Tensions ran high at Kansas Speedway as the NASCAR Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series respectively ran their regular season and Round of 10 finales. By the end, as John Hunter Nemechek and Christian Eckes celebrated in Victory Lane, those like Parker Kligerman breathed a sigh of relief while Matt DiBenedetto and Matt Crafton could only begin preparing for 2024.
Kligerman held the twelfth and final Xfinity playoff spot entering Kansas and either needed to win or for someone already locked in to do so. Brandon Jones, who was right behind him in points, tried to steal the win for himself but was no match for Nemechek who led 154 laps to win for the sixth time. Sheldon Creed held off Kligerman for third, but the former was already assured a playoff spot as well and thus made their battle rather meaningless.
“I was the biggest John Hunter Nemechek fan on the planet,” Kligerman remarked. “As I saw the #9 (Jones) fire off, I was like, ‘Oh no! We’ve done all we should do on points. We’re so close. I don’t think I could beat the #20 (Nemechek), but the #9 looks like he might.’ And then obviously the #20 was just so dominant.
“The #2 (Creed) kind of crept up on us and took third. I really wanted third place, but (during) that last run, I had to just be smart, really, really smart, so I drove the smartest race I thought I could drive that put us in a position to not have anything stupid happen, keep us the highest position if we get a late-race restart and go on in the playoffs.”
Although Kligerman will race for a championship in his first season with Big Machine Racing Team, his #48 is not eligible for the owner’s title as Joe Gibbs Racing‘s multi-driver #19 car took that playoff slot via Ryan Truex‘s win at Dover in April. Joe Graf Jr. piloted the #19 at Kansas to his career-high second top ten of the season.
Another quirk in the driver’s versus owner’s playoffs exists at Kaulig Racing. Daniel Hemric qualified for the former in the team’s #11, but their #10 is in the latter courtesy of victories by A.J. Allmendinger and Kyle Larson. For continuity, Kaulig elected to move Hemric to the #10 for Kansas and the remainder of the season.
Creed’s team-mate Austin Hill was fifth as he secured the regular season championship.
Contrary to Nemechek’s domination that left Jones’ playoff hopes in the dust, the Truck race ended in a mad scramble as Eckes passed Zane Smith and Corey Heim in a three-abreast run on the final lap to score his third win of 2023. DiBenedetto, who virtually needed a win to advance barring the highly unlikely scenario of Ben Rhodes finishing twenty-seven spots behind him, capitalised on the last-lap drama to finish third but was eliminated as Rhodes was twenty-fifth.
DiBenedetto is not returning to Rackley WAR for 2024, and will use the final four races to bolster his résumé in free agency.
Crafton’s hopes of a record-tying fourth Truck championship will have to wait another year. He endured a nightmare weekend after a “half-assed job cleaning the race track” caused him to suffer a blown tyre in practice that necessitated racing a backup truck. Starting at the rear, he “busted my butt trying to make something happen” and ended up with two more punctures.
“Trying to get up there and get as many points we could, that part’s on me. 100 percent on me,“ said Crafton. “The practice still had nothing to do with any of us here. It was just a pathetic job of cleaning up.”
Xfinity race results
| Finish | Start | Number | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Status |
| 1 | 7 | 20 | John Hunter Nemechek | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 200 | Running |
| 2 | 4 | 9 | Brandon Jones | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 200 | Running |
| 3 | 16 | 2 | Sheldon Creed | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 200 | Running |
| 4 | 15 | 48 | Parker Kligerman | Big Machine Racing Team | Chevrolet | 200 | Running |
| 5 | 9 | 21 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 200 | Running |
| 6 | 6 | 8 | Josh Berry | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 200 | Running |
| 7 | 10 | 25 | Brett Moffitt | AM Racing | Ford | 200 | Running |
| 8 | 18 | 11 | Derek Kraus | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 200 | Running |
| 9 | 11 | 19 | Joe Graf Jr.^ | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 200 | Running |
| 10 | 31 | 26 | Kaz Grala | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 200 | Running |
| 11 | 26 | 31 | Parker Retzlaff | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 200 | Running |
| 12 | 17 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 199 | Running |
| 13 | 24 | 92 | Josh Williams | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 199 | Running |
| 14 | 20 | 24 | Connor Mosack | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 199 | Running |
| 15 | 21 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing | Chevrolet | 199 | Running |
| 16 | 37 | 08 | Mason Massey | SS-Green Light Racing | Ford | 199 | Running |
| 17 | 23 | 43 | Ryan Ellis | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 199 | Running |
| 18 | 1 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 199 | Running |
| 19 | 27 | 53 | Matt Mills* | Emerling-Gase Motorsports | Chevrolet | 198 | Running |
| 20 | 29 | 29 | Kyle Sieg | RSS Racing | Ford | 198 | Running |
| 21 | 25 | 07 | Dawson Cram | SS-Green Light Racing | Chevrolet | 198 | Running |
| 22 | 38 | 28 | C.J. McLaughlin | RSS Racing | Ford | 198 | Running |
| 23 | 8 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 198 | Running |
| 24 | 36 | 35 | Joey Gase | Emerling-Gase Motorsports | Toyota | 198 | Running |
| 25 | 34 | 4 | Garrett Smithley | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | 198 | Running |
| 26 | 28 | 66 | Leland Honeyman † | MBM Motorsports | Ford | 197 | Running |
| 27 | 32 | 78 | Anthony Alfredo | B.J. McLeod Motorsports | Chevrolet | 197 | Running |
| 28 | 33 | 6 | Brennan Poole | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | 197 | Running |
| 29 | 22 | 45 | Rajah Caruth* | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 197 | Running |
| 30 | 14 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing | Ford | 196 | Running |
| 31 | 30 | 38 | Nick Leitz* | RSS Racing | Ford | 194 | Running |
| 32 | 12 | 16 | Chandler Smith | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 186 | Running |
| 33 | 35 | 02 | Blaine Perkins | Our Motorsports | Chevrolet | 140 | Brakes |
| 34 | 5 | 10 | Daniel Hemric^ | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 120 | Running |
| 35 | 2 | 18 | Sammy Smith | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 97 | Accident |
| 36 | 3 | 00 | Cole Custer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 60 | Accident |
| 37 | 13 | 1 | Sam Mayer | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 20 | Accident |
| 38 | 19 | 91 | Kyle Weatherman | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 19 | Accident |
| DNQ | 44 | Leland Honeyman † | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet |
^ – Currently in owner playoffs
Italics – Competing for Rookie of the Year
* – Ineligible for points
† – Honeyman replaced Timmy Hill in the #66 after failing to qualify
Truck race results
| Finish | Start | Number | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Status |
| 1 | 8 | 19 | Christian Eckes | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 134 | Running |
| 2 | 16 | 17 | Taylor Gray | TRICON Garage | Toyota | 134 | Running |
| 3 | 11 | 25 | Matt DiBenedetto | Rackley WAR | Chevrolet | 134 | Running |
| 4 | 15 | 11 | Corey Heim | TRICON Garage | Toyota | 134 | Running |
| 5 | 14 | 38 | Zane Smith | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 134 | Running |
| 6 | 17 | 42 | Carson Hocevar | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 134 | Running |
| 7 | 20 | 52 | Stewart Friesen | Halmar Friesen Racing | Toyota | 134 | Running |
| 8 | 2 | 2 | Nick Sanchez | Rev Racing | Chevrolet | 134 | Running |
| 9 | 21 | 16 | Tyler Ankrum | Hattori Racing Enterprises | Toyota | 134 | Running |
| 10 | 10 | 61 | Jake Drew | Hattori Racing Enterprises | Toyota | 134 | Running |
| 11 | 5 | 35 | Jake Garcia | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 134 | Running |
| 12 | 19 | 24 | Rajah Caruth | GMS Racng | Chevrolet | 134 | Running |
| 13 | 9 | 1 | Jesse Love | TRICON Garage | Toyota | 134 | Running |
| 14 | 1 | 4 | Chase Purdy | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Chevrolet | 133 | Running |
| 15 | 13 | 5 | Dean Thompson | TRICON Garage | Toyota | 133 | Running |
| 16 | 4 | 51 | Jack Wood^ | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Chevrolet | 133 | Running |
| 17 | 12 | 23 | Grant Enfinger | GMS Racng | Chevrolet | 133 | Running |
| 18 | 3 | 98 | Ty Majeski | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 133 | Running |
| 19 | 32 | 9 | Colby Howard | CR7 Motorsports | Chevrolet | 133 | Running |
| 20 | 24 | 32 | Bret Holmes | Bret Holmes Racing | Chevrolet | 133 | Running |
| 21 | 22 | 41 | Bayley Currey | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 132 | Running |
| 22 | 34 | 45 | Lawless Alan | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 132 | Running |
| 23 | 23 | 43 | Daniel Dye | GMS Racng | Chevrolet | 132 | Running |
| 24 | 33 | 56 | Timmy Hill | Hill Motorsports | Toyota | 132 | Running |
| 25 | 6 | 99 | Ben Rhodes | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 132 | Running |
| 26 | 18 | 15 | Tanner Gray | TRICON Garage | Toyota | 131 | Running |
| 27 | 25 | 02 | Kaden Honeycutt | Young’s Motorsports | Chevrolet | 131 | Running |
| 28 | 36 | 33 | Chase Janes | Reaume Brothers Racing | Ford | 131 | Running |
| 29 | 29 | 90 | Justin Carroll | TC Motorsports | Toyota | 130 | Running |
| 30 | 7 | 13 | Hailie Deegan | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 130 | Running |
| 31 | 27 | 12 | Spencer Boyd | Young’s Motorsports | Chevrolet | 129 | Running |
| 32 | 28 | 20 | Greg Van Alst | Young’s Motorsports | Chevrolet | 129 | Running |
| 33 | 31 | 88 | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 125 | Running |
| 34 | 30 | 10 | Jennifer Jo Cobb | Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing | Chevrolet | 125 | Running |
| 35 | 26 | 22 | Mason Maggio | AM Racing | Ford | 117 | Accident |
| 36 | 35 | 04 | Spencer Davis | Roper Racing | Ford | 1 | Suspension |
