The NASCAR Xfinity playoff field is set

Here are some takeaways from the regular-season finale at Kansas Speedway.

The championship favorite?

John Hunter Nemechek has never won a championship in a national NASCAR series despite making the playoffs multiple times. He is making a case that he will be the man to beat over the final seven weeks of the Xfinity season.

Nemechek has delivered a career year in what is only his second full-time Xfinity season. He has set a career-high mark with six wins and has led 916 laps. His average finish is 9.7, second only to Hill’s mark at 8.0.

Nemechek’s wins haven’t been limited to one style of track. He has conquered Martinsville (short track), Fontana (two miles), Atlanta (mini-superspeedway), New Hampshire (one mile), Michigan (two miles) and Kansas (1.5 miles). He is just missing a road course.

“We came in here with a goal to get a 60-point day to try maximize playoff points and we were able to do so,” Nemechek told NBC Sports’ Kim Coon after the race.

“It’s a huge step going into the playoffs. We definitely have momentum on our side. Looking forward to get started next weekend in Bristol.”

Nemechek will be one of the favorites to win the championship, but Hill will also join him at the top of the list. They have been the most consistent in the field this season.

Justin Allgaier remains a name to watch with his two wins and an average finish of 10.9.

Building for the future

Brandon Jones failed to reach the playoffs for the first time since the 2017 season when he drove for Richard Childress Racing. He needed a win to take the final spot from Parker Kligerman, but he finished second behind Nemechek.

The day was still significant for Jones. He recovered from two separate spins, including one that sent him through the grass. He was able to work his way from 30th to second before crossing the finish line.

Jones will not compete for the championship. He will still be able to continue pursuing wins while building for the future. The team will have a better notebook, which will potentially pay dividends for him and JR Motorsports as he returns to the No. 9 in 2024.

Another consistent performance for a part-time driver

Kaulig Racing has fielded three entries this season. Chandler Smith and Daniel Hemric have both been full-time. The third entry has featured a variety of drivers.

AJ Allmendinger (two wins) and Kyle Larson (one win) have both celebrated in Victory Lane after controlling the all-star car. Kyle Busch, Justin Haley, Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon have delivered top-10 finishes.

Derek Kraus, who does sim work for Kaulig, has made five starts in the all-star car while delivering consistent performances. He finished 10th at Richmond in what was his first-ever Xfinity start. He then finished eighth at Martinsville.

Kraus finished 27th at Talladega (DVP) and 20th at Dover before returning to the entry at Kansas. He went out and avoided multiple on-track incidents that collected several contenders.

Kraus crossed the finish line eighth and scored his third top-10 finish in five starts. He also did so after five months away from the series.

The playoff field is set after 26 races. The points will now reset for the top 12 drivers in the Xfinity Series as they prepare for the Round of 12.

John Hunter Nemechek enters the playoffs as the top seed after he scored his series-high sixth win of the season. He enters the playoffs with 2,049 points.

Austin Hill, the regular-season champion, enters the playoffs as the second seed with four wins. He has 2,039 points.

Here is the points report:

Click here for the driver standings | Click here for the owner standings

Justin Allgaier (2,026), Cole Custer (2,017), Sam Mayer (2,015), Chandler Smith (2,009), Josh Berry (2,009) and Sheldon Creed (2,008) are the drivers above the initial cutline.

Sammy Smith (2,006), Jeb Burton (2,006), Daniel Hemric (2,003) and Parker Kligerman (2,002) are the four drivers that enter the playoffs below the cutline.

Starting as the 12th seed is not an easy hurdle to overcome. Kligerman does not share this opinion. He told NBC Sports that he and Big Machine Racing could contend for a championship after making improvements in the final three months of the regular season.

“We executed at a high level, and that’s what I’ve seen us do for 12 weeks,” Kligerman said. “I felt like if we could just get in the playoffs and we bring this going forward, we were going to go race for a championship.”

John Hunter Nemechek locked up his sixth win of the season Saturday after leading 154 laps.

Click here for where everyone finished at Kansas.

Click here for the cumulative race report.

Click here for the penalty report.

John Hunter Nemechek has won at Kansas Speedway for the second time in his Xfinity career.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver delivered a dominant performance at the intermediate track. He swept the first two stages and then led the entire final stage.

Nemechek built up a lead of nearly seven seconds over Brandon Jones, who missed the playoffs by falling short of Victory Lane. Nemechek scored his sixth win of the season and delivered Toyota its 200th Xfinity win.

Sheldon Creed finished third while Parker Kligerman crossed the line fourth. Kligerman also locked himself into the playoffs on points.

Austin Hill, who crossed the finish line fifth overall, locked up an important prize. He won the regular-season championship and added 15 playoff points to his total.

The end of the regular season is only 10 laps away and John Hunter Nemechek still has the lead.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has remained in control of the race since the end of stage 1 while dealing with challenges from several drivers. Brandon Jones, who sits in a must-win situation, is still in second. He is more than 5.5 seconds back.

Austin Hill runs third as he continues to put himself in position to win the regular-season championship. If he can make it to the end of the race and deliver another top-five finish, he will lock up 15 playoff points.

Parker Kligerman is running fourth after keeping his car mostly clean all day. He remains nearly 30 points ahead of Riley Herbst, who remains two laps down in 26th.

Sheldon Creed rounds out the top five as he tries to keep some momentum heading into the playoffs.

The caution has flown for the 10th time at Kansas Speedway after Rajah Caruth’s second spin of the final stage.

The Truck Series regular brought out the ninth caution on Lap 138 after contact from Matt Mills sent him spinning. The field lined up for another restart on Lap 144, but the caution flew one lap later for another Caruth spin.

Replay showed that Caruth moved up the track. He made contact with another car and spun down toward the infield. He flat-spotted his tires but avoided damage.

The caution gave Riley Herbst’s team time to work on his No. 98 once again. They made repairs to the splitter.

Riley Herbst has dealt with another setback at Kansas Speedway.

The Stewart-Haas Racing driver had worked his way back up inside of the top 10 with fewer than 80 laps remaining at Kansas Speedway. However, he had to make another unscheduled pit stop.

Herbst made contact with the outside wall while trying to chase down fellow playoff-hopeful driver Parker Kligerman. He cut the right-front tire and fell two laps down once again.

Herbst had fallen two laps down in stage 2 after contact with Kligerman led to a cut tire. He took advantage of the free pass two different times and put himself back on the lead lap. He then worked his way to the top 10.

The latest tire issue has led to Herbst falling 30 points below the cutline once again. He still has more than 60 laps to recover, but his playoff chances are in doubt.

Brandon Jones entered Kansas Speedway with one objective — win and take the final playoff spot. He will not accomplish this goal after a multi-car crash at Kansas Speedway.

The incident unfolded on the first lap of the final stage. Sheldon Creed and Sammy Smith made contact, which sent the No. 18 into Justin Allgaier’s No. 7. Both cars spun, as did Jones’ No. 9.

The JR Motorsports driver avoided damage during the incident but went through another set of tires. He had already used one set up after spinning late in stage 2.

The incident benefited one playoff-hopeful driver. Riley Herbst got back on the lead lap. He had fallen two laps down after contact with Parker Kligerman led to a cut tire. He received one free pass at the end of stage 2. He received the second after the multi-car crash.

Justin Allgaier started from the pole at Kansas Speedway, but a fellow playoff driver has been in control. John Hunter Nemechek has swept the opening two stages.

Nemechek, one of two Kansas winners in the field, started Saturday’s race seventh. He steadily moved his way through the field before passing Allgaier with five laps remaining in stage 1. He locked up 10 points and one playoff point.

Nemechek remained at the front of the pack throughout stage 2. He led the way to the green and white checkered flag and locked up another 10 points and another playoff point. Teammate Sammy Smith finished second.

Justin Allgaier, Josh Berry, Austin Hill, Sheldon Creed, Parker Kligerman, Derek Kraus, Parker Retzlaff and Brett Moffitt rounded out the top 10.

Nemechek also swept the first two stages at Darlington last week. He finished third while Denny Hamlin won.

Two drivers — Riley Herbst and Parker Kligerman — have been in contention for the final playoff spot as the end of the regular season has approached. Now the Big Machine Racing driver is poised to make the playoffs.

The two drivers entered the race weekend separated by one point. They remained within four points of each other throughout stage 1 and in the early portions of stage 2. The situation completely changed after an unexpected restart.

The incident occurred after the caution flew for debris on the track. Both drivers were in the top 10 on the restart, but Kligerman missed a shift. This caused him to fall back as Sheldon Creed went to his outside.

Herbst had nowhere to go, so he hit the left rear of Kligerman’s No. 48. This cut the tire on the No. 98 and forced Herbst to make an extra trip down pit road.

The incident dropped Herbst to 32nd in the running order. He fell two laps down and 29 points behind Kligerman.

Herbst was not the only person playoff-hopeful driver with issues. Brandon Jones spun from fourth and slid through the grass. This brought out the caution.

Jones avoided major damage but had to head to pit road for fresh tires and repairs. He headed back onto the track in 30th.

The caution has flown on Lap 60. This time, it was for debris on the track. Though one car hit the wall almost simultaneously.

The caution flew due to a tire carcass sitting in Turn 1. Replay showed that it had come from the No. 51 of Jeremy Clements.

Right as the caution flew, Cole Custer hit the carcass. This flattened his right front and sent him hard into the wall. John Hunter Nemechek and Justin Allgaier both avoided the debris.

Custer had nowhere to go. He hit the tire carcass and then the wall. He ultimately headed to the garage under caution.

John Hunter Nemechek has won his eighth stage of the season, putting him in a tie with Justin Allgaier for the most in the Xfinity Series.

Nemechek passed Allgaier on Lap 41 as the two drivers made contact. He went on to take the green and white checkered flag. He locked up 10 points and one playoff point.

Cole Custer also passed Allgaier before the stage end and locked up nine points. Brandon Jones and Sammy Smith rounded out the top five.

Parker Kligerman, who spent the first half of the stage below the cutline, crossed the line sixth after passing point leader Austin Hill on the final lap. He scored crucial points and put himself ahead of Riley Herbst.

Sheldon Creed, Herbst, and Derek Kraus all finished inside the top 10. Daniel Hemric, who spent the majority of the stage in the top 10, finished 35th and 11 laps down after losing power.

The caution has flown for the third time at Kansas Speedway. A multi-car incident was the cause for the latest yellow.

The incident began on Lap 19 as Sam Mayer spun in the middle of the field. Kyle Weatherman then hit the No. 1 broadside, which caused significant damage to both cars.

Replay showed that Sheldon Creed had made contact with the wall exiting Turn 4. He bounced off and hit Mayer’s No. 1, which sent the car spinning.

Mayer drove his damaged car to the hauler after the incident. Weatherman climbed from the No. 91 as track crews prepared to tow it back to the hauler. Creed continued in the race, but the team said he had a broken bumper cover.

While the field prepared for another restart, one team continued to work in the garage. Chandler Smith had headed behind the wall on Lap 15 to diagnose a potential dropped cylinder.

Smith was not out of the race. He was several laps down as the crew worked.

The Xfinity Series drivers will line up for another restart before reaching the halfway point of the first stage.

Anthony Alfredo and Nick Leitz brought out the caution on the opening lap. Debris then brought out the caution on Lap 13.

Allgaier remained in the lead after starting from the pole. Though he picked up a piece of debris that remained stuck to the bottom of his splitter.

Cole Custer moved up to second and John Hunter Nemechek moved up to third after they both passed Sammy Smith.

Riley Herbst, who started inside the top 10, fell back to 12th in the opening laps of the race. He remained ahead of Parker Kligerman, which kept him four points above the cutline.

The race at Kansas Speedway is officially underway. Though it has come to an early halt.

Justin Allgaier led the field to the green flag after winning the pole, and he fired off from the outside. He was not able to clear Sammy Smith, who began to charge ahead on the inside.

They did not continue the battle as the caution flew on the opening lap. Nick Leitz turned off the nose of Anthony Alfredo and he hit the wall. The No. 38 and the No. 78 both sustained damage and headed to pit road.

Replay showed that Leitz, making his first Xfinity start, moved up the track into Alfredo. He pinched the No. 78 into the wall.

While two drivers brought out the caution early, another was able to get confirmation that his championship dreams will continue.

When Hemric rolled off the starting grid for the pace laps, he officially clinched his spot in the playoffs. He took the 11th spot and left only one spot for Riley Herbst, Parker Kligerman or a new winner from below the cutline.

Justin Allgaier will lead the Xfinity Series field to the green flag for Saturday afternoon’s race at Kansas Speedway.

Allgaier won the pole with a lap of 176.206 mph. This is his second pole of the season and his first since Charlotte, where he scored his first win of the season.

Sammy Smith will start second with a lap of 175.347 mph as he makes his second career start at Kansas.

MORE: Xfinity starting lineup

Smith is followed by Cole Custer (174.972 mph), Brandon Jones (174.876 mph) and Daniel Hemric (174.616 mph).

Riley Herbst, the first driver above the playoff cutline, will line up eighth with a lap of 174.171 mph. Parker Kligerman, who is one point behind Herbst, will line up 15th with a lap of 173.127 mph.

Austin Hill, the point leader after 25 races, will line up ninth with a lap of 173.706 mph. John Hunter Nemechek will line up seventh with a lap of 174.441 mph as he tries to overtake Hill in the battle for the regular-season championship.

The Xfinity Series takes on Kansas Speedway for the first time this season on Saturday afternoon.

The 200-lap event at the 1.5-mile track is the last opportunity for drivers to win their way into the playoffs. This is the regular-season finale, and it will set the 12-driver field. It will also determine the regular-season champion.

There are two past Kansas winners in the lineup. Two-time winner Brandon Jones is back on the starting grid as he tries to win his way into the playoffs. 2018 winner John Hunter Nemechek will try to repeat his success and capture the regular-season championship trophy.

The Xfinity Series coverage will begin at 3 p.m. on NBC and Peacock.

Follow along for updates throughout Saturday afternoon from the racetrack.