On a cool and windy Friday afternoon, the Xfinity Series takes to the track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for some practice and qualifying for The LiUNA! Race on Saturday afternoon.
This will also be the qualifying race for the Dash-4-Cash. The top four regular season Xfinity drivers will qualify to run for the first Dash-4-Cash race at Homestead-Miami. The D4C driver that finishes in the highest position will earn a $100.000 prize. That driver and the top three regular finishers will qualify for the second D4C race.
The drivers have been divided into two groups for a 25 minute practice session before making a single round of qualifying.
NASCAR is a family sport and to prove it, last week when Ryan Sieg had to move to a backup car after mechanical issues, little brother Kyle was right in the middle of the fray helping to get big brother Ryan’s backup car ready for the race!
Parker Kligerman is off racing in IMSA this weekend at the 12 Hours of Sebring. Taking over for Kligerman in the booth for the race will be Rowdy himself – Kyle Busch.
Thirty-eight teams brought cars to Las Vegas for a full field with all of the drivers making the race.
Sheldon Creed tops the leaderboard in Group 1 practice.
In round two of practice, Connor Zilisch tops the leaderboard.
The first driver on the track to make a qualifying run is Austin Green who posted a time of 31.367 seconds around the mile and a half track.
Austin Hill is the first driver to break the 30 second mark with a time of 29.822 seconds.
With a time of 29.435 seconds Sammy Smith puts his number eight JR Motorsport car on the pole with teammate Carson Kvapil alongside on the front row and teammate Connor Zilisch behind him.
The starting lineup for The Liuna:
Sammy Smith \
Carson Kvapil
Connor Zilisch
Taylor Gray
Sam Mayer
Justin Allgaier
Jesse Love
William Sawalich
Nick Sanche
Jeb Burton
Aric Almirola
Parker Retzlaff
Jeremy Clements
Austin Hill
Brandon Jones
Daniel Dye
Christian Eckes
Harrison Burton
Matt DiBenedetto
Ryan Sieg
Kyle Sieg
Anthony Alfredo
Sheldon Creed
Josh Williams
Patrick Emerling
Kris Wright
Blaine Perkins
Dean Thompson
Leland Honeyman
Brennan Poole
Mason Massey
Dawson Cram
Garrett Smithley
Josh Bilicki
Ryan Ellis
Austin Green
Joey Gase
Greg van Alst
Stages one and two are 45 laps each with stage three lasting 110 laps for a total of 200 laps around the mile and a half track.
Las Vegas magicians Penn and Teller gave the command to start engines.
Brandon Jones, Dean Thompson, and Leland Honeyman will have to start the race from the back of the field after crews made some unapproved adjustments to the cars.
After cloudy skies and rain delays on Friday night for the Truck Series race, the skies have cleared and the temps are warmer for the Xfinity cars.
Sammy Smith brings the field down for the green flag start of the race with teammate Carson Kvapil alongside. Sammy Smith gets out in front as the drivers spread out three and four wide across the track.
The first caution flag out on lap one when William Sawalich gets into the wall after some on track contact. Parker Retzlaff also gets turned around. Sawalich has his car towed to the garage. Daniel Dye brings his car down pit road with some damage.
Sammy Smith brings the field down for the green falg restart on lap six and again Smith jumps out in front for the lead with Carson Kvapil in second; Connor Zilisch, Justin Allgaier, and Taylor Gray round out the top five.
Lap nine, Justin Allgaier passes Carson Kvapil for second. All four of the JR Motorsports cars are 1-2-3-4.
Lap eleven, the drivers have gotten spread out through the field.
Lap 13, Sammy smith has led every laps so far but teammate Justin Allgaier is closing the gap to the leader.
Lap 14, Justin Allgaier passes Sammy Smith for the lead.
Lap 17, Justin Allgaier has increased his lead on Sammy Smith to over a second and growing.
Lap 22, Justin Allgaier’s lead is now over three seconds on Sammy Smith; Carson Kvapil, Taylor Gray, and Connor Zilisch round out the top five.
Josh Williams is still not feeling well. He reports some major breathing difficulties and may not be able to finish the race. The team is working on a plan to put a substitute driver in the car.
William Sawalich is out of the race.
Lap 27, Justin Allgaier is now over five seconds out in front of Sammy Smith; Carson Kvapil, Aric Almirola, and Taylor Gray round out the top five.
Lap 34, Aric Almirola passes Sammy Smith for second; Justin Allgaier continues to lead the race with a lead of over seven seconds!
Lap 38, “driving it like he stole it” Justin Allgaier has pulled out to a seven and a half second lead on Aric Almirola; Carson Kvapil, Sammy Smith, and Connor Zilisch round out the top five.
Lap 40, after starting from the back of the field, Brandon Jones has entered the top 15.
Justin Allgaier wins stage one.
The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Justin Allgaier
Aric Almirola
Carson Kvapil
Connor Zilisch
Taylor Gray
Sammy Smith
Austin Hill
Jesse Love
Sam Mayer
Ryan Sieg
Justin Allgaier reports some voltage issues in his car.
Jeremy Clements is stopped at the entrance to pit road and needs a push with fuel pressure issues.
Josh Williams brought his car down pit road and is out of the car and Ty Dillon is getting situated in the car.
Drivers come down pit road for service with Aric Almirola winning the race off of pit road. Justin Allgaier comes out in seventh place after the crew pulled some tape off the grille.
Jeremy Clements and Jesse Love have to restart the race from the back of the field after having uncontrolled tire on pit road.
Aric Almirola brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two on lap 54 with Carson Kvapil alongside. There are 23 cars on the lead lap. Almirola gets out in front to take the lead. Ryan Sieg falls back in the field after gear issues.
The top five are Aric Almirola, Austin Hill, Sammy Smith, Connor Zilisch, and Carson Kvapil.
Lap 57, Justin Allgaier passes Taylor Gray for sixth.
Lap 58, Connor Zilsich and Sammy Smith battle for second.
Lap 59, Justin Allgaier is back in the top five in fourth.
Ryan Sieg has a shifter issue.
Lap 62, Aric Almirola has a near one second lead on Sammy Smith; Connor Zilisch, Justin Allgaier, and Austin Hill round out the top five.
Lap 64, Connor Zilisch passes Sammy Smith for second.
Justin Allgaier passes Sammy Smith for third.
Lap 67, Jusitn Allgaier passes Connor Zilisch for second; he is less than one second behind leader Aric Almirola.
Justin Allgaier has led over 350 laps at Las Vegas – more than the rest of the field combined – but has never won a race.
Lap 71, Greg van Alst is slowed on the track with some electrical issues.
Lap 72, Justin Allgaier is closing the gap on leader Aric Almirola.
Austin Hill makes an unscheduled pit stop reporting a vibration.
Lap 75, Justin Allgaier has caught leader Aric Almirola.
Lap 77, the top five are Aric Almirola, Justin Allgaier, Connor Zilisch, Sammy Smith, and Sam Mayer.
Lap 81, Aric Almirola and Justin Allgaier are nose to tail. Allgaier b e gins to challenge Almirola for the lead.
Lap 85, Justin Allgaier continues to challenge Aric Almirola for the lead.
With two laps remaining in stage two, Justin Allgaier passes Aric Almirola for the lead but Almirola comes back up on the inside to retake the lead.
Aric Almirola wins stage two.
The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Aric Almirola
Justin Allgaier
Connor Zilisch
Sammy Smith
Sam Mayer
Carson Kvapil
Taylor Gray
Brandon Jones
Sheldon Creed
Jesse Love
Drivers come down pit road for service with Aric Almirola winning the race off of pit road. Justin Allgaier comes out in third.
Aric Almirola brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three with Connor Zilisch alongside on alp 98. Justin Allgaier is behind Almirola. Almirola gets out in front as the drivers spread out three and four wide.
Connor Zilisch passes Aric Almirola on the outside for the lead.
Lap 103, Justin Allgaier passes Aric Almirola for second; Connor Zillisch has a near one second lead.
Lap 105, Justin Allgaier is slowly closing the gap on leader and teammate Connor Zilisch.
With 92 laps remaining in the race, there are 23 cars on the lead lap.
With 83 to go, Connor Zilisch has a lead of less than half a second on Justin Allgaier; Aric Almirola, Sam Mayer, and Jesse Love round out the top five.
Seventy-five to go, Justin Allgaier has caught leader Connor Zilisch.
Lap 127, Justin Allgaier passes Connor Zilisch for the lead.
There are 68 laps remaining in the race, Justin Allgaier has a lead of over half a second on Connor Zilisch; Aric Almirola, Sam Mayer, and Jesse Love round out the top five.
With 64 to go Aric Almirola battles with Connor Zilisch for second.
Aric Almirola passes Connor Zilisch for second on lap 138. Justin Allgaier is over a second out in front.
With 58 to go, Justin Allgaier has a one second lead on Aric Almirola; Connor Zilisch, Jesse Love, and Sam Mayer round out the top five.
The drivers are now within their pit window to make it to the end of the race.
Lap 144, drivers begin green flag pit stops.
Sammy Smith was caught speeding on pit road and will have to serve a pass through penalty.
Jeb Burton was charged with leaving his pit stall with equipment – gas can which ended up stuck under the car in front of him.
With 50 to go, Kyle Sieg leads the race but has yet to make his pit stop.
Once all of the drivers have made their green flag pit stops, Justin Allgaier retakes the lead with Aric Almirola in second; Jesse Love, Sam Mayer, and Austin Hill round out the top five.
There are only 13 cars on the lead lap.
Nick Sanchez and Connor Zilisch were also charged with speeding on pit road and had to serve a pass through penalty.
Just 40 laps remain in the race, Justin Allgaier has a lead of a second and a half on Aric Almirola; Jesse Love, Sam Mayer, and Austin Hill round out the top five.
Taylor Gray had to make an unscheduled trip down pit road with a loose tire.
With 37 laps to go, Justin Allgaier has led 65 laps so far. He has a near two second lead on Aric Almirola.
There are 31 laps remaining in the race, Justin Allgaier’s lead on Aric Almirola is down to just over a second.
Carson Kvapil’s crew chief reports that they did not get the fuel tank full and are about six laps short.
With 25 to go, there are only eleven cars on the lead lap. Justin Allgaier has a one second lead on Aric Almirola.
Ryan Ellis comes down pit road and goes to the garage with a power issue. He reports that he has no dash.
Just 22 to go, Aric Almirola is slowly closing the gap on leader Justin Allgaier and is just half a second behind.
Twenty to go, the top five are Justin Allgaier, Aric Almirola, Jesse Love, Sam Mayer, and Austin Hill.
Just 18 to go, Aric Almirola has caught leader Justin Allgaier.
Twelve to go, leaders have caught slower and lapped traffic.
A part-time driver, Aric Almirola is not eligible for the Dash-4-Cash program.
Ten to go! Justin Allgaier holds on to the lead with Aric Almirola in second; Jesse Love, Sam Mayer, and Austin Hill round out the top five.
Carson Kvapil comes down pit road for fuel.
Seven to go, Justin Allgaier has just a quarter of a second lead on Aric Almirola.
Just five laps remain in the race, Justin Allgaier holds on to the lead.
Three to go, Justin Allgaier passes 10th place driver Sheldon Creed to put Creed a lap down.
Justin Allgaier takes the white flag.
Justin Allgaier finally wins a race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway! He exits out the roof in celebration. This is JRM win number 90 and the first a Las Vegas.
The unofficial results of the Liana:
Justin Allgaier
Aric Almirola
Jesse Love
Austin Hill
Sam Mayer
Brandon Jones
Ryan Sieg
Harrison Burton
Connor Zilisch
Sheldon Creed
Kyle Sieg
Daniel Dye
Christian Eckes
Sammy Smith
Dean Thompson
Matt DiBenedetto
Carson Kvapil
Anthony Alfredo
Taylor Gray
Nick Sanchez
Parker Retzlaff
Brennan Poole
Jeb Burton
Jeremy Clements
Kris Wright
Blaine Perkins
Garrett Smithley
Patrick Emerling
Josh Williams
Leland Honeyman
Josh Bilicki
Dawson Cram
Joey Gase
Ryan Ellis
Greg van Alst
Austin Green
Mason Massey
William Sawalich