John Hunter Nemechek’s exciting week continued on Saturday at Kansas Speedway as he dominated the NASCAR Xfinity Series event en route to a series-leading sixth victory of the season.
In what was the final race of the regular season for the Xfinity Series, Nemechek dominated the event as he swept every stage, leading a race-high 154 laps aboard his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. It was a monumental win for Toyota as it marked their 200th victory in Xfinity Series competition.
“In a season filled with big moments, we are honored to celebrate another accomplishment,” said David Wilson, president, Toyota Racing Development. “From the special first victory in Indianapolis in 2007 to the recent championship success achieved, we are proud to celebrate our 200th Xfinity Series victory. The collaboration between our teams and TRD has been exceptional. Although we will take a moment to celebrate this incredible achievement, we remain focused on our goals this season, which include our third consecutive driver’s title.”
The late Jason Leffler drove a Toyota Camry to victory at Indianapolis Raceway Park on July 28, 2007, to earn the first victory for the Camry nameplate and first Xfinity Series win for Toyota.
Earlier in the week, Nemechek was announced as the full-time driver of the No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series beginning next season.
“With us being able to get 200 wins for Toyota on the Xfinity side is something special. I think is what makes it even more special is after my year in Cup in 2020, the opportunity I had to go Truck racing with Kyle Busch – it wouldn’t have happened without KB or Toyota, TRD.
“To go Xfinity Series racing, it wouldn’t have happened without Coach (Joe Gibbs), Coy (Gibbs), and a lot of others that were involved, as well as Toyota, TRD. They mean a lot to me, I’m glad to continue my relationship with them in the future. Hopefully, we can win a lot more races together.”
To add to his thrilling win, Nemechek enters the Xfinity Series Playoffs as the points leader.
“It means a lot – but everything this week went as fast as Xfinity 10G, so I haven’t really been able to sit in, and really think about the future. I’m glad that the announcement came out, but once it came out – I haven’t thought about next year at all. It’s all about 2023 and going to win a championship for this 20 team. We set a lot of goals coming into this year and we still have a lot to achieve, so that is what we are going to do.”
While Nemechek scampered away for his fourth win in the last 10 races, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill hung on for a fifth-place finish, locking up the regular season title by five points over Nemechek.
Hill, who struggled with his race car early on at the 1.5-mile oval, managed to maintain a top-five run.
Needing a win to secure a spot in the playoffs, JR Motorsports’ Brandon Jones finished a deflating runner-up. RCR’s Sheldon Creed passed teammate Hill late in the race to vault to third.
With a fourth-place finish on Saturday, Parker Kligerman locked into the Xfinity Series Playoffs for the first time in his career. It will also be Big Machine Racing Team’s first playoff appearance.
Kligerman Snags Final Playoff Spot
Entering the regular season finale, Riley Herbst had a one-point advantage over Kligerman.
Though lap 65 put the nail in the coffin for Herbst’s playoff chances after Kligerman had issues going up through the gears on the restart, with Herbst unable to avoid the No. 48 Chevrolet. The result was a cut right front tire for Herbst, sending the Stewart-Haas Racing driver down to the pits. Herbst would return to action two laps down.
Despite battling back to the lead lap by lap 98, another flat trie went down on Herbst’s No. 98 Ford while running in 10th.
Unable to recover, Herbst would finish 23rd, two laps down.
For Kligerman, it was his 14th top-10 finish of the season as he vaulted to the playoffs.
The Playoff Grid
With the Xfinity Series Playoffs set, Nemechek enters the first race of the Round of 12 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway as the leader, 10 points over Hill. The rest of the playoff standings are as follows:
3. Justin Allgaier
4. Cole Custer
5. Sam Mayer
6. Chandler Smith
7. Josh Berry
8. Sheldon Creed
9. Sammy Smith
10. Jeb Burton
11. Daniel Hemric
12. Parker Kligerman