KANSAS CITY, Kan. – A hectic day in the Heartland proved to be beneficial for quite a few NASCAR Xfinity Series teams in the regular-season finale at Kansas Speedway.
Drivers such as runner-up Brandon Jones, third-place finisher Sheldon Creed and 12-seed in the playoffs Parker Kligerman were either able to battle through adversity or capitalize on the chaos for a top-five day in the Kansas Lottery 300.
On a smaller scale, organizations like Emerling-Gase Motorsports maximized their efforts for a successful outing with relatively important milestones.
Driver-owner Joey Gase took the green flag from 36th and wheeled his way to a 24th-place finish – his fourth top-25 in 11 starts this season. While this may not seem like much to powerhouse teams such as Joe Gibbs Racing, it’s an admirably positive step in the right direction for a second-year organization with very little backing.
“We were decent,” Gase said. “I got a little too tight there at the end. We had to put some scuffs on there to have any shot at a top-20, but that didn’t happen. Overall, the car is in one piece and it was a decent day.”
Success is subjective, but the case can be made that Emerling-Gase Motorsports has already seen an uptick in performance in their sophomore season.
We literally entered this series when the competition is, I think, the highest it’s been in forever… I’m proud of our guys for helping us improve.
Earlier this year, Gase scored the organization’s first-ever top-10 finish at Talladega Superspeedway. Matt Mills’ 19th-place day at Kansas also shouldn’t be overlooked.
In scoring his season-best finish through four starts with EGM, Mills notched the organization’s ninth top-20 finish in 2023, which already matches the single-season total amassed in the team’s maiden campaign.
With seven races remaining, Gase and his team will have numerous chances to get quality results and to add to their young legacy.
“There’s always more room for improvement,” Gase said. “We literally entered this series when the competition is, I think, the highest it’s been in forever. That’s definitely tough, but I’m proud of our guys for helping us improve.”