JOLIET, Ill. -- Erik Jones passed Elliott Sadler with nine laps to go and held off Kyle Larson to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series race Saturday at Chicagoland Speedway for his series-high fourth victory of the season.
"I just had to go chase Elliott down. It was just a matter of time before we got around him," Jones said. "What an awesome day."
The 20-year-old Jones will be the top seed for the seven-race Chase. He won the Truck Series title a year ago and will move to the Sprint Cup next year.
"This is great momentum for us," Jones said. "I'm just really excited."
Ryan Sieg and Blake Koch claimed the final two spots in the Xfinity Chase for the Championship.
Sprint Cup champion Kyle Busch dominated most of the race, leading 154 of the first 181 laps until he cut a tire and spun out. Clint Bowyer had the lead on the re-start with 14 laps left before Sadler passed him.
But a charging Jones surged by Sadler and withstood a late challenge before Larson scraped the wall on the 200th and final lap.
"On the last lap I tried to get to the throttle early and try to get a run on him on exit," Larson said. "I knew I would be flirting with the edge there, and I just got over it and got into the wall and ended our shot."
Sadler was third, followed by Daniel Suarez and Illinois native Justin Allgaier. Busch finished 13th.
Jones has been the only Xfinity driver to have consistent success on the lower-tier circuit. Sadler and Suarez are the only other full-time drivers to win a race this season.
Sieg finished 12th and Koch 15th to earn the final spots in the 12-driver Chase field.
They'll be joined by Allgaier, Ty Dillon, Brennan Poole, Brendan Gaughan, Ryan Reed, Brandon Jones and Darrell Wallace.
The Chase begins next week at Kentucky and will have two elimination rounds before a champion is determined Nov. 19 at Homestead.
Busch, the top seed in the Sprint Cup Chase this year, won the Truck Series race Friday night before failing a post-race inspection. He beat Jones off pit road during a green-flag stop with just over 40 laps remaining and held the lead after a later restart. He seemed poised for another win until his tire mishap.
His pit crew was also penalized for going over the wall too soon on the ensuing stop to end his chances.
Bowyer, a former series champion, finished sixth in his first Xfinity race since 2012
