Line Them Up
The Round of 8 for the NASCAR Xfinity Series began at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. With only four drivers advancing to compete for the championship, the intensity ramped up. Brandon Jones was quickest in qualifying, so he sat on the pole. Cole Custer started the race on the outside of row one. The stage lengths for the Ambetter Health 302 were 45 laps for the first and second stages, and 111 laps for the final stage.
Tires
Jones got a fantastic start to the race. He pulled out in front and Chandler Smith moved into second. Custer was able to get back into second on the opening lap. Justin Allgaier struggled early as he dropped from third to tenth. The first caution came out on the fifth circuit around the track. Leland Honeyman, Jr. moved up the track into JJ Yeley. Honeyman got into the wall but was able to get it back to the pits.Â
Custer had a great restart as Jones was overtaken on both sides going into turn one. Sammy Smith took the lead with Custer and C. Smith behind him. S. Smith and Custer pulled away from the field with over a second between them and the third-placed Jones. Custer muscled his way past Smith for the lead with thirty to go in the stage. However, Smith would not give up to no avail.
Custer used his Ford power to pull away from Smith and open his gap to over a second. Allgaier got his footing and passed his way into the top three. Shane Van Gisbergen brought his car down pit road complaining of engine troubles. The second caution came out when Dylan Lupton hit the wall by himself. The crew for Van Gisbergen pushed his car behind the wall and into the garage.
To Pit or Not to Pit
Custer and Allgaier were among the drivers who pitted during the caution. They restarted the race in fifteenth and sixteenth. While they were pitting, Jones stayed out and restarted the race in first. Riley Herbst also did not pit and restarted in second. Herbst got a great restart leaving Jones behind. Custer was able to slice through the field and was fifth with five to go in the stage. He used his fresh tires to get back to the lead with his pit partner, Allgaier, right behind him in second. Custer led the final lap to win stage one!
Domination
Custer and Allgaier started the second stage on the front row. They both had good restarts and dove into turn one side by side. Allgaier was able to pull in front to take the lead. Sheldon Creed started the race in the back but made his way into the top three. He did not stay there as Ryan Sieg and AJ Allmendinger were able to pass him.
The usual frontrunners, Creed and Austin Hill, struggled to keep pace. They both had speed but could not maintain it. Allmendinger had the opposite luck. He qualified in ninth but used pit strategy to pick up spots and more speed. He was on a slightly different tire strategy but his crew chief reassured him that he would be the fastest car and he could make passes.
Allgaier moved into fourth all-time in Xfinity Series laps led. He led most of the second stage and got the stage win – his 16th of the season! Allmendinger finished the stage in second after using a slightly different pit strategy. Sieg, Jones, and C. Smith rounded out the top five at the stage end.
Place Your Bets
Allmendinger and Allgaier restarted the race on the front row. Taylor Gray was spun out coming to the green flag as the field got stacked up trying to get going. The front of the field checked up which sent a ripple through the field and Gray got the bad end of the stick. Hill was able to get through the wreck, but his teammate, Jesse Love, spent some time on pit road repairing some damage.
Again, Allgaier and Allmendinger took the green flag from the front row. Allmendinger snatched the lead on the restart. Allgaier got a big run to the back bumper of Allmendinger but was unable to make the pass. Sammy Smith, who was damaged during the previous wreck, was exasperated with frustration as he had to deal with an ill-handling car.
With the sun setting over the Ambetter Health 302, the track conditions and handling of the cars changed. Allgaier wanted to save his tires for the longer run. He ran a bit easier to set himself up to be better than Allmendinger who was running harder. Allgaier picked up some trash on his front grill. His crew chief asked the team of Allmendinger to back up to Allgaier to get the trash off of the grill. Allgaier was unable to get close enough to Allmendinger to get the debris off.
Big Trouble
Allgaier, with trash on his grill, lost power in his car. He said his alternator died and his battery was dying. This may have been due to the debris. He was told to shut off the fans and save his battery. He used a lapped car to get the trash off of his car. The battery seemed to charge after he cleared his grill, and Allmendinger used all of this chaos to lengthen his lead to over a second and a half and gaining.
The final green flag pit stops began with Allgaier pitting for four tires and fuel. He was concerned about putting tape on the grill with his recent issues. Allmendinger was able to get into the pits and out with no issues. Allmendinger actually improved his gap over Allgaier in second place.
Rerack ‘Em
Kyle Sieg brought out the caution with thirty-one laps left when he spun coming off of turn four. The rear of his car just stepped out on him exiting the turn. Everyone pitted for their final fresh set of tires. Allmendinger was the first car off of pit road. R. Sieg followed him in second and the two restarted the race on the front row.
Allmendinger got a great jump to restart the race with twenty-five laps left. C. Smith moved into second place. R. Sieg showed patience as he set up and passed C. Smith for second place. Sieg closed in on the leader and cut the lead to less than half a second.
With fifteen laps to go, R. Sieg cut the lead to less than three-tenths of a second. The closer Sieg got to Allmendinger, the harder it was to maintain his speed. S. Smith stopped his car on the backstretch with voltage issues and brought out another caution. None of the leaders pitted because they did not have fresh tires.
Overtime in Vegas
Allmendinger and R. Sieg restarted on the front row. Allmendinger had a big push from Allgaier and took the lead. R. Sieg filed into second. Allmendinger took the white flag. R. Sieg closed the gap in turns one and two, but it ultimately wasn’t enough to pass Allmendinger. AJ Allmendinger won and clinched his spot in the Championship Four! R. Sieg finished in second after a great run in the final stage.
Marvin’s Moment:
I did not expect AJ Allmendinger to be the first driver locked into the championship. However, he showed speed all day in Vegas and was fast through adversity. Ryan Sieg was probably the better car at the end but AJ put his car where it needed to be to defend the lead and hold on for the victory. The jury is still out on who the favorite would be to win the chip, but with Allmendinger already locked in, they can forget about the next two races and focus on Phoenix.
I also want to add that Ryan Sieg showed incredible speed. He took a huge gut punch in Texas earlier this season. They brought the same car to Vegas weekend and it showed. They were incredibly fast and had a talented driver behind the wheel. Hats off to that team!
