Jason Ratcliff sent Taylor Gray to pit road on lap 143 of 200, four laps before Sheldon Creed and Brandon Jones, and that difference was enough. Gray exited with clean air, built a cushion that Creed could not erase in the final 57 laps, and won the Kansas Lottery 300 in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series by 0.718 seconds. It is his second career victory, and his first in a season where the speed had been there but the results hadn't come. "Things haven't gone our way," Gray said. In Kansas, they did.

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Sheldon Creed started last: his Haas Factory Team Chevrolet No. 00 did not pass pre-race inspection. He passed everyone, led 48 laps between lap 99 and 146, and finished second less than a second behind the winner. Even so, by crossing the finish line first among the four eligible drivers, he took home $100,000 from the Dash 4 Cash bonus on his fifth attempt. "I definitely wanted to win and add more," he said, "but the 54 made a very good short pit stop."

Brandon Jones had dominated the first two-thirds of the event: he won both stages and led 67 laps, more than anyone else. A penalty for a tire violation during his stop on lap 147 took him out of contention; he finished eighth. Justin Allgaier finished third, and the championship stands as follows: 131 points over Creed, five more than the 126 he arrived with at Kansas. Jesse Love finished fourth.

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The race had two moments that shook up the order before pit strategy decided everything. On lap 2, contact from William Byron spun the Chevrolet No. 1 of Carson Kvapil, who was then hit a second time by Parker Retzlaff and went flying down the backstretch; the car rolled onto its roof and ended up upside down. Kvapil got out on his own. Thirty-six laps later, Love closed the gap on his RCR teammate Austin Hill in turn 4, Hill spun, and the Toyota of William Sawalich hit him head-on. Hill fell to 34th place and promised over the radio to remember the episode. Corey Day, who arrived at Kansas with eight consecutive top 10s, finished 12th. A crash on lap 101 and a flat tire broke the streak.

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With a 131-point lead, Justin Allgaier arrives at Talladega as the most solid leader the series has had so far this season. Gray, Creed, Allgaier, and Love will compete there on Saturday for the next Dash 4 Cash bonus.