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Ty Gibbs had the best car but not the best fortune.
It was Noah Gragson who took advantage of a restart on lap 76 to take the lead and win the Kansas Lottery 300. The win is Gragson’s second in a row and fifth of the 2022 season.
It was no secret that rain would play a factor in the race. That showed in the restarts, which routinely saw four-wide and even five-wide in instances. Despite that, the only caution for an accident was for a Jeremy Clements spin with a flat tire.
After polesitter Brandon Jones led the opening four laps, it was Gibbs who made the move for the lead before driving away to an uncontested stage win.
He continued to lead into the second stage until the aforementioned spin by Clements brought out a caution. With rain approaching at any moment, three drivers - Austin Hill, Brett Moffitt and Ryan Sieg - stayed out for track position.
Gibbs, lined up as the second car on the outside lane, found himself with no opening to go around. This gave Gragson, who had been running second, the opportunity to go by on lap 76 and pull away before a caution came out on lap 83 for light rain fall.
While it appeared that the race would get stopped before they could call it official, the rain was light enough that NASCAR elected to finished the stage with a two-lap dash. The skies opened up as soon as the stage concluded, forcing NASCAR to call the race with 93/200 laps completed.
As Gragson got away to the stage win, the battle was for second between Gibbs and Justin Allgaier. Allgaier was able to get the spot but was door-slammed by Gibbs, who felt that Allgaier had run him into the wall. Gibbs apologized afterward, saying it wasn’t as bad as he thought in the moment.
For Allgaier, the priority is avoiding a situation like that in the playoffs.
“I think that we have to mend fences,” Allgaier said. “If not, then it only hurts both of us.”
While the rain hadn’t hit the track too hard, drivers had no issues with the conservative call by NASCAR. The goal was obviously to avoid being late like they were at Daytona.
“They threw the caution in time,” said Ross Chastain, who finished fifth. “It was pretty gutsy to let us go back racing, because it was raining. But we all made it.”
For Gragson, who already announced his plans to join Petty-GMS Racing in 2023, his goal is to enjoy the rest of his ride at Jr. Motorsports, where he’s been developing for four years, and try to score a championship.
“Obviously you want to be in the best stuff possible,” Gragson said. “But when you go through struggles and adversity and grow yourself, that’s important to me.”
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