Late Caution Spoils Solid Day At Kansas For Alfredo

Anthony Alfredo (David Rosenblum/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – A race that showed strong potential for much of the day Saturday at Kansas Speedway ended in a feeling of unfulfillment for Anthony Alfredo and Young’s Motorsports.

After qualifying 22nd for the Kansas Lottery 300, Alfredo quickly picked his way up into the top 20, ranking 19th in both 45-lap stages and appearing like he could claw his way even further forward during the second half.

Unfortunately, Alfredo was caught out by the race’s final caution with 44 to go, pinned a lap down after making a pit stop just before the yellow flag waved at the 1.5-mile oval.

With no yellows to speak of during the 38-lap run to the finish, Alfredo had no way to get back in front of the eight-ball and had to settle for a non-representative 25th-place finish.

It continued a string of three straight races where Alfredo has made it to the checkered flag, but the finishes on paper are far from what he and his Andrew Abbott-led team know they’re capable of producing.

“I was pleased with our performance at Kansas Speedway this past weekend,” Alfredo noted. “Unfortunately, an untimely caution during the last green-flag pit cycle ruined what was shaping up to be a great finish for us.

“We had the pace to get where we wanted to go, but it is frustrating as a driver when the circumstances don’t play in your favor after we’ve worked so hard to rebound. We’ll come back from this, though.”

With five races left in the Xfinity Series season, Alfredo remains in pursuit of a top-20 finish in the point standings. He did gain one place Saturday, jumping to 24th ahead of Alpha Prime Racing’s Parker Retzlaff.

Alfredo and the Xfinity Series field head next to the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL for the final road course event of the year. His season-best result turning both left and right is 21st from both Circuit of the Americas in March and Mexico’s Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in June.

However, Alfredo did finish a track-best 12th at the hybrid course in 2022, during his debut at the 2.28-mile layout which utilizes portions of the 1.5-mile CMS quad oval.

Broadcast coverage of the Blue Cross NC 250 is slated for Saturday, Oct. 4 at 5 p.m. ET, live on The CW, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.