NASCAR Xfinity Series at Kansas 2017 Results: Christopher Bell Earns 1st Win

Christopher Bell earned his first career win in a NASCAR Xfinity Series race in a Saturday thriller at the Kansas Lottery 300. 

Erik Jones dominated the race until the end, but he made contact with Bell after losing the lead with four laps to go and wound up dropping back to 15th place. 

In addition to Bell's big win, this was also the first stage in the Xfinity series playoffs round of eight. William Byron entered the day with a slim three-point lead over Justin Allgaier in the standings, but Allgaier made up five points to end Saturday atop the standings. 

Here are the results from the Kansas Lottery 300, per NASCAR.com:

1. Christopher Bell

2. Tyler Reddick

3. Ryan Blaney

4. William Byron

5. Justin Allgaier

6. Austin Dillon

7. Elliott Sadler

8. Matt Tifft

9. Ty Dillon

10. Ryan Reed

NASCAR Xfinity on Twitter captured the moment when Jones made contact with Bell as he was trying to move back into the lead:

After his win, Bell said he wasn't trying to make Jones wreck and felt like he had the right to move where he did:

Per Dustin Albino of Frontstretch, Jones disagreed with Bell's assessment of how things played out:

"It's not dirt racing," Jones said on NBC after the race (via Performance Racing Network). "He's not clear, I can't just stop on the top. I didn't expect him just to drive in so far on the bottom he can't hold his lane."

This was only Bell's fifth career Xfinity Series race, and the Oklahoma native certainly made his first victory on the circuit a memorable one. 

Tyler Reddick was on the pole for the first time in his career. The 21-year-old has 17 races under his belt and credited the weather for his success in qualifying. 

“This cooler weather might be helping us,” Reddick told NBC Sports Network. “We were really tight yesterday. I think that’s going to help us in the race.”

Unfortunately for Reddick, temperatures warmed up to the high 70s on Saturday in Kansas.  Jones wasted no time showing the youngster a couple of things, moving into the lead on the opening lap and riding the wave of momentum to win the first stage leading all 45 laps.

Jones dominated the race past the first stage. The No. 20 car also won the second stage, finishing one full second ahead of Blaney, for an additional point. 

Reddick didn't stray too far off the lead all day and crossed the finish line in second place, his third top-three finish of the season. 

Byron and Allgaier's battle in the playoff standings translated to the track on Saturday. Byron finished one spot ahead of Allgaier, in fourth place, to earn bragging rights coming out of the race. 

However, because Allgaier was the highest-running playoff driver over the course of the 200-lap race, he got a slight points bump over Byron to take the top spot in the standings. Elliott Sadler is only 11 points back, with Brennan Poole in the mix at 28 points off the pace. 

The Xfinity Series takes next week off before getting back to action on Nov. 4 at Texas Motor Speedway. Jones won at that track in April, with Allgaier finished in 13th place. 

Given how slim the margin of victory was for Bell on Saturday and how tight the playoff standings remain, Texas will be full of drama as the 2017 Xfinity Series moves one step closer to the end.