Brandon Jones Wins and Advances at Kansas

Brandon Jones won at Kansas Speedway for his second win of 2025 to advance to the Round of 8. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Each of the past two seasons, Brandon Jones missed the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs entirely. Now, he is advancing to the Round of 8 after winning the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway.

Jones led 54 laps and earned a race-high 59 points with the win, which is the second win of the 2025 season for him thus far. It was also Jones’ third career win at the 1.5-mile track.

“I’m so proud of these guys,” said Jones. “We worked so hard the entire week to get here and to put races like that together. That was exactly like how we needed that to go down.”

Going into this weekend’s race, Jones’ main goal for the No. 20 team was execution, which was accomplished with two second-place stage finishes to go along with the race victory.

Brandon Jones celebrating in Victory Lane following his Kansas Speedway victory. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)

“No mistakes,” he said. “The entire day was so well executed. That’s probably by far in my career my most well-executed race to date.”

The victory also adds a valuable five playoff points to Jones’ total when the playoff standings reset following next week’s race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL.

Connor Zilisch scored a second-place finish, which was enough to advance to the Round of 8 on points after just two races. Zilisch led 42 laps en route to the runner-up finish and set the NASCAR Xfinity Series record for consecutive top-five finishes with 16, a streak that dates all the way back to Charlotte Motor Speedway on Memorial Day weekend.

“I didn’t feel like our car was winning-capable, except at a point there in Stage 3. I thought we had a chance at it,” said Zilisch. “We’ll look at it and see what we could have done better. We were just kind of throwing Hail Marys at it all day and trying to make one stick, but it didn’t stick.”

Brandon Jones crossing the start/finish line to win the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)

It was a dominating first two stages for Justin Allgaier, who led 79 laps and won both stages of the race. During the caution period, between the second and third stages, Allgaier lost five spots on pit road and was unable to recover fully. He was able to regain his track position by staying out following a caution late but immediately fell through the field and wound up finishing in 13th place.

Even with the tough result, the number of points earned during the race was still enough for Allgaier to lock himself into the Round of 8 as well.

“They work for you sometimes, they don’t some other times,” Allgaier said on the decision to stay out late for track position. “Disappointed, our (No. 7) Chevrolet was really good.”

Connor Zilisch scored a second-place finish to advance to the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)

Playoff drivers Austin Hill, Sammy Smith and Sheldon Creed all scored top five finishes, while Taylor Gray, Jesse Love, Nick Sanchez, Brenden “Butterbean” Queen and Dean Thompson rounded out the top 10.

With Jones, Zilisch and Allgaier locked into the Round of 8, only five transfer spots remain headed into next weekend’s elimination race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL. Love currently holds the final spot above the cutline by five points, as Sanchez, Hill, Harrison Burton and Smith are all below the cutline facing elimination next weekend.

Next weekend’s race is at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL for the Blue Cross NC 250 on Saturday, Oct. 4, at 5 p.m. EST on The CW, PRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Stage 1 Top 10 Results

1. Justin Allgaier
2. Brandon Jones
3. Sam Mayer
4. Connor Zilisch
5. Taylor Gray
6. Brenden Queen
7. Jesse Love
8. Austin Hill
9. Sammy Smith
10. Dean Thompson

Stage 2 Top 10 Results

1. Justin Allgaier
2. Brandon Jones
3. Sam Mayer
4. Connor Zilisch
5. Sammy Smith
6. Taylor Gray
7. Dean Thompson
8. Austin Hill
9. Sheldon Creed
10. Justin Bonsignore

Playoff Standings (Race 2/3 in the Round of 12)

1. Brandon Jones (ADVANCED)
2. Connor Zilisch (ADVNACED)
3. Justin Allgaier (ADVANCED)
4. Sam Mayer (+43)
5. Taylor Gray (+16)
6. Sheldon Creed (+12)
7. Carson Kvapil (+9)
8. Jesse Love (+5)
9. Nick Sanchez (-5)
10. Austin Hill (-7)
11. Harrison Burton (-8)
12. Sammy Smith (-14)

Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway Finishing Results