Christian Barnes beats teammate Izaak Treece by 1.283 seconds after a late two-tire stop, with Dallas Manus completing the podium in the MLSR A-Open Series
| Pos | Driver | Car | # | Started | Laps | Interval | Inc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christian Barnes2 | 27 | 25 | 130 | -00.000 | 0 | |
| 2 | Izaak Treece | 6 | 4 | 130 | -01.283 | 0 | |
| 3 | Dallas Manus | 35 | 7 | 130 | -02.011 | 0 | |
| 4 | Jacob Loesch | 51 | 5 | 130 | -04.217 | 0 | |
| 5 | Jamal Pough | 8 | 12 | 130 | -04.973 | 0 | |
| 6 | Shawn Hook | 88 | 3 | 130 | -06.134 | 0 | |
| 7 | Chasen McCook | 14 | 16 | 130 | -08.966 | 4 | |
| 8 | John Williams | 57 | 1 | 130 | -10.261 | 0 | |
| 9 | Michael L Patrick | 81 | 10 | 130 | -15.965 | 4 | |
| 10 | William VanAlstyne | 23 | 26 | 130 | -16.061 | 0 | |
| 11 | Zack Domer | 014 | 2 | 130 | -17.307 | 0 | |
| 12 | Collin Ettridge | 54 | 29 | 130 | -17.442 | 4 | |
| 13 | Jamel Love | 3 | 27 | 129 | -1 L | 0 | |
| 14 | Russell Marciniak | 12 | 14 | 129 | -1 L | 6 | |
| 15 | Jim Treat | 42 | 19 | 129 | -1 L | 8 | |
| 16 | Joseph Essenberg | 10 | 11 | 129 | -1 L | 0 | |
| 17 | Jason Trocki | 46 | 17 | 129 | -1 L | 1 | |
| 18 | Gerrad Essenberg | 4 | 15 | 128 | -2 L | 0 | |
| 19 | Gary May | 9 | 18 | 128 | -2 L | 0 | |
| 20 | Chris Etchepare | 99 | 21 | 128 | -2 L | 5 | |
| 21 | Robert T Burke | 22 | 20 | 128 | -2 L | 2 | |
| 22 | Joe Konen | 72 | 6 | 128 | -2 L | 4 | |
| 23 | Mike McCoy Sr | 26 | 22 | 127 | -3 L | 0 | |
| 24 | Corey Powell4 | 66 | 31 | 126 | -4 L | 0 | |
| 25 | Marc Andre Ciccariello | 89 | 23 | 126 | -4 L | 10 | |
| 26 | Mike Wayne Robinson | 20 | 24 | 115 | -15 L | 3 | |
| 27 | Adam Ramsey | 97 | 8 | 98 | -32 L | 0 | |
| 28 | Zach Monday | 33 | 32 | 67 | -63 L | 4 | |
| 29 | Johnathan Pereira | 45 | 30 | 55 | -75 L | 0 | |
| 30 | Ronald Breland | 11 | 13 | 54 | -76 L | 10 | |
| 31 | Gregory Vadnais | 24 | 9 | 40 | -90 L | 4 | |
| 32 | Joshua Sanok | 091 | 28 | 15 | -115 L | 10 |
I knew if I did the exact same thing that he did that I'd basically be out of it.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Christian Barnes started 25th, spent most of Sunday night working his way toward the front, and then won the race on pit road.
With his teammate Izaak Treece about two seconds ahead during the final green-flag pit cycle, Barnes took two tires instead of four, cycled out as the net leader and held Treece off over the closing laps to win the MLSR A-Open Series race at Kansas Speedway by 1.283 seconds. Dallas Manus finished third.
By the time Barnes took the white flag, it was clear the two tires had won him the race.
It was Barnes' third A-Open win of the season and his second straight after Bristol, and it pulled him even with Treece for the most victories in the series.
Treece sets the pace
John Williams won the pole and led the opening laps in the No. 57 Chevrolet. Treece, who started fourth and came into the night a perfect three-for-three in A-Open starts, settled a long battle for second with Shawn Hook and then went around Williams for the lead.
From there the No. 6 Toyota controlled the race. Treece led 85 of the 130 laps, the most of any driver, and built a lead of several seconds through the first green-flag pit cycle.
Barnes, meanwhile, was moving forward from the back half of the field. He had gained 12 positions early in the opening run and was racing with the top-10 group before the first round of stops.
One caution changes the race
The race's only caution came out near the halfway point for an incident involving Jim Treat and the lapped car of Zach Monday. It erased Treece's advantage and sent the leaders to pit road.
It also cost Williams. A pit-road speeding penalty dropped the pole-sitter to 10th at the time. Williams recovered to finish eighth and was credited with the race's fastest lap.
Treece cleared Hook for the lead on the restart and again began to edge away, with Barnes running second roughly 1.6 seconds back as the final fuel window approached.
The call
Hook started the final round of green-flag stops, and the leaders followed. Barnes' stop was noticeably shorter, worth roughly two seconds on pit road. When Treece emerged from his own stop, Barnes was 1.6 seconds ahead of him among the cars that had pitted.
Barnes said after the race that he had raised the idea with Treece earlier in the night.
"I knew clean air was going to be key," Barnes said. "... I knew if I did the exact same thing that he did that I'd basically be out of it."
Jamel Love, Zack Domer and Russell Marciniak stretched their stints and briefly ran at the front on an alternate strategy. Love led 11 laps before drawing a black flag for speeding on pit road. Once everyone had pitted, with about 15 laps left, Barnes was back in the lead.
Holding on
Treece cut into the gap at first, but it stopped shrinking. Barnes led by seven-tenths of a second with 11 laps left and by a full second with 10 to go. He had stretched it to about a second and a half by the final lap.
Treece said afterward that he had damaged a wheel just before his stop.
"I hit the wall the lap before I pit and it gave me wheel damage," Treece said. "... I was catching him for the first like five laps and then the wheel damage took over."
He added: "Kind of heartbreaking, but I'm super happy for my teammate."
Barnes, who led 16 laps, said the result made up for past trouble at the track.
"I've had a lot of bad luck at Kansas towards the end of the races," Barnes said. "So, I'm just glad that I was finally able to finish one out. ... I was able to hold on with the clean air."
Manus on the podium
Manus started seventh and stayed in the top five for much of the night on his way to third.
"I just got to work on pit road entry and exit and maximize the time," Manus said.
Jacob Loesch finished fourth from fifth on the grid. Jamal Pough came from 12th to finish fifth. Hook, who started third and battled Treece for the lead after the restart, faded to sixth. Chasen McCook, Williams, Michael L Patrick and William VanAlstyne completed the top 10. VanAlstyne started 26th.
Domer, the A-Open points leader, started second and finished 11th. He still leads Barnes by 32 points.
The A-Open Series 12-race regular season concludes at Las Vegas on October 11 at 8 p.m. ET, and that race will set the field for the four-race Chase.
Driver of the race: Izaak Treece. Treece led a race-high 85 of 130 laps, controlled the long green-flag runs on either side of the caution and finished second despite the wheel damage he described after the race.
Fastest lap: John Williams set the race's quickest lap, 29.552 seconds, on Lap 2.
Best drive: Christian Barnes. Barnes gained 24 positions from his 25th-place start, the biggest climb in the field, and won. Collin Ettridge (29th to 12th, +17) and William VanAlstyne (26th to 10th, +16) were next.
Hard luck: Love led 11 laps on an alternate pit strategy, but a black flag for speeding on pit road during his final stop cost him. He finished 13th, one lap down.