2023 Kansas Lottery 300

The 2023 Kansas Lottery 300 was the 26th stock car race of the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series, the final race of the regular season, and the 23rd iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, September 9, 2023, in Kansas City, Kansas at Kansas Speedway, a 1.5 mi permanent quad-oval shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete. John Hunter Nemechek, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would put on a blistering performance, winning both stages and leading a race-high 154 laps, earning his ninth career NASCAR Xfinity Series win, and his sixth of the season. To fill out the podium, Brandon Jones, driving for JR Motorsports, and Sheldon Creed, driving for Richard Childress Racing, would finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

The race was noted with a battle for the final playoff spot between Riley Herbst and Parker Kligerman. Herbst and Kligerman entered the race with one point separating each other. After a series of issues for Herbst, he would fail to make the playoffs for the first time in his Xfinity Series career. Kligerman would have a strong day, finishing in fourth after running top ten for most of the race, earning a spot in the playoffs for the first time in his career, and the first for Big Machine Racing.

The 12 drivers that would qualify for the playoffs are John Hunter Nemechek, Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer, Sam Mayer, Chandler Smith, Sammy Smith, Jeb Burton, Josh Berry, Sheldon Creed, Daniel Hemric, and Parker Kligerman. Following the race, Hill would claim the Regular Season Championship.

Background
Kansas Speedway is a 1.5 mi tri-oval race track in Kansas City, Kansas. It was built in 2001 and it currently hosts two annual NASCAR race weekends. The IndyCar Series also raced at here until 2011. The speedway is owned and operated by the International Speedway Corporation.

Entry list

 * (R) denotes rookie driver.
 * (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.

Practice
The first and only practice session was held on Saturday, September 9, at 9:05 AM CST, and would last for 20 minutes. Daniel Hemric, driving for Kaulig Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 30.856, and an average speed of 175.006 mph.

Qualifying
Qualifying was held on Saturday, September 9, at 9:35 AM CST. Since Kansas Speedway is an intermediate racetrack, the qualifying system used is a single-car, one-lap system with only one round. In that round, whoever sets the fastest time will win the pole. Justin Allgaier, driving for JR Motorsports, would score the pole for the race, with a lap of 30.646, and an average speed of 176.206 mph.

Race results
Stage 1 Laps: 45 Stage 2 Laps: 45 Stage 3 Laps: 110

Standings after the race

 * Drivers' Championship standings


 * Note: Only the first 12 positions are included for the driver standings.