Official Release

Ryan Blaney and the Wood Brothers Racing Team have advanced to Round 3 of the NASCAR Playoffs by driving the Omnicraft Ford Fusion to third place in the Hollywood Casino 400 this afternoon at Kansas Speedway.

Multi-Car Wreck Takes Out Ryan Newman, Cat Racing Team at Kansas Speedway "We got taken out in the 'Big One'. It's hard to believe after last week we couldn't make it out of this one, but I simply ran out of room. I had no where to go. We had a fast car during the first half of the race, but for some reason we lost the handling on our Caterpillar Chevrolet. It was such a handful, I thought maybe we had a hole in the nose. We're done now so we have no way of knowing what we could have done."

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 NAPA CHEVROLET SS – Finished 4th - DESCRIBE THE AFTERNOON RACING HERE AT KANSAS: “It was a wild day for sure. We fought our balance all weekend. I know the result wasn’t terrible, but definitely feel like we could have been a lot better this weekend and just the way things worked out for us. But, our car got better as the day went along, we just didn’t have the balance on a very long run to go up and pass guys like you need to have. So, we will go to work and get this side of things ready for Texas.”

KEVIN HARVICK – No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Fusion – BIG PICTURE, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED TO MOVE ON THE NEXT ROUND: “Yeah. That’s definitely a good thing. As you look at the result of the day you want to have a chance to win. We had a car capable of winning. Just got stuck in a box and the box kept on getting smaller and smaller. The caution came out with the 47 and that put us and the 18 in a bad spot. That was it.”

Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 may have been the opening race in the Round of 8 of the NASCAR XFINITY Series Playoff, but the real drama involved two Joe Gibbs Racing teammates outside the championship battle.

Camry driver Christopher Bell captured his first-career NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) victory at Kansas Speedway in only his fifth-series start.

Recap: Ryan Blaney started third and finished third in the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford in Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway. Blaney showed speed in the Mustang all weekend and wasted no time working his way to the second position at the drop of the green flag. In the opening 45-lap stage, Blaney’s Ford built loose over the long green-flag run. The third-generation driver would remain in the runner-up position before the first caution flag of the race at lap 45, ending the first stage of the 200 lap event.

Austin Dillon Recovers from Challenges to Earn Sixth-Place Finish in Rheem Chevrolet "We started off really fast today in the Rheem Chevrolet. I found grip early, and we were posting the fastest lap times of the field. Once the track started to rubber up, the rest of the field moved up to my line and caught up. Then, we got behind there with a tire that corded. We fought back and finished sixth. The car handled really well, and it was a good recovery for our team. It makes me excited for Texas. ."

COLE CUSTER – No. 00 Haas Automation/Code 3 Associates Ford Mustang – WALK US THROUGH YOUR DAY: “We were a solid car, could have done better. We fought hard to keep it in the top 10. We got good stage points. Nothing we could do at the end of the race because we ran over something late in the race and crippled the right front. It’s just how it goes. There was a big cut in the tire and had to pit.”

DANIEL HEMRIC GOT INTO THE NO. 27 CHEVROLET SS IN THE FINAL MOMENTS OF THE FINAL PRACTICE SESSION PRIOR TO THE HOLLYWOOD CASINO 400 TO GET COMFORTABLE IN THE CAR SHOULD HE HAVE TO FILL IN FOR REGULAR DRIVER, PAUL MENARD, SHOULD PAUL NEED TO LEAVE TO BE WITH HIS WIFE AS THEY ARE EXPECTING THEIR SECOND CHILD.