laps to secure a victory in the middle of his three-race sweep of the Round of 12 (Charlotte, Kansas and Talladega) last season. In fact, he has won this race the past two years.

YOU SHOULD KNOW


• Joey Logano had three times as many wins in the Round of 12 last year than he does in all of 2016 (one). In need of a stellar finish -- if not a win -- after limping to a 36th-place finish at Charlotte, Logano certainly isn't hurting for motivation this weekend and Kansas lines up well for the prospects of regaining his mojo. The Penske driver has won two of the past four races at Kansas and had a top-five streak of five races snapped in the spring race (38th).

• Despite winning the race with driver Kyle Busch, the spring event at Kansas didn't favor Toyota as we've seen much of this year, placing just two drivers (Busch and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Matt Kenseth) in the top 10. After the pair was the only set of Toyotas in the top 10 at Charlotte, as well, this trend could continue. But then again -- it wouldn't be a shock to see either of those drivers win and advance.

• Some XFINITY Series heavy hitters were knocked out of the Round of 12 after failing to advance at Charlotte in Ty Dillon, Brennan Poole, Brandon Jones and Ryan Sieg. In the series' first Chase, it'll be interesting to observe how teams adjust after seeing firsthand (in some cases) how a subpar opening round race can put a group in a serious, unrecoverable hole -- quickly.

THE FAVORITE

Martin Truex Jr. While his overall numbers at Kansas Speedway aren't spectacular (17.1 average finish), Truex is still currently the favorite heading into just about every race right now, but in particular on intermediate tracks like this one. Three of his four wins this season have come at tracks similar in length and there's little reason to believe May's pole-winner won't have another stout No. 78 Furniture Row Racing entry this weekend.


Others to consider: Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch.

THE SLEEPER

Chase Elliott. Based on how he's run most of the season, it's hard to picture a winless Chase Elliott this year, even if it is his rookie campaign. The Hendrick Motorsports driver was having a heck of a run at Charlotte (103 laps led, a career high) before wrecking, and has never finished outside the top 10 at Kansas in the three races he's run across Sprint Cup and XFINITY competition. Expect him to be in play on Sunday.


Others to consider: Joey Logano, Carl Edwards.

STAFF PICKS

Matt Kenseth: 2
Chase Elliott: 2
Martin Truex Jr.: 1
Carl Edwards: 1
Brad Keselowski: 1
Jimmie Johnson: 1