Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: las vegas motor speedway

  • NASCAR explains Logano’s glove violation

    NASCAR explains Logano’s glove violation

    NASCAR gathered the media to the Cup Series hauler to show the gloves it confiscated from Joey Logano last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

    During post-qualifying inspection, NASCAR viewed the in-car footage of his qualifying lap and noticed an “obviously concerning” detail.

    “We have our safety cameras inside all the Cup cars, and we review them quite often during practice and qualifying, and we look for oddities,” Brad Moran, series director for the Cup Series, said.

    The problem? SFI Foundation Inc., which sets the quality and safety standards for NASCAR equipment, doesn’t make gloves with webbing. The webbing of the left-hand glove was so obviously modified, it looked like a frog hand. In fact, it wouldn’t look out of place on the hands of Tsuyu Asui from “My Hero Academia.”

    Webbing gives a driver more room to block the air, but it also hinders their ability to unbuckle their belts and window net. Which is a serious problem, if your car is on fire.

    As a result, NASCAR dropped Logano to the back of the field for the start of the Atlanta race, along with a pass-through penalty after the green flag dropped. On Tuesday, NASCAR fined Logano $10,000 for violating the league’s safety code under “Driver Responsibilities & Driver Protective Clothing/Equipment.”

    Team owner Roger Penske told Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press that he “didn’t like that at all,” and expressed his disappointment with the two-time Cup Series champion.

    “It’s not good. Period. I told him,” Penske said. “He’s the leader of the team. Look, we are under so much scrutiny and the last thing we need to do is have any noise like that. It’s not good for us. It’s not good for him. We’ll take our punches.”

    Well, it didn’t affect Logano’s qualifying run, Saturday, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Wearing approved gloves, Logano clocked in a lap of 29.291 (184.357 mph) to win his second pole of the 2024 season.

  • Rajah Caruth earns first Truck Series career victory from pole position at Las Vegas

    Rajah Caruth earns first Truck Series career victory from pole position at Las Vegas

    In a race weekend that commenced on a high note by achieving his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career pole position, Rajah Caruth concluded the weekend by achieving another first: his first Truck Series career victory as he raced his way to victory in the Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday, March 1. 

    The 21-year-old Caruth from Washington D.C. led twice for 38 of 134 scheduled laps in an event where he commenced on a high note by achieving his first career pole position and leading the field to the green flag. Despite losing the lead early, Caruth, who led for the first time on Lap 34 after exiting pit road with the lead, kept in touch with the front-runners throughout the entire event as he achieved top-three results during both stage periods. Then amid a cycle of green flag pit stops with 34 laps remaining, Caruth, who outlasted a late battle against Taylor Gray, cycled into the lead with 21 laps remaining and managed to withstand lapped traffic and a late charge from points leader Tyler Ankrum to claim his first career victory in his 30th series’ start.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Rajah Caruth notched his first Truck Series career pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 177.043 mph in 30.501 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Christian Eckes, who clocked in the second-fast qualifying lap at 177.038 mph in 30.502 seconds. 

    Prior to the event, rookie Layne Riggs dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his Front Row Motorsports entry. 

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Caruth and Eckes dueled for the lead entering the first two turns and through the backstretch in front of two stacked lanes until Eckes muscled ahead on the inside lane and led the first lap ahead of Caruth. As the field fanned out to three lanes, Eckes maintained the lead over Kyle Busch, who overtook teammate Caruth for the runner-up spot as Ty Majeski and Tyler Ankrum followed suit in the top five.

    On the third lap, the event’s first caution flew when Bayley Currey slipped underneath Chase Purdy while battling for a top-12 spot amid a three-wide battle that also involved Matt Crafton as Currey backed his No. 41 Niece Motorsports entry into the backstretch’s outside wall before he slid back down across the track and towards the inside wall with significant rear end damage. 

    When the race restarted under green on the seventh lap, Eckes briefly fended off Busch for the lead entering the first turn until Busch used the outside lane along with a push from teammate Caruth to assume the lead through the backstretch, with Eckes slipping back to second as he was being challenged by Majeski. Amid the early battles ensuing behind, Busch maintained the lead ahead of Majeski, Eckes and Caruth while Stewart Friesen and Tyler Ankrum battled for fifth in front of Grant Enfinger.

    Through the Lap 10 mark, Busch was leading by more than two-tenths of a second over Majeski followed by Caruth, Friesen and Eckes while Ankrum, Enfinger, Zane Smith, Nick Sanchez and Christopher Bell were running in the top 10. Behind, Corey Heim was in 11th ahead of Matt Crafton, Chase Purdy, Ben Rhodes and Dean Thompson while Taylor Gray, Jake Garcia, Daniel Dye, Ty Dillon and Bret Holmes occupied the top 20 on the track. 

    Four laps later, Majeski engaged in a side-by-side battle with Busch for the lead through the frontstretch as Caruth joined the battle. After dueling against Busch through the backstretch, Majeski muscled ahead through Turns 3 and 4 as he was out in front through the frontstretch before Busch reassumed the top spot through the first two turns just past the Lap 15.  Amid another side-by-side battle with Majeski, Busch muscled back ahead just past the Lap 16 mark as teammate Caruth started to battle Majeski for the runner-up spot. Majeski, however, would reassume the lead on Lap 19. He would be followed by Caruth while Busch, who started to battle tight conditions, was battling Friesen for third place. 

    At the Lap 25 mark, Majeski was leading by eight-tenths of a second over Caruth while Friesen, Ankrum and Bell were in the top five. Meanwhile, Busch had fallen to seventh behind Heim while Taylor Gray, Enfinger and Zane Smith were running in the top 10. In addition, Eckes, who led early, was mired back in 13th behind Crafton and Sanchez while Rhodes was mired 15th in between Dean Thompson and Tanner Gray. 

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 30, Majeski captured his first Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Caruth settled in second followed by Friesen, Ankrum and Heim while Bell, Taylor Gray, Busch, Enfinger and Crafton were scored in the top 10. 

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Majeski steered to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Caruth emerged with the lead after exiting pit road first followed by teammate Busch, Heim, Majeski, Enfinger and Crafton. Amid the pit stops, Bell was penalized for equipment interference while rookie Thad Moffitt was also penalized for his pit crew being over the wall too soon. 

    The second stage period started on Lap 36 as teammates Caruth and Busch occupied the front row. At the start, Caruth received a push from Majeski to retain the lead from the inside lane while Busch battled and prevailed over a brief battle with Majeski for the runner-up spot through the backstretch. During the following lap, however, Busch drew himself into a side-by-side battle with Caruth for the lead. With Heim and Majeski following suit in close-quarters racing, Caruth would muscle back ahead of Busch by Lap 40. He would retain the lead by a narrow margin during the proceeding laps while Busch, Heim and Majeski ran second through fourth, respectively, as they were separated within half a second.

    By Lap 45, Caruth was leading by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Majeski while teammate Busch trailed in third place by eight-tenths of a second. Behind, Heim and Taylor Gray were in the top five while Sanchez, Crafton, Enfinger, Ankrum and Zane Smith occupied the top 10 in front of Friesen, Eckes, Thompson, Tanner Gray and Dye. 

    Five laps later, Caruth continued to lead by less than two-tenths of a second over Majeski. Majeski, however, would navigate his way back into the lead over Caruth entering the frontstretch during the following lap. Heim would then battle Caruth for the runner-up spot while Busch, Taylor Gray and Sanchez trailed in the top six. Meanwhile, Bell was up in 16th place following his early pit road penalty. 

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 60, Majeski captured his second consecutive Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Heim prevailed in a late battle against Caruth for the runner-up spot followed by Taylor Gray and Busch while Sanchez, Enfinger, Zane Smith, Friesen and Crafton were scored in the top 10. 

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Majeski returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Busch emerged with the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Taylor Gray, Majeski, Heim, Sanchez, Enfinger, Crafton and Caruth followed suit. 

    With 68 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Taylor Gray and Busch occupied the front row. At the start, Busch fended off Gray to emerge with the lead as the field fanned out through the first two turns. Busch would lead ahead of Gray and Majeski for nearly a lap just before the caution returned after Thompson, who was running 11th, smacked the outside wall entering the frontstretch.  

    When the race restarted with 62 laps remaining, Busch maintained a narrow advantage over both Majeski and Taylor Gray through the first two turns before he was overtaken by Majeski, who was being drafted by Sanchez as Enfinger fanned out and made a three-wide move in an attempt to gain ground on Busch towards the front, though Busch maintained third place in front of Enfinger, Heim and Caruth. With the field still fanning out and jostling for late spots, Majeski retained the lead by a tenth of a second over Sanchez followed by Heim while Caruth, Taylor Gray and Busch followed closely in the top six with 60 to go. 

    A few laps later, Sanchez battled and overtook Majeski for the lead through the frontstretch. With Sanchez out in front, Caruth would challenge Majeski for the runner-up spot followed by Heim and Taylor Gray while Busch and Ankrum battled for sixth place. Heim would then take the lead from Sanchez with 53 laps remaining while Majeski, Caruth and Taylor Gray fiercely battled for third place. As Ankrum and Busch joined the tight battle towards the front, Heim would retain the lead by two-tenths of a second over Majeski with 50 laps remaining before the latter assumed the top spot a lap later. 

    With 40 laps remaining, Heim, who reassumed the lead five laps earlier, was leading by two-tenths of a second over teammate Taylor Gray while Majeski, Caruth and Ankrum trailed in the top five ahead of Sanchez, Busch, Bell, Rhodes and Eckes. Meanwhile, Friesen, who hit the backstretch wall and pitted under green with a flat right-front tire, was mired back in 27th and two laps down, while Crafton, Enfinger, Tanner Gray, Riggs and Zane Smith were running in the top 15. 

    Six laps later, green flag pit stops commenced as Daniel Dye pitted followed by Eckes, Enfinger, Caruth, Busch and Majeski before the leader Heim pitted with 30 laps remaining. Ankrum would also pit while Taylor Gray would pit during the proceeding lap. As the green flag pit stops continued, Majeski and Sanchez were assessed a drive-through penalty for speeding on pit road while Busch would be penalized for a safety violation. With more names that included Tanner Gray, Jake Garcia, Bret Holmes, Bell and Purdy also pitting under green, Gray would be penalized for a commitment line violation. By then, Mason Massey, who has yet to pit, was leading while Taylor Gray and Caruth battled for the runner-up spot. 

    Then with 21 laps remaining, Massey, who led the previous six laps, pitted under green. This moved Caruth into the lead as he was ahead by nearly a second over Taylor Gray while Heim, Ankrum and Bell were scored in the top five ahead of Eckes, Crafton, Dye, Enfinger and Rhodes. 

    Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Caruth extended his advantage to more than a second over Taylor Gray while third-place Ankrum trailed in third place by two seconds ahead of Heim and Bell. A lap later, however, Ankrum would overtake Taylor Gray for the runner-up spot and set his sights on Caruth while Gray proceeded to fend off Heim for third place. 

    Five laps later and with the leader navigating through lapped traffic, Caruth continued to lead by more than a second over a hard-charging Ankrum while Heim, Taylor Gray and Bell were running in the top five ahead of Eckes, Crafton, Enfinger, Zane Smith and Rhodes were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Majeski was back in 11th ahead of Garcia, Holmes, Connor Jones and Busch while Sanchez was back in 17th ahead of Purdy. 

    With five laps remaining, Caruth stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Ankrum and by more than two seconds over third-place Heim while Taylor Gray and Heim remained in the top five. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Caruth remained as the leader by more than a second over Ankrum. With Ankrum trying to mount a final lap charge, Caruth was able to stabilize his steady advantage and navigate his No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST around the Vegas circuit smoothly for a final time as he returned to the frontstretch and claimed his first checkered flag in the series by eight-tenths of a second over Ankrum. 

    With the victory, Caruth, whose first career victory came in his 30th series start, became the 124th competitor to achieve a victory in the Truck Series and the second first-time winner of the season after Nick Sanchez achieved his first career victory at Daytona International Speedway two weeks earlier. He also became the third African-American competitor to win across NASCAR’s top three national touring series and the second to do so in the Truck Series since Bubba Wallace made the first accomplishment in October 2013 while also delivering the fourth career victory for Spire Motorsports. Caruth also delivered the first victory for crew chief Chad Walter.

    “It’s surreal,” Caruth said on FS1. “Thank you so much to HendrickCars.com, Mr. [Hendrick] for putting me in this [Spire Motorsports truck] all year along with the men and women at Spire. They’ve had a lot of work this winter and the decal shop’s been working very hard too. Glad to get the win for Team Chevy. Can’t thank my family enough. So many people have helped me get to this point. I can’t believe it. I just stayed cool. We lost track position a little portion of the race. We just stayed in the game and it was just one step. One punch, one round at a time. My [pit] guys had me a great stop and we just executed. There’s more [wins] to come, for sure.”

    Tyler Ankrum, the series’ points leader, settled in the runner-up spot while Corey Heim, Taylor Gray and Christopher Bell finished in the top five. Christian Eckes rallied to finish sixth while Matt Crafton, Zane Smith, Grant Enfinger and Ty Majeski ended up in the top 10.

    Notably, Kyle Busch ended up in 15th place ahead of Chase Purdy while Nick Sanchez finished 17th.

    There were 19 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 19 laps. In total, all but one of 32 starters finished the event while 13 finished on the lead lap.

    Following the third event of the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series season, Tyler Ankrum continues to lead the regular-season standings by five points over Ty Majeski, seven over Corey Heim and 10 over Rajah Caruth.

    Results. 

    1. Rajah Caruth, 38 laps led

    2. Tyler Ankrum 

    3. Corey Heim, 18 laps led

    4. Taylor Gray, four laps led

    5. Christopher Bell, two laps led

    6. Christian Eckes, seven laps led

    7. Matt Crafton 

    8. Zane Smith 

    9. Grant Enfinger 

    10. Ty Majeski, 40 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner 

    11. Jake Garcia 

    12. Bret Holmes 

    13. Ben Rhodes 

    14. Connor Jones, one lap down

    15. Kyle Busch, one lap down, 13 laps led

    16. Chase Purdy, one lap down, one lap led

    17. Nick Sanchez, one lap down, five laps led 

    18. Stewart Friesen, one lap down 

    19. Connor Mosack, one lap down 

    20. Tanner Gray, one lap down 

    21. Mason Massey, one lap down, six laps led

    22. Layne Riggs, one lap down 

    23. Lawless Alan, one lap down 

    24. Daniel Dye, two laps down 

    25. Thad Moffitt, two laps down 

    26. Ty Dillon, two laps down 

    27. Keith McGee, three laps down 

    28. Bayley Currey, five laps down 

    29. Spencer Boyd, six laps down 

    30. Dean Thompson, nine laps down 

    31. Matt Mills, nine laps down 

    32. Timmy Hill – OUT, Electrical

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule is the Weather Guard Truck Race at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. The event is scheduled to occur on March 16 at 8 p.m. ET on FS1. 

  • Shane van Gisbergen joins Kaulig Racing for part-time Cup Series effort in 2024

    Shane van Gisbergen joins Kaulig Racing for part-time Cup Series effort in 2024

    Shane van Gisbergen will be competing in seven NASCAR Cup Series events in a joint effort between Kaulig Racing and Trackhouse Racing for the 2024 season.

    The news comes as the three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, is set to compete with Kaulig for the upcoming Xfinity Series season on a full-time basis while under contract with Trackhouse Racing.

    Van Gisbergen will be piloting Kaulig’s No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry that will serve as the team’s “all-star” entry, where AJ Allmendinger and Josh Williams will also make select Cup starts throughout the 2024 season while Travis Mack will serve as the entry’s crew chief. The New Zealander will make his first start of the season at Circuit of the Americas in late March. His other Cup starts include both Talladega Superspeedway events (April & October), the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (May), the Chicago Street Course (July), Watkins Glen International (September) and at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (October). During the Cup events, he will compete alongside Daniel Hemric, who will be piloting Kaulig’s No. 31 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on a full-time basis.

    “When I first started talking with Trackhouse about moving to the U.S., we had no idea how many races we could secure but I knew I wanted to be with that team and organization,” van Gisbergen said. “There has been a lot of hard work to get to this point and I could not be happier to know that I get to race for an Xfinity Series championship and then get a proper go at the Cup Series on road courses and ovals. Kaulig is a proven winner in both the Xfinity and the Cup Series, and I know with the alliance with Trackhouse, this will be an incredible first year for me in NASCAR.”

    Van Gisbergen took the NASCAR competition by storm during the 2023 season when he piloted Trackhouse Racing’s PROJECT91 entry to his first Cup Series win in his series’ debut at Chicago last July. In doing so, he became the 204th different competitor to win in NASCAR’s premier series and the seventh to do so in a Cup debut. He would proceed to finish 10th in his second Cup career start at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course and 19th in his Craftsman Truck Series debut at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, both occurring in August, all of which elevated his interest in transitioning from Supercars to NASCAR competition in the years to follow.

    Last September, van Gisbergen was announced to participate across NASCAR’s top three national touring series for the 2024 season as part of a development deal with Trackhouse Racing. Three months later, an alliance was formed with Kaulig Racing that would result in van Gisbergen inking a full-time Xfinity Series ride and a part-time Cup Series campaign. He will compete alongside Allmendinger and Josh Williams as full-time Xfinity competitors while Daniel Dye will make 10 Xfinity starts this upcoming season.

    In addition to his Xfinity and Cup efforts, van Gisbergen is set to compete in this year’s ARCA Menards Series’ season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway with Pinnacle Racing Group two weeks from now to receive approval to compete in superspeedway venues in NASCAR.

    “I’m excited to work with Trackhouse and have Shane join our Cup program this season,” Chris Rice, president of Kaulig Racing, said. “When we locked in [Shane van Gisbergen] for the Xfinity Series, it just became a natural next step on the Cup side since we have all the existing infrastructure and a relationship with the pit crews. Remember, SVG had to pass our car to win the Chicago race. We finished second. So, now we get to race with him which is kind of awesome.”

    “Shane is one of the best talents I’ve ever seen.” Justin Marks, owner of Trackhouse Racing, added. “We know he will be competitive on the road courses, so we needed to challenge him and ourselves on oval tracks against Cup Series drivers. This is a big freshman season for Shane, and I really appreciate Matt Kaulig and Chris Rice for helping us bring this to life.”

    Shane van Gisbergen’s 2024 part-time Cup Series campaign with Kaulig Racing is set to commence at Circuit of the Americas for the fourth annual running of the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. The event is scheduled to occur on March 24 and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Las Vegas

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Las Vegas

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Kyle Larson: Larson won Stage 1 and held off Christopher Bell down the stretch to win the South Point 400 at Las Vegas.

    “I am so thrilled,” Larson said, “that I want to shout my excitement over the airwaves. But I’ve been strongly advised against doing anything out over the airwaves.”

    2. William Byron: Byron finished sixth at Las Vegas and is 11 points above the playoff cut line.

    “This championship may come down to two Hendrick Motorsports drivers,” Byron said. “And neither is named ‘Chase Elliott.’ I know saying that won’t win me any ‘most popular’ contests, but I’ll vote for that.”

    3. Christopher Bell: Bell finished second at Las Vegas, as he was unable to get by Kyle Larson in the closing laps.

    “I was so close,” Bell said. “But Larson made all the right moves to keep me at bay. But I have to forget it and move forward. Like Larson, I’m going to ‘block’ this out of my mind.”

    4. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished ninth in the South Point 400.

    “It’s ‘crunch time,’” Hamlin said. “In most cases, ‘crunch time’ means Ross Chastain is somewhere in your vicinity. Not in this case.”

    5. Tyler Reddick: Reddick finished seventh at Las Vegas, one of four Toyotas in the top 10.

    “When you’re driving a car co-owned by Michael Jordan,” Reddick said, “it feels like the greatest basketball player is in the car with you. In Las Vegas, it feels like the greatest basketball player is in the car with you, and there’s a lot of money riding not with you, but on you.”

    6. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished eight at Las Vegas.

    “I feel like I regained my mojo,” Truex said. “When you can do that without the aid of some gas station bathroom snake oil tincture, then you have truly regained it.”

    7. Chris Buescher: Buescher finished 10th in the South Point 400.

    “Thanks to Ryan Blaney’s disqualification,” Buescher said, “I’m not bringing up the ‘South Point’ of the championship standings.”

    8. Kyle Busch: Busch finished third in the South Point 400.

    “My car featured the Morgan & Morgan Law Firm as primary sponsor,” Busch said. “They are a personal injury law firm, but if you need them to pull some strings to keep you out of a Mexican prison, then they can do that too. But only if your name is Kyle Busch.”

    9. Ross Chastain: Chastain finished fifth at Las Vegas.

    “Too little,” Chastain said, “too late. I’m out of the championship hunt, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have another ‘Martinsville Moment’ and keep Denny Hamlin out of the championship round. To me, that’s like winning the Cup championship.”

    10. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished sixth at Las Vegas, but was later disqualified after failing post-race inspection.

    “This really puts a dent in my championship hopes,” Blaney said. “Actually, it puts a dent, four flat tires, and an engine failure in my championship hopes.”

  • Larson clinches Championship 4 berth with dramatic Cup victory at Las Vegas

    Larson clinches Championship 4 berth with dramatic Cup victory at Las Vegas

    A year after having his championship hopes evaporated just past the midway section of the Playoffs, Kyle Larson stapled his name back into the Championship 4 round after capping off a dominant performance by fending off a late charge from Christopher Bell to win the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, October 15.

    The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, led seven times for a race-high 133 of 267 scheduled laps in an event where he started on the front row and quickly made his presence at the front known, beginning on the third lap. After sweeping both stage periods while dodging a near-catastrophic moment by getting loose and nearly hitting the outside wall just past the halfway mark, Larson withstood two late caution periods to muscle away from Brad Keselowski and the field during the final restart with 45 laps remaining.

    Despite having Playoff rival and pole-sitter Christopher Bell gain ground on him in the closing laps, Larson managed to block and fend off Bell twice on the final lap entering the frontstretch to capture his fourth Cup Series victory of the 2023 season and punch his ticket to this year’s Championship 4 round at Phoenix Raceway as he will officially contend for the 2023 Cup championship.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, October 14, Playoff contender Christopher Bell notched his sixth Cup pole position of the 2023 season and the 10th of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 186.335 mph in 28.980 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Kyle Larson, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 186.271 mph in 28.990 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Chase Elliott and Daniel Suarez dropped to the rear of the field in backup cars after both wrecked their primary cars separately during Saturday’s practice session.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Bell muscled ahead from the outside lane as he retained the lead through the first two turns ahead of Larson. With the field jostling for early spots amid two lanes through the backstretch, Bell proceeded to lead the first lap in his No. 20 Rheem Toyota TRD Camry while William Byron and Martin Truex Jr. challenged Larson for the runner-up spot.

    Two laps later, Larson, who managed to fend off the early charges from teammate Byron and Truex, made his move beneath Bell in Turn 1 as he assumed the lead in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, with Bell dropping to second place in front of Byron, Truex and Chris Buescher. Larson would proceed to lead by nearly four-tenths of a second over Bell through the first five laps while Truex and Byron continued to battle for third place in front of Buescher and Tyler Reddick.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Larson continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Bell followed by Truex, Buescher and Byron while Reddick, Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain and Ryan Blaney were in the top 10. Behind, Alex Bowman occupied 11th place in front of Aric Almirola, Denny Hamlin, rookie Ty Gibbs and Kevin Harvick while Joey Logano, Michael McDowell, Austin Dillon, Carson Hocevar and Erik Jones were running in the top 20.

    Fifteen laps later, Larson retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Bell while Truex, Buescher and Byron continued to run in the top five. With Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, Reddick, Bowman and Hamlin in the top 10, Ross Chastain was in 11th ahead of Almirola, Harvick, Wallace and Logano while Ty Gibbs, McDowell, Hocevar, Erik Jones and Brad Keselowski battled within the top 20. Meanwhile, AJ Allmendinger, winner of last weekend’s Cup event at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, was in 21st ahead of Ty Dillon, Justin Haley, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Austin Cindric while Daniel Suarez was in 27th behind Austin Dillon. In addition, Chase Elliott was mired in 30th in between Harrison Burton and Ryan Preece while Chase Briscoe was in 32nd.

    Within the Lap 30 mark, the first wave of green flag pit stops commenced as Austin Dillon pitted his No. 3 BetMGM Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Shortly after, Kyle Larson surrendered the lead to pit along with Kyle Busch, Ty Gibbs, McDowell, Erik Jones, Hocevar, Haley, Allmendinger, Suarez, Cindric, Harrison Burton, Buescher, Blaney, Byron, Hamlin, Chastain, Reddick, Almirola, Harvick, Logano and Wallace. Amid the pit stops, Chastain was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    In the process of the green flag pit stops Bell reassumed the lead as he was leading by Lap 35 ahead of teammate Truex, Bowman, Stenhouse and Todd Gilliland while Elliott pitted. Third-place Bowman would pit on Lap 38 before Bell and Truex followed suit to pit their respective Joe Gibbs Racing entries. Once they pitted, Larson cycled back into the lead by Lap 40.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Larson, who was navigating his way through lapped traffic, was leading by nearly two seconds over Bell followed by Truex, Blaney and Byron while Bowman, Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Buescher and Almirola were scored in the top 10. With seven of the remaining eight Playoff contenders running in the top 10 minus Bowman, Kyle Busch and Almirola, Reddick was the lone Playoff contender running outside of the top 10 as he was in 11th while Harvick, Logano, Keselowski and Ty Gibbs were running in the top 15.

    Fourteen laps later, the event’s first caution flew when Erik Jones blew a right-rear tire in Turn 1 as he limped his No. 43 Allegiant Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 back to pit road with the tire carcass coming out just past the backstretch. By then, Larson was still leading by more than two seconds over Bell while Truex, Blaney and Byron were running in the top five. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Larson returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Bell, who opted for two fresh tires, exited pit road first ahead of Larson, Reddick, Keselowski, Truex and Blaney.

    With nine laps remaining in the first stage period, the race restarted under green. At the start, Bell and Larson dueled for the lead through the first two turns and they continued to duel dead even back through the frontstretch as the field behind fanned out while jostling for positions. During the following lap, Larson managed to rocket ahead of Bell to reassume the lead. Behind, Keselowski was in third ahead of Reddick while Kyle Busch, Truex and Blaney went three-wide while battling for fifth in front of Byron, Hamlin and Harvick. Amid the battles, Larson was leading by four-tenths of a second over Bell while third-place Keselowski trailed by nearly a second.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 80, Larson notched his sixth Cup stage victory of the 2023 season. Bell settled in second followed by Keselowski, Reddick and Truex while Blaney, Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Harvick and Byron were scored in the top 10. By then, Playoff contender Buescher was mired in 16th while all but two of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Larson returned to pit road for service while the rest led by Truex and including JJ Yeley and Brennan Poole remained on the track. Yeley and Poole would pit shortly after while Truex continued to remain on the track.

    The second stage period started on Lap 86 as teammates Truex and Hamlin occupied the front row. At the start, Hamlin and Truex dueled for the lead as the field fanned out through the first two turns. Through the first two turns, Truex rocketed his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry away from Hamlin, who was getting attacked by Keselowski as Bell and Ty Gibbs followed suit through the frontstretch. With Hamlin and Keselowski continuing to duel for the runner-up spot during the proceeding laps behind Truex, Bell retained fourth ahead of Ty Gibbs and Buescher while Larson made a three-wide move to overtake the latter two. By then, all eight Playoff contenders were running in the top 10 on the track while Keselowski and Ty Gibbs were the top two non-Playoff contenders racing in the top-10 mark. Amid the on-track battles towards the front, AJ Allmendinger was penalized for a restart violation.

    Then on Lap 91, Hamlin made his move beneath teammate Truex through the frontstretch as he assumed the lead in his No. 11 Mavis Tries & Brakes Toyota TRD Camry. Another two laps later, Keselowski assumed the runner-up spot followed by a hard-charging Larson while Truex was locked in a heated battle with Buescher for fourth place. Buescher would prevail by Lap 94 as Truex was in the process of losing another spot to teammate Bell. By then, Hamlin was leading by half a second over Keselowski.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Hamlin was leading by three-tenths of a second over Keselowski followed by a hard-charging Larson, who trailed by half a second, while Buescher, Bell, Blaney, Byron, Ty Gibbs, Kyle Busch and Reddick were running in the top 10. Meanwhile, Truex had dropped to 13th behind Logano and Bowman while Harvick and Chastain were in the top 15 followed by Wallace, Suarez, Almirola, Preece and Hocevar.

    During the proceeding laps, a three-way battle for the lead ignited as Hamlin had both Keselowski and Larson closing in on him for the top spot through the turns and the straightaways. Despite being pressured by two former Cup Series champions, Hamlin maintained the top spot by and past the Lap 105 mark while Bell and Buescher were scored in the top five. Meanwhile, Truex was still mired in 13th ahead of Chastain and Harvick.

    Then on Lap 111, the caution flew when Hocevar, coming off his announcement of graduating to the NASCAR Cup Series to drive for Spire Motorsports in 2024, blew a right-front tire and scraped the outside wall entering Turn 1 before he slid the No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 sideways and rammed into the wall again as Austin Cindric dodged him. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Hamlin peeled off the track to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Keselowski assumed the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Larson, Bell, Hamlin, Byron, Blaney and Buescher.

    During the ensuing restart on Lap 117, Keselowski rocketed away from Larson from the inside lane through the frontstretch before Larson fought back and battled dead even against Keselowski from the outside lane through the first two turns and the backstretch. During the following lap, Keselowski managed to slide up and clear Larson as he retained the lead in his No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang while Bell trailed in third followed by Byron and Hamlin.

    Just past the Lap 125 mark, Keselowski was leading by two-tenths of a second over Larson followed by Byron, Bell and Hamlin while Buescher, Blaney, Chastain, Kyle Busch and Bowman were racing in the top 10. By then, Truex was mired in 13th behind Reddick and Wallace as Harvick and Logano rounded out the top 15.

    At the halfway mark between Laps 133 and 134, Keselowski retained the lead by six-tenths of a second over Larson while Byron, Bell, Hamlin, Buescher, Blaney, Chastain, Kyle Busch and Bowman were scored in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Truex and Reddick were back in 11th and 12th ahead of Wallace, Harvick and Logano while Almirola, Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Cindric and Ty Gibbs were in the top 20 followed by Suarez, McDowell, Haley, Corey LaJoie and Erik Jones. In addition, Elliott was mired in 29th place while racing a lap down.

    Just past the Lap 140 mark, Larson, who was running in the runner-up spot, got loose entering the backstretch as he slid his car sideways and made light contact with the outside wall, but he managed to continue at full pace and remain on the track, though he lost spots from Bell, Byron and Hamlin. The caution, however, flew on Lap 145 when teammate Bowman got loose and wrecked his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 off of Turn 4 before coming to a stop towards the low groove in Turn 1. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Keselowski pitted for service. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Keselowski exited first amid a two-tire pit stop while Byron, Kyle Busch, Logano, Harvick, Larson, Bell and Hamlin followed suit.

    With the race restarting under green on Lap 149, Keselowski and Byron dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch in front of Kyle Busch and Logano. With Larson making a three-wide move on both Kyle Busch and Logano while trying to make his way back to the front, Keselowski and Byron continued to duel dead even for the lead until Keselowski muscled ahead on the inside lane and through Turns 3 and 4, which occurred just prior to Lap 152.

    A few laps later, Larson set his sights on Keselowski for the lead as Byron fell back to third while Chastain and Bell moved up into the top five. By Lap 155, Larson transitioned from the outside to the inside lane as he overtook Keselowski and reassumed the lead. Behind, Chastain overtook Byron for third while Hamlin occupied sixth in front of Logano, Harvick, Kyle Busch and Blaney. Chastain would proceed to overtake Keselowski for the runner-up spot another few laps later as he also started to gain ground on Larson for the lead.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 165, Larson captured his seventh Cup stage victory of the 2023 season and second of the day after pulling away with an advantage of more than a second. Chastain settled in second in front of Bell, Hamlin and Keselowski while Byron, Kyle Busch, Blaney, Reddick and Wallace were scored in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Buescher and Truex were mired back in 15th and 20th, respectively, while 31 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Larson returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Bell returned to the top of the leaderboard after barely exiting pit road first ahead of Chastain and Larson while Keselowski, Hamlin, McDowell and Byron followed suit.

    With 96 laps remaining, the final stage period started as Bell and Chastain occupied the front row. At the start, Bell muscled ahead and retained the lead from the inside lane while Chastain and Keselowski battled for the runner-up spot in front of Larson, Keselowski and Byron. With Kyle Busch joining the battle, Bell maintained the lead ahead of a hard-charging Chastain while Keselowski maintained third in front of Larson and a side-by-side battle between Byron and Hamlin.

    With 90 laps remaining, Bell retained the lead by half a second over Chastain as Keselowski and Larson gained ground on Chastain for the runner-up spot. Byron maintained fifth ahead of Hamlin while Kyle Busch, Blaney, Reddick and Logano were in the top 10. By then, Truex was down in 18th while Buescher was in 20th.

    Fifteen laps later, Bell continued to lead by nearly half a second over Chastain followed by a side-by-side battle between Keselowski and Larson for third place while Hamlin occupied fifth ahead of Byron, Blaney, Kyle Busch, Reddick and Logano. By then, Truex and Buescher were still mired in 17th and 19th, respectively.

    Another 15 laps later, Bell retained the lead by more than a second over Keselowski while Larson and Blaney were running third and fourth, respectively. Meanwhile, Chastain, who got loose and missed the racing groove entering the backstretch a few laps earlier, dropped to sixth as he was in between Hamlin and Byron while Kyle Busch, Logano and Ty Gibbs were in the top 10. By then, Reddick dropped to 11th, Truex was in 14th and Buescher was in 16th.

    Another two laps later, the caution flew after Chase Briscoe ran up towards the outside wall in Turn 1 while battling AJ Allmendinger and barely clipped Stenhouse before he got sideways and spun his No. 14 Code 3 Associates Ford Mustang below the track in Turn 2. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Bell pitted for service.  Following the pit stops, Larson managed to edge both Keselowski and Bell off of pit road first as Chastain, Hamlin, Byron and Buescher followed suit.

    With the race restarting with 52 laps remaining, Larson launched ahead of Keselowski from the inside lane as the field fanned out to three and four lanes through the backstretch. With the field stilling fanning out through the frontstretch, Larson retained the lead ahead of Keselowski and Bell while Chastain was in fourth ahead of Logano, Byron and Hamlin. The caution, however, quickly returned with 50 laps remaining after Ty Gibbs slid up and scraped the outside wall entering the backstretch, where he limped his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry back to pit road, but lost his right front wheel in the process.

    During the restart with 45 laps remaining, Keselowski and Larson briefly dueled for the lead before Larson rocketed ahead from the inside lane. As the field fanned out through the backstretch, Larson maintained the lead ahead of Keselowski and Bell while Byron charged in fourth ahead of Chastain and Reddick.

    With 35 laps remaining, Larson extended his advantage to more than a second over Keselowski followed by Bell, Byron and Chastain while Kyle Busch, Reddick, Blaney, Logano and Hamlin were scored in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Buescher and Truex were scored in 12th and 14th, respectively.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Larson continued to lead by more than a second over Bell while Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Byron remained in the top five. By then, Truex and Buescher moved up to 11th and 12th while Chastain, Blaney, Reddick, Hamlin and Logano were scored in the top 10.

    With 10 laps remaining, Larson, who navigated his way through lapped traffic, retained the lead by more than a second over Bell as Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Chastain were in the top five. Larson would maintain the lead by six-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Bell with five laps remaining while Keselowski trailed by nearly four seconds. As the laps dwindled, Larson’s advantage over Bell dwindled to four-tenths of a second as Bell used the outside lane to gain more ground on Larson for the lead.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson remained as the leader by four-tenths of a second over Bell. Through Turns 1 and 2, Bell used the outside lane to cut the deficit down to within two- and three-tenths of a second. After remaining behind Larson through the backstretch, Bell used the outside lane entering Turns 3 and 4 to get to Larson’s rear bumper as Larson went up the track to block him. Bell then tried to make a move to Larson’s outside through the frontstretch, but Larson again blocked Bell as he managed to keep Bell behind him and claim the checkered flag for the win by 0.082 seconds.

    With the victory, Larson, who was eliminated from title contention following the Round of 12 one year ago, notched his fourth NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2023 season, his 17th driving the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, his second at Las Vegas, his first since winning the Playoff opener at Darlington Raceway in September and the 23rd of his NASCAR premier series career. The victory was also the 10th of the season for Hendrick Motorsports and the 850th Cup Series career win for the Chevrolet nameplate.

    Above all, Larson became the first Playoff contender to secure a spot for this year’s Championship 4 round at Phoenix Raceway which will occur three weeks time in early November as he will contend for his second Cup Series championship.

    “I could see [Bell] coming in my mirror, for sure,” Larson said on NBC. “I was hoping those [lapped competitors] were gonna give me the bottom [lane]. [Todd Gilliland] peeled off to the bottom and I knew I couldn’t follow him. I just didn’t wanna go all the way to the top and leave the middle [lane] open, but thankfully, Christopher [Bell] has always raced us extremely clean. It could’ve got crazier than it did coming to the start/finish line. Thank you to him for racing with respect. What a job done by my team, too. Just a great race car. I almost gave it away there in [Turns] 1 and 2, getting sideways, getting in the wall. [I] Had to fight back from there with our balance. They got it much closer there with the lead. I was happy to pull away as much as we did, was hoping that was gonna be enough to maintain, which it was, but I thought they weren’t gonna be able to get as close as they did there at the end. Nerve-racking. This is really cool to get to go race for another championship here in a few weeks. Glad we don’t have to stress for these next two races.”

    While Larson celebrated the victory and an early ticket to the championship finale with his family on the frontstretch, Bell was left disappointed on pit road after missing an early opportunity to secure a championship finale spot. With his runner-up result, Bell is currently ranked in fifth place in the Playoff standings and is two points below the top-four cutline approaching the upcoming two Round of 8 events.

    “Man, I don’t know what else I could’ve done,” Bell said. “I don’t know. I feel like that was my moment, that was my moment to make the final four and didn’t quite capture it. Coming to the checkered there, I knew that he was gonna be blocking, so I’m like I’m gonna try and go high and he went high, but I don’t even know if I had a run to get by him there coming to the line. Just wasn’t enough, but a great day. A great day, for sure, to get those stage points and get a second-place finish out of it. I think I saw we’re minus two [from the cutline], so we’re not out of it by any means. It would’ve been nice to lock in.”

    Amid the late battle for the victory, hometown hero Kyle Busch came home in third place followed by Keselowski and Chastain while Playoff contenders Blaney, Byron, Reddick, Truex and Hamlin finished in the top 10. Meanwhile, Buescher was the lone Playoff contender to finish outside the top 10 as he ended up in 11th place.

    Following the post-race inspection process, however, Blaney was disqualified from his sixth-place finish due to the left-front shock from his No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang not meeting the overall specified length outlined in Section 14.11.3.5 from NASCAR’s Rule Book. As a result, he was relegated to last place in the 36-car field and stripped of his eight stage points he earned throughout the event, where he is now 56 points below the top-four cutline.

    *On Monday, NASCAR rescinded the penalty and disqualification levied to Blaney and the No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang team due to an issue with the damper template used for inspection during the race weekend debrief and following a detailed investigation. As a result, Blaney was rewarded his sixth-place result and stage points accumulated during the event as he is now only 17 points below the cutline.

    There were 20 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 36 laps. In addition, 26 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Larson, 133 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    2. Christopher Bell, 61 laps led

    3. Kyle Busch

    4. Brad Keselowski, 38 laps led

    5. Ross Chastain

    6. Ryan Blaney

    7. William Byron, one lap led

    8. Tyler Reddick

    9. Martin Truex Jr., nine laps led

    10. Denny Hamlin, 23 laps led

    11. Chris Buescher

    12. Joey Logano

    13. Bubba Wallace

    14. Aric Almirola

    15. Daniel Suarez

    16. Kevin Harvick

    17. Michael McDowell

    18. Austin Dillon

    19. Corey LaJoie

    20. Harrison Burton

    21. AJ Allmendinger

    22. Justin Haley

    23. Austin Cindric

    24. Ty Dillon

    25. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    26. Ryan Preece

    27. Todd Gilliland, one lap down

    28. Erik Jones, one lap down

    29. JJ Yeley, one lap down, two laps led

    30. Brennan Poole, one lap down

    31. BJ McLeod, one lap down

    32. Chase Elliott, one lap down

    33. Chase Briscoe, four laps down

    34. Ty Gibbs, eight laps down

    35. Alex Bowman – OUT, Accident

    36. Carson Hocevar – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. Kyle Larson – Advanced

    2. William Byron +9

    3. Martin Truex Jr. +2

    4. Denny Hamlin +2

    5. Christopher Bell -2

    6. Tyler Reddick -16

    7. Ryan Blaney -17

    8. Chris Buescher -23

    The second Round of 8 event in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is set to occur next Sunday, October 22, at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. The event’s broadcast is slated to occur at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Herbst dominates for first Xfinity Series career victory at Las Vegas

    Herbst dominates for first Xfinity Series career victory at Las Vegas

    In an event where an early ticket to the championship finale at Phoenix Raceway was up for grabs for eight Xfinity Series Playoff contenders, a non-Playoff contender stole the show after Riley Herbst scored his first elusive NASCAR national touring series victory by winning the Alsco Uniforms 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his home track, on Saturday, October 14.

    The 24-year-old Herbst from Las Vegas, Nevada, led three times for a race-high 103 of 201-scheduled laps in an event where he started at the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments made to his No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang. After methodically navigating his way through the field and racing his way into the top 10 by the conclusion of the first stage period, Herbst then claimed a dramatic victory at the conclusion of the second stage period after racing his way past teammate Cole Custer and John Hunter Nemechek in two laps. He then reassumed the lead with 96 laps remaining and quickly cycled his way back into the lead amid a late green flag pit stop period before muscling away from the field and beating runner-up Nemechek by nearly 15 seconds to claim his first Xfinity Series career victory in his 139th series start and in front of his home crowd.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, October 13, Josh Berry claimed pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 181.996 mph in 29.671 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Cole Custer, the fastest competitor during Friday’s practice session who proceeded to post the second-best qualifying lap at 181.702 mph in 29.719 seconds.

    Prior to the event, a bevy of names that included Stefan Parsons, John Hunter Nemechek, Patrick Emerling, Josh Williams and Riley Herbst dropped to the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Berry and Custer dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch until Berry gained the momentum from the outside lane to muscle his No. 8 LubeZone Chevrolet Camaro ahead of Custer through Turns 3 and 4 and lead the first lap. By then, rookie Chandler Smith made his move beneath Custer to gain the runner-up spot while Daniel Hemric and rookie Sammy Smith battled for fourth place in front of Justin Allgaier, rookie Parker Retzlaff, Austin Hill and Sam Mayer.

    Two laps later, the first caution of the event flew after Patrick Emerling, who had smoke billowing out of his car, slapped the outside wall through the frontstretch. During the caution period, some including Brett Moffitt, Joey Gase, Stefan Parsons and Brennan Poole pitted while the rest led by Berry remained on the track.

    Following an extensive caution period, the race restarted on the 10th lap. At the start, Berry and Chandler Smith dueled for the lead until Smith rocketed his No. 16 Barger Precast/Quick Tie Products Inc. Chevrolet Camaro ahead through Turns 1 and 2. Smith would proceed to lead at the Lap 12 mark with Berry and Custer giving chase. By then, the caution returned when Moffitt slapped the outside wall entering the frontstretch, which caused Joe Graf Jr., who was running behind Moffitt, to get loose after hitting Moffitt before he too hit the frontstretch wall.

    During the proceeding restart on Lap 18, Berry and Chandler Smith dueled for the lead again until Smith rocketed ahead from the outside lane. In the process, Custer made his move into the runner-up spot from Berry. Behind and amid the field fanning out and jostling for early positions, Sammy Smith and Hemric battled for fourth while Austin Hill moved up to sixth as Allgaier fell to seventh.

    Just past the Lap 25 mark, Chandler Smith was leading by four-tenths of a second over Custer followed by Sammy Smith, Berry and Hemric while Hill, Allgaier, John Hunter Nemechek, Sheldon Creed and Parker Retzlaff were in the top 10. Behind, Brandon Jones was in 11th ahead of Parker Kligerman, Layne Riggs, Riley Herbst and Sam Mayer while Myatt Snider, Ryan Sieg, Jeb Burton, Anthony Alfredo and Kaz Grala occupied the top 20.

    Ten laps later, Custer assumed the lead over Chandler Smith. Behind, Sammy Smith, Hemric and Hill were in the top five while Nemechek, Allgaier, Berry, Kligerman and Creed were running in the top 10. Meanwhile, Playoff contender Mayer was down in 16th while Jones, Herbst, Snider, Retzlaff and Riggs battled in the top 15.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Custer captured his seventh Xfinity stage victory of the 2023 season. Chandler Smith fended off Sammy Smith to settle in second followed by Hemric and Hill while Nemechek, Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Kligerman and Herbst were scored in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Creed and Mayer were scored outside the top 10 in the running order as there were mired in 13th and 15th, respectively.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Custer pitted for service. Following pit stops, Custer retained the lead as he exited pit road ahead of Hemric, Chandler Smith, Nemechek, Allgaier and Hill. Amid the pit stops, Kligerman was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation. Not long after, Sammy Smith, who lost a bevy of spots during his service, pitted again to address loose lug nuts on his No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota Supra.

    The second stage period started on Lap 52 as Custer and Hemric occupied the front row. At the start, Hemric and Custer dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch until Custer used the outside lane to muscle ahead and clear Hemric to retain the lead. Then during the following lap, the caution quickly returned after Kaz Grala blew an engine entering Turn 1 and triggered a multi-car pileup amid his smoke that collected Rajah Caruth, Alfredo, Jeremy Clements, Josh Williams and Kyle Weatherman. The incident was enough for the event to be placed in a red flag period.

    Nearly nine minutes later, the red flag lifted once the carnage was cleared and the oil was cleared as the field resumed under a cautious pace. During the caution period, Hill and Jeb Burton pitted while the rest led by Custer remained on track.

    When the race restarted on Lap 58, Custer and Hemric battled dead even for the lead for nearly a full lap until Custer muscled his No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang through the frontstretch. With Custer leading Hemric, Nemechek and Chandler Smith battled for third followed by Allgaier as Herbst joined the battle. Shortly after, Nemechek moved into second place from Hemric. Allgaier would follow suit into third place as Hemric slipped to fourth in front of Herbst while Chandler Smith, Berry and Creed battled for sixth. In the process, Custer retained the lead.

    By Lap 65, Custer was leading by half a second over Nemechek followed by Allgaier, Hemric and Herbst while Chandler Smith, Berry, Creed, Brandon Jones and Ryan Sieg were in the top 10. In addition, Mayer and Sammy Smith were running in the top 15 while Hill was mired back in 17th.

    Ten laps later, Custer continued to lead by nearly four-tenths of a second over Nemechek while Allgaier, Herbst and Hemric were racing in the top five. Behind, Chandler Smtih occupied sixth place ahead of Berry, Mayer, Jones and Cred while Sammy Smith and Hill were in 11th and 14th, respectively. Custer would stretch his advantage by seven-tenths of a second over Nemechek by Lap 80 as Herbst moved up to third. By then, Sammy Smith was back in the top 10 as he was scored in 10th while Creed slipped to 12th front of Snider and Hill.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Herbst, who spent the previous two laps overtaking Nemechek and Custer after gaining ground amid lapped traffic, scored his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2023 season. Custer and Nemechek settled in second and third while Allgaier, Hemric, Chandler Smith, Berry, Mayer, Sammy Smith and Jones were scored in the top 10. By then, teammates Hill and Creed were in 13th and 14th, respectively.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Herbst returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Herbst retained the lead after edging teammate Custer off of pit road first followed by Hemric, Nemechek, Allgaier and Chandler Smith followed suit.

    With 105 laps remaining, the final stage period started as teammates Herbst and Custer occupied the front row. At the start, Custer reassumed the lead from Herbst as Nemechek claimed the runner-up spot over Herbst while Hemric and Allgaier followed suit.

    At the halfway mark between Laps 100 and 101, Custer was leading by six-tenths of a second over teammate Herbst followed by Nemechek, Hemric and Chandler Smith while Allgaier, Hill, Mayer, Jones, Creed and Sammy Smith were running in the top 11.

    Then with 96 laps remaining, Herbst returned to the lead as he led by a hair over Custer while the lead between the Stewart-Haas Racing teammates intensified. Six laps later, Herbst extended his lead to more than a second over Custer while third-place Nemechek trailed by nearly two seconds as Chandler Smith and Allgaier were in the top five.

    With 80 laps remaining, Herbst continued to extend advantage as he was now scored three seconds ahead with the lead over Custer while Nemechek, Chandler Smith and Allgaier were in the top five. Behind, Mayer, Jones, Hemric, Hill and Sammy Smith in top 10 while Creed was in 13th behind Riggs and Snider.

    Ten laps later, Herbst stretched his advantage to more than four seconds over teammate Custer while Nemechek, Chandler Smith and Allgaier remained in the top five. By then, Mayer, Jones, Hill, Sammy Smith and Riggs were in the top 10 followed by Snider and Hemric while Creed was still mired in 13th ahead of Berry and Ryan Sieg.

    With less than 65 laps remaining, pit stops under green commence as Hemric pits followed by Creed, Chandler Smith, Allgaier, Hill and Riggs. Custer would pit with less than 60 laps remaining along with Nemechek, Mayer and Snider before Herbst surrendered the lead to pit with 58 laps remaining. Amid the pit stops, Ryan Sieg was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.

    Then with 56 laps remaining, Herbst cycled back into the lead after Kyle Sieg managed to lead the previous lap. Shortly after, Custer moved back to second followed by Chandler Smith, Nemechek, Sieg and Hill. Hill, Allgaier and Mayer would all overtake Sieg with 46 laps remaining as Herbst’s advantage stood to eight seconds over teammate Custer. Herbst would proceed to retain the lead by more than eight seconds over teammate Custer with 40 laps remaining while Chandler Smith, Nemechek and Allgaier trailed by a distance in the top five.

    With 30 laps remaining, Herbst was leading by more than 11 seconds over Chandler Smith, who prevailed in a three-way battle against Nemechek and Custer, while Mayer trailed behind in fifth place. Behind, Allgaier, Hill, Jones, Hemric and Riggs were in the top 10. In addition, Creed was in 13th behind Berry while Samm Smith, who pitted to address a loose wheel during the previous green flag cycle period, was back in 17th.

    Ten laps later, Herbst increased his lead by more than 13 seconds over Nemechek while Chandler Smith, Custer and Mayer trailed in the top five ahead of Allgaier, Hill, Jones, Hemric and Riggs. By then, Creed slipped to 15th while Sammy Smith was still mired in 17th.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Herbst retained the lead by more than 14 seconds over Nemechek as Chandler Smith, Custer and Mayer trailed by a distance in the top five. By then, only the top 10 competitors on the track were scored on the lead lap as Herbst continued to lead by a large advantage over Nemechek with five laps remaining.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Herbst remained as the leader by more than 14 seconds over Nemechek. Having no competition close in from behind, Herbst was able to navigate his way around his home track for a final time before returning to the frontstretch and crossing the finish line first to claim his first checkered flag in NASCAR and by nearly 15 seconds over Nemechek.

    With the victory, Herbst, who was revealed to return to Stewart-Haas Racing for the 2024 Xfinity season, became the fifth first-time winner of this year’s Xfinity Series season, the first since Sam Mayer won at Road America in late July, and the first competitor to achieve a first Xfinity career win at Las Vegas since Ross Chastain made the last accomplishment in 2018. The victory was also the third of the season for Stewart-Haas Racing, the fourth for the Ford nameplate and the first for crew chief Davin Restivo.

    “Oh, my goodness,” Herbst said on USA Network. “I love this town. I love this team. I can’t thank Monster Energy enough. Everybody said that I couldn’t do it. Oh, my goodness. You don’t know what this means, what this takes off my chest. I can’t believe it. I love you, Las Vegas. Let’s go.”

    “I’ve been working on myself and everything I can control,” Herbst added. “I knew all I could do is all I could do and if there was a caution, there was a caution and we’re gonna race them straight up. This year was such a failure because we didn’t make the Playoffs. It’s so embarrassing to be in a car like this that doesn’t make the Playoffs and walk in the garage each week with your head down, but [crew chief] Davin Restivo and all these guys on the No. 98 team told me to keep my head up and we’re gonna go win a race and that’s what we did. I can’t fathom it. Let’s go party and we’re gonna celebrate tonight.”

    Nemechek settled in second followed by Playoff rivals Custer, Chandler Smith and Sam Mayer. Allgaier ended up sixth while Hill, Brandon Jones, Hemric and Layne Riggs finished in the top 10.

    There were 11 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 26 laps. In addition, only 10 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Riley Herbst, 103 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. John Hunter Nemechek

    3. Cole Custer, 62 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    4. Chandler Smith, 23 laps led

    5. Sam Mayer

    6. Justin Allgaier

    7. Austin Hill

    8. Brandon Jones

    9. Daniel Hemric, one lap led

    10. Layne Riggs

    11. Myatt Snider, one lap down

    12. Josh Berry, one lap down, 11 laps led

    13. Parker Kligerman, one lap down

    14. Parker Retzlaff, one lap down

    15. Sheldon Creed, one lap down

    16. Ryan Sieg, two laps down

    17. Sammy Smith, two laps down

    18. Kyle Sieg, two laps down, one lap led

    19. Connor Mosack, two laps down

    20. Ryan Reed, three laps down

    21. Daniel Dye, three laps down

    22. Jeb Burton, four laps down

    23. Rajah Caruth, four laps down

    24. Brett Moffitt, four laps down

    25. Brennan Poole, four laps down

    26. Stefan Parsons, four laps down

    27. Ryan Ellis, four laps down

    28. Blaine Perkins, six laps down

    29. CJ McLaughlin, seven laps down

    30. Jeremy Clements, eight laps down

    31. Dawson Cram, eight laps down

    32. Joey Gase, eight laps down

    33. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident

    34. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident

    35. Kaz Grala – OUT, Accident

    36. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Accident

    37. Joe Graf Jr. – OUT, Accident

    38. Patrick Emerling – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff competitors

    Playoff standings

    1. John Hunter Nemechek +47

    2. Justin Allgaier +21

    3. Austin Hill +19

    4. Cole Custer +15

    5. Chandler Smith -15

    6. Sam Mayer -16

    7. Sammy Smith -35

    8. Sheldon Creed -41

    The second Round of 8 event in the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs is set to occur next Saturday, October 21, at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida, with the event’s broadcast to occur at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Las Vegas

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Las Vegas

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Ross Chastain: Chastain started eighth and finished 12th in the Pennzoil 400.

    “Kyle Busch won last week in California,” Chastain said. “I wanted to put myself in his place this week and win at Las Vegas. On that note, what would you get if you put Kyle in my car? ‘No. 1 with a bullet.’”

    2. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished third in the Pennzoil 400 and Hendrick Motorsports went 1-2-3 at Las Vegas.

    “My Hendrick teammate Chase Elliott will miss a few races after breaking his tibia in a snowboarding accident in Colorado,” Bowman said. “Chase had surgery and is recovering. Luckily, it’s all uphill from here.”

    3. William Byron: Byron won Stages 1 and 2 on his way to the win at Las Vegas. A quick final pit stop put him ahead of Kyle Larson, and Byron, with two fresh tires, passed Martin Truex Jr. for the lead with two laps to go.

    “When I have a car like that,” Byron said, “I feel like I’m pretty much unbeatable. If we can duplicate that on a weekly basis, I don’t think I can be stopped, except possibly by a freak roller skating accident.”

    4. Kyle Busch: After winning at California a week ago, Busch was not in contention for the win at Las Vegas and finished 14th.

    “I really had nothing good to say about my car,” Busch said. “Last week, people weren’t surprised to see me in Victory Lane. In Vegas, people weren’t surprised to see me complaining. My car owner is also famous for Richard Childress Wine. Now, with me, he’s known for ‘Richard Childress Whine.’”

    5. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished ninth in the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas.

    “This is my last year as a full-time Cup driver,” Harvick said. “If that ends with a championship, that will be great. Whatever the outcome, my plan is to pack my bags, minus guns and ammo, and ride off in the sunset, but definitely not on a snowboard.”

    6. Joey Logano: Logano won the Busch Light pole but struggled with grip and handling before a spin ended his day with 88 laps left. He finished last in 36th.

    “I took a spin through the infield grass and that ended my day,” Logano said. “Like a few people, I can say I left Vegas with a lot of ‘green.’”

    7. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished 11th at Las Vegas and is sixth in the points standings.

    “We race in Phoenix next week,” Hamlin said. “And that will end this season’s ‘West Coast Swing.’ I think I can speak for all drivers and say that none of us like swinging in the West Coast.’ If Tim Richmond were alive today, though, I think he would totally disagree with me.”

    8. Kyle Larson: Larson was leading at Las Vegas with 4 laps to go before Aric Almirola’s spin resulted in a caution. In the ensuing pit stops, William Byron’s stop was a bit quicker, allowing Byron to come out ahead. Byron passed Martin Truex Jr. for the win, while Larson settled for the runner-up spot.

    “It was an exciting race,” Larson said, “for the final two laps. The other 265 laps certainly lacked any drama whatsoever. In other words, it was a lot like the paint scheme of my No. 5 Chevrolet—-extremely boring.”

    9. Daniel Suarez: Suarez finished 10th at Las Vegas, posting his third top 10 of the season.

    “First Kyle Busch and his gun incident in Mexico,” Stenhouse said. “Then Chase Elliott breaks his leg in a snowboarding accident. I don’t know what possibly could be next, but it will probably be someone shooting themselves in the foot.”

    10. Christopher Bell: Bell finished fifth at Las Vegas, recording his second top-five finish of the year.

    “Danica Patrick joined Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer in the Fox broadcasting booth,” Bell said. “I think Danica brings a lot to the booth and makes it better. Ask Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., and he’ll tell you she’s what you call the ‘Ex-factor.’”

  • Byron caps dominant run with thrilling overtime victory at Las Vegas

    Byron caps dominant run with thrilling overtime victory at Las Vegas

    In an event dominated by a trio of Hendrick Motorsports competitors, William Byron benefitted from a two-tire pit strategy during a late caution period to win the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in overtime on Sunday, March 5.

    The 25-year-old Byron from Charlotte, North Carolina, led five times for a race-high 176 of 271 over-scheduled laps in an event where he swept both stages and kept his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports entry upfront throughout the event. In the closing laps, however, he found himself trailing teammate Kyle Larson by more than two seconds.

    Initially set for a runner-up finish, Byron and crew chief Rudy Fugle seized an opportunity when Aric Almirola drew a caution with four laps remaining by opting for two fresh tires and exiting pit road ahead of Larson. From there, Byron battled Martin Truex Jr., who remained on the track on old tires, through three turns before rocketing away from the field and cruising to the first victory of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season for himself and for Hendrick Motorsports.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Joey Logano recorded his first Cup pole of the season and the 27th of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 186.053 mph in 29.024 seconds. Joining him on the front row was William Byron, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 185.153 mph in 29.165 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Tyler Reddick dropped to the rear of the field after making an engine change to his No. 45 23XI Racing entry along with Harrison Burton, who competed in a backup car after wrecking his primary car during Saturday’s practice session. BJ McLeod also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his car.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Logano checked out with a strong start on the inside lane as he retained the lead for a full cycle before leading the first lap while the field behind fanned out and jostled for positions. With Logano leading, Byron battled and fended off Ryan Blaney for the runner-up spot while Kyle Larson was in fourth ahead of Ross Chastain, rookie Ty Gibbs, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin.

    Then on the 10th lap, Byron tracked and overtook Logano with a strong move entering Turns 3 and 4 to assume the lead. Larson would soon follow in the runner-up spot while Logano fell back to third in front of Chastain and Blaney.

    Through the first 25 scheduled laps, Byron was leading by more than a second over teammate Larson followed by Chastain, Christopher Bell and Hamlin while Logano, Blaney, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. Behind, Bubba Wallace was in 11th ahead of Kevin Harvick and Tyler Reddick while Alex Bowman and Austin Cindric were running in the top 15. Meanwhile, Erik Jones was in 16th ahead of Michael McDowell, Chris Buescher, Aric Almirola and Daniel Suarez while Josh Berry, who was filling in the No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the injured Chase Elliott, was mired back in 29th. By then, Gibbs had fallen back to 22nd, Chase Briscoe was in 25th, Harrison Burton was mired in 28th and Austin Dillon was back in 31st.

    Then on Lap 32, Blaney, who was running in 10th place, pitted his No. 12 Pennzoil/Menards Ford Mustang under green. Blaney’s pit stop commenced the first cycle of green flag pit stops as Truex pitted followed by Hamlin, Cindric, Ryan Preece, Harrison Burton, Gibbs, rookie Noah Gragson, Logano, Harvick, Bell and Kyle Busch, who got into the backstretch’s outside wall a few laps earlier and had fallen out of the top 10. The leader Byron would soon pit on Lap 37 followed by teammate Larson as Keselowski cycled to the lead for a lap before he too pitted and gave the lead to Reddick. Following the pit stops, Michael McDowell and Gragson were penalized for speeding on pit road. Gragson’s event, however, went from bad to worse when he was penalized for speeding again while serving his first speeding penalty. Gibbs was also penalized for having too many crew members over the pit wall during his pit stop.

    By Lap 41 and with the first round of green flag pit stops completed, Byron cycled his No. 24 Raptor Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 back into the lead followed by teammate Larson while Chastain, Bell and Hamlin were in the top five. By then, Keselowski was up in sixth place followed by Truex while Wallace, Kyle Busch and Logano were in the top 10.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Byron was out in front by nine-tenths of a second over teammate Larson followed by Chastain, Bell and Hamlin, all of whom, retained their respective spots in the top five while Keselowski, Truex, Wallace, Kyle Busch and Logano continued to run in the top 10. Behind, Blaney was in 11th while Reddick was up in 12th after starting at the rear of the field. Meanwhile, Harvick was in 14th in front of Erik Jones, Suarez was back in 18th and the following names that included Briscoe, Josh Berry and Austin Dillon were mired as the last competitors on the lead lap from 25th to 27th.

    Fifteen laps later, Byron continued to lead by half a second over teammate Larson, who was slowly gaining ground on his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, while Chastain, Bell and Hamlin remained in the top five. By then, Keselowski had fallen back to 10th while Truex, Wallace, Kyle Busch and Bowman moved up to sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively. In addition, Reddick was in 11th while Team Penske’s Logano and Blaney fell back to 12th and 15th.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 80, Byron claimed his first stage victory of the 2023 Cup season after retaining the lead by four-tenths of a second over teammate Larson, who settled in second. Chastain settled in third ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Bell and Hamlin while Truex, Bowman, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Busch and Keselowski were scored in the top 10. By then, 22 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap while names that included Preece, Berry, Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Briscoe, Burton, McDowell and Gibbs were trapped a lap down.

    Under the stage break, the entire lead lap field led by Byron pitted and Byron retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by teammate Larson, Hamlin, Chastain, Truex and Bell. During the pit stops, Reddick, who pitted from 11th, was blocked by AJ Allmendinger and had to back up to leave his pit stall, thus dropping him to 20th.

    The second stage started on Lap 89 as teammates Byron and Larson occupied the front row. At the start, Byron rocketed with the lead ahead of teammate Larson as the field fanned out behind while jostling for positions. With Byron slowly checking out with a stable lead, Larson was being intimidated by Hamlin for the runner-up spot while Bell, Truex and Chastain jostled for fourth. Behind, Bowman challenged Wallace for seventh while Keselowski and Erik Jones were in the top 10.

    Through the first 100 scheduled laps, Byron was leading by more than a second over teammate Larson followed by Chastain while Bell, Bowman and Truex were in the top six. Meanwhile, Hamlin fell back to seventh in front of Wallace while Keselowski and Kyle Busch were scored in the top 10. Behind, Harvick was in 12th, Logano was still mired in 14th, Blaney was back in 17th behind Suarez and Cindric was running in 22nd, with 23 competitors scored on the lead lap. By then, on-track troubles ensued for a number of competitors running towards the middle and the rear of the field, among which included Gibbs who sustained left-front damage to his car and Berry making contact with the backstretch’s outside wall. Suarez and Buescher also encountered issues after they made contact with one another.

    Twenty laps later, Byron extended his advantage to more than two seconds over teammate Larson while their third teammate Bowman was up in third, trailing by more than seven seconds, in front of Bell and Truex while Chastain fell back to sixth in front of Hamlin.

    Shortly after, Buescher pitted under green while most of the front-runners remained on the track. Then on Lap 124, Truex commenced the second wave of green flag pit stops as he pitted followed by teammate Bell, Chastain, Wallace, Keselowski and a bevy of competitors. Larson would also pit by Lap 126 along with Hamlin while Byron and Bowman pitted during the following lap. Once the second wave of green flag pit stops was completed, Byron cycled back to the lead by more than two seconds over teammate Larson while Bell, Bowman and Chastain were running in the top five.

    At the halfway mark between Laps 133 and 134, Byron was leading by more than two seconds over teammate Larson followed by Bell, Bowman and Chastain while Wallace, Truex, Keselowski, Hamlin and Kyle Busch were competing in the top 10. By then, 23 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap while names like McDowell, Gibbs, Berry, Austin Dillon, Gragson, Burton, Briscoe and Stenhouse were not on the lead lap.

    By Lap 150, Byron stabilized his advantage to six-tenths of a second over teammate Larson and more than eight seconds over teammate Bowman, thus placing three Hendrick Motorsports competitors on the podium spots. By then, Bell and Truex were running in the top five while Wallace, who briefly ran in the top five a few laps earlier, was back in sixth in front of Chastain, Hamlin, Keselowski and Kyle Busch.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 165, Byron notched his second consecutive stage victory of the 2023 Cup season and of the event. Teammate Larson settled in second in front of teammate Bowman while Truex, Bell, Wallace, Chastain, Hamlin, Keselowski and Harvick were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap competitors led by Byron returned to pit road for service and Byron retained the lead upon exiting pit road followed by teammates Larson and Bowman while Truex, Chastain and Bell exited in fourth through sixth, respectively. During the pit stops, Kyle Busch had issues exiting his pit stall while situated behind Reddick’s car, which was blocking Busch’s, as he dropped to 15th.

    With 94 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as teammates Byron and Larson occupied the front row. At the start, Byron muscled ahead on the inside lane and pulled away through the first two turns in front of Larson while Bowman settled in third. Behind, Truex was in fourth while Wallace battled Bell, Chastain, Suarez and Hamlin within the top 10. Wallace and Bell would continue to engage in a fierce side-by-side battle for fifth place while Suarez closed in on both.

    Then with 84 laps remaining, the caution flew when Logano, who was engaged in a tight three-wide battle with Keselowski and Kyle Busch for spots in the top 15, made slight contact with Keselowski as he smacked the outside wall entering Turn 4 before spinning his No. 22 Pennzoil Ford Mustang across the grass while barely avoiding Stenhouse. Despite limping his car back to his pit stall, Logano’s pit crew exceeded the seven-minute Damaged Vehicle Policy rule while trying to repair the No. 22 entry, which ended his long afternoon in the garage.

    During the caution period, the leaders led by Byron returned to pit road and Hamlin emerged with the lead following a two-tire pit stop. Bowman exited in second place and as the first competitor with four fresh tires while Larson, Byron, Suarez, Truex and Wallace followed suit. During the pit stops, Erik Jones backed up his No. 43 Legacy Motor Club entry to return to his pit stall to tighten a loose left-front wheel.

    With 78 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green as Hamlin and Bowman occupied the front row. At the start, Hamlin maintained the lead while the field behind fanned out to three lanes through the backstretch. In the process, Truex, who pulled a bold three-wide move through the backstretch, moved up to second followed by Bowman and Larson while Byron was back in sixth behind Chastain. Shortly after, however, the Hendrick trio of Bowman, Larson and Byron overtook Truex as they launched their charge on Hamlin.

    Then with 71 laps remaining, Larson, who stalked and battled with Hamlin for the top spot, succeeded in grabbing the lead from Hamlin while Chastain battled and overtook Bowman and Byron for third. Behind, Reddick was in sixth and was in the process of grabbing more against the Hendrick drivers before he got loose toward the outside lane and wall between Turns 1 and 2, which dropped him to 10th. As the series of battles ensued around the track continued, Harvick was up in sixth behind Byron, Bowman and Truex while Chastain fell back in seventh in front of Wallace and Suarez.

    With 60 laps remaining, Larson was leading by more than a second over Hamlin while Byron, Bowman and Truex were scored in the top five. Chastain was in sixth while Harvick, Wallace, Blaney and Suarez occupied the top 10 in front of Reddick, Kyle Busch, AJ Allmendinger, Keselowski and Aric Almirola. Meanwhile, Bell, who restarted 10th during the previous restart, was back in 20th after reporting a vibration to his No. 20 SiriusXM Toyota TRD Camry.

    With less than 50 laps remaining, Larson continued to lead by six-tenths of a second in front of Hamlin while third-place Byron trailed by more than two seconds. Bowman remained in fourth followed by Truex while Chastain, Harvick, Blaney, Wallace and Suarez battled in the top 10. Shortly after, another round of green flag pit stops ensued as Hamlin pitted followed by the leader Larson. Truex would also pit along with Kyle Busch, Harvick, Austin Dillon, Byron, Chastain, Reddick, Erik Jones, Wallace, Suarez and others. During the pit stops, Gragson was busted for speeding on pit road for a third time in the event.

    Back on the track with less than 45 laps remaining, Keselowski, who had yet to pit, was leading followed by Larson, Hamlin, Byron and Truex, all of whom pitted earlier. Keselowski, however, would pit with 40 laps remaining as Larson cycled back to the lead by more than a second over Hamlin and more than two seconds over Byron.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Larson extended his advantage to more than three seconds over teammate Byron as Hamlin fell back to third. Truex and Bowman were running in the top five while Chastain, Harvick, Wallace, Blaney and Kyle Busch contended in the top 10. By then, Suarez and Bell were back in 11th and 12th, Reddick was mired back in 15th and Keselowski fell back to 18th in front of Ty Gibbs.

    With 20 laps remaining, Larson stabilized his advantage to more than four seconds over teammate Byron and more than six seconds over third-place Hamlin. Larson continued to lead by more than three seconds over Byron with 10 laps remaining and by more than two seconds with five laps remaining.

    Then with four laps remaining, the caution flew when Almirola got loose and slapped his No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang into the outside wall in Turn 4. The caution all but erased Larson’s steady advantage of more than two seconds over Byron and sent the event into overtime. During the caution period, Truex remained on the track on old tires and inherited the lead while the rest of the leaders led by Larson pitted. Following the pit stops, Byron, who opted for two fresh tires, edged teammate Larson to exit pit road first followed by Hamlin, Bowman, Chastain and Wallace.

    At the start of the first overtime attempt, where Truex and Byron occupied the front row, Byron challenged Truex dead even through the first two turns while the field behind fanned out to three and four lanes. As Truex tried to peek ahead entering Turn 3, the two fresh tires played into the favors of Byron as he rocketed away with the lead while clearing the field.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Byron was out in front over Truex, who had Bowman, Larson, Wallace and Bell jostling behind him. Then entering the backstretch, Larson and Bowman threaded Truex through three lanes as they overtook him for second and third. By then, however, their teammate Byron was gone. With a multi-car wreck erupting on the backstretch that involved Allmendinger, Preece and McDowell, Byron remained as the leader and was able to cycle his way back to the frontstretch to claim his first checkered flag of the season.

    In addition to becoming the third different winner through the first three races of the 2023 season, Byron notched his fifth career victory in NASCAR’s premier series, his first at Vegas and his first since winning at Martinsville Speedway in April 2022. He also recorded the third consecutive victory of the season for Chevrolet, the 292nd career win for Hendrick Motorsports and the 98th victory for the No. 24 in the Cup circuit.

    “[I’ve] just been really confident about the group of guys that I have on this No. 24 team,” Byron said on FOX. “They work extremely hard. We spent a lot of time in the off-season just going through running at the sim [simulator] with Chevy and running on iRacing and just trying to get better as a race car driver and as a team. It’s all about the team. It’s a great pit crew. This RaptorTough.com Chevy was awesome. When we got back in traffic, it was a little bit tight, but we knew we had speed, so we just had to have the right things play out and [crew chief] Rudy [Fugle] made a good call. It was good. I knew [the pit crew] could get it done at the end. Luckily, it worked out there. Excited for the year.”

    Meanwhile, Larson, who led 63 laps and was poised for the victory during the race’s scheduled distance, settled for a disappointing runner-up result. This season marks his second consecutive runner-up result in the spring Cup event at Vegas.

    “It’s just part of Cup racing,” Larson said. “It seems like kind of [count] laps down, lap by lap and then, sure enough, the yellow lights come on. You just got to get over that and then try to execute a good pit stop. I thought I did a really good job getting to my pit sign and getting to the commitment line. I had a gap to William behind me. Their pit crew must have just did a really good job and got him in front of us. That gave up the front row to us, so I knew I was in trouble with [Truex] staying out. I felt like William was gonna get by him. Just a bummer that we didn’t end up the winner, but all in all, William probably had a little better car than I had today. Their pit crew executed when they needed to at the end.”

    Bowman came home in third place, thus placing three Hendrick Motorsports competitors in the top three, while Bubba Wallace capped off a strong run by finishing fourth and achieving his first top-five run of the season following two consecutive DNFs. Bell rallied late to complete the top five in fifth while Cindric, Truex, Justin Haley, Harvick and Suarez finished in the top 10.

    “If you can somehow get a good restart, get to the white flag and they crash, you can win the [race],” Truex said. “It almost happened. We were second at the white, we were second into Turn 1 on the last lap and just got tight and got into a bad spot off of [Turn] 2. Lost momentum down the [backstretch]. All in all, it was a solid day for our Bass Pro Shops Camry TRD. Everybody did a good job. I think we were about a third-place car or maybe fourth. Just a good solid day. We’re in Vegas. We might as well roll the dice and like everybody says, you come here to gamble. We gave up a few spots, but all in all, it was a solid day.”

    Notably, Josh Berry finished 29th while filling in for the injured Chase Elliott. In addition, Hamlin ended up 11th in front of Chastain, Blaney rallied for 13th, Kyle Busch ended up 14th in front of Reddick, Keselowski settled in 17th and Ty Gibbs ended up as the highest-finishing rookie in 22nd.

    There were 13 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 26 laps. Only 18 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the third event of the 2023 Cup Series season, Ross Chastain continues to lead the regular-season standings by three points over Alex Bowman, 21 over Kevin Harvick, 25 over Daniel Suarez, 27 over Martin Truex Jr. and 30 over Denny Hamlin.

    Results:

    1. William Byron, 176 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    2. Kyle Larson, 63 laps led

    3. Alex Bowman, two laps led

    4. Bubba Wallace

    5. Christopher Bell

    6. Austin Cindric

    7. Martin Truex Jr., three laps led

    8. Justin Haley

    9. Kevin Harvick

    10. Daniel Suarez

    11. Denny Hamlin, 10 laps led

    12. Ross Chastain

    13. Ryan Blaney

    14. Kyle Busch

    15. Tyler Reddick, three laps led

    16. Aric Almirola

    17. Brad Keselowski, five laps led

    18. AJ Allmendinger

    19. Erik Jones, one lap down

    20. Corey LaJoie, one lap down

    21. Chris Buescher, one lap down

    22. Ty Gibbs, one lap down

    23. Ryan Preece, one lap down

    24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap down

    25.  Michael McDowell, one lap down

    26. Harrison Burton, two laps down

    27. Austin Dillon, two laps down

    28. Chase Briscoe, two laps down

    29. Josh Berry, two laps down

    30. Noah Gragson, two laps down

    31. Todd Gilliland, three laps down

    32. BJ McLeod, five laps down

    33. JJ Yeley, six laps down

    34. Ty Dillon, six laps down

    35. Cody Ware, 12 laps down

    36. Joey Logano – OUT, DVP, nine laps led

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, for the series’ third and final stretch of a three-race West Coast swing. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, March 12, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Austin Hill scores dramatic Xfinity Series victory at Las Vegas

    Austin Hill scores dramatic Xfinity Series victory at Las Vegas

    From trailing rookie Chandler Smith by nearly three seconds with 25 laps remaining to narrowing the deficit and overtaking him prior to the final lap, Austin Hill cashed in with his second NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the season in the Alsco Uniforms 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 4.

    The 28-year-old Hill from Winston, Georgia, led three times for 19 of 200-scheduled laps, including the final two, as he overtook Smith for the lead prior to the final lap. Smith, who led a race-high 118 laps but had an advantage of nearly three seconds erased in the closing laps, was then overtaken by Justin Allgaier for the runner-up spot as Allgaier, who had been penalized earlier for a restart violation, tried to steal the victory away on the final lap. Time, however, fell in the favor of Hill as he held off a hard-charging Allgaier to steal the spotlight with his second victory through the series’ first three events of the season.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, rookie Chandler Smith notched his first Xfinity career pole after posting a pole-winning lap at 183.119 mph in 29.489 seconds. Joining him on the front row was veteran Justin Allgaier, who clocked in the second-best qualifying lap at 182.778 mph in 29.544 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following names that included Cole Custer, Sheldon Creed, Gray Gaulding, Josh Berry, Brandon Jones and Kyle Busch dropped to the rear of the field in backup cars. Brennan Poole, Ryan Ellis, Alex Labbe and Garrett Smithley also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective cars along with Patrick Emerling, who replaced CJ McLaughlin in the No. 53 Emerling-Gas Motorsports entry.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Chandler Smith peeked ahead with the lead on the outside lane followed by Brett Moffitt while John Hunter Nemechek and Austin Hill fanned out entering the first turn. With a three-wide action occurring through the first two turns between Nemechek, Hill and Parker Kligerman for spots in the top five, Smith cleared the field to assume the lead followed by a side-by-side battle for the runner-up spot involving Justin Allgaier and Brett Moffitt.

    As the field returned to the frontstretch, Chandler Smith led the first lap ahead of Moffitt and Allgaier while the field behind continued to fan out and jostle for positions early. Then during the following lap, the first caution flew when Kligerman, who was locked in a battle with Daniel Hemric for fifth place, got loose and slightly tapped by Nemechek as he spun in Turn 2, though he did not make any contact to his No. 48 Big Machine Racing entry as he pitted for fresh tires.

    When the race restarted under green on the sixth lap, Chandler Smith and Allgaier dueled for the lead for nearly a lap until Smith managed to pull ahead on the outside lane to retain the lead. As the field behind fanned out, Austin Hill made his way into third place followed by Nemechek, Brett Moffitt and Daniel Hemric.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Chandler Smith was leading by two-tenths of a second over Allgaier followed by Nemechek, Hill and Hemric while rookie Sammy Smith, Herbst, Sam Mayer, Berry and Moffitt were running in the top 10. Tyler Reddick was in 11th ahead of Rajah Caruth, Anthony Alfredo, Kyle Sieg and Jeb Burton while Kyle Busch methodically worked his way up to 16th from the rear of the field.

    Three laps later, Allgaier muscled his No. 7 Brandt Chevrolet Camaro past Chandler Smith for the lead as Nemechek started to gain ground on the two leaders. Another four laps later, Nemechek assumed the runner-up spot over Smith while Hill and Hemric remained in the top five. It would not be until Lap 22, however, when Nemechek cycled his No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra into the lead over Allgaier.

    Through the first 30 scheduled laps, Nemechek was leading by four-tenths of a second over Allgaier followed by Hill, Hemric and Chandler Smith while Herbst, Sammy Smith, Berry, Mayer and Kyle Busch were battling in the top 10. Behind, Moffitt was in 11th ahead of Creed, Reddick, Jeb Burton and Kligerman while Brandon Jones, Alfredo, Custer, Ryan Sieg and Kyle Sieg occupied the top 20.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Nemechek, winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at Auto Club Speedway, captured his first stage victory of the 2023 Xfinity season. Allgaier trailed in the runner-up spot by more than a second while Hill, Chandler Smith, Herbst, Hemric, Kyle Busch, Sammy Smith, Creed and Berry were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the field led by Nemechek pitted for service and Hill was the first competitor to exit pit road first followed by Nemechek, Allgaier, Busch, Hemric and Chandler Smith. During the pit stops, Alex Labbe was penalized after a tire rolled out of his pit stall and toward the track. Josh Bilicki was also penalized for speeding on pit road.

    The second stage started on Lap 53 as Hill and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start, Hill and Nemechek dueled for the lead as the field behind fanned and jostled for spots. Entering the backstretch, Nemechek cleared Hill for the lead while Chandler Smith, Kyle Busch and Allgaier engaged in a three-wide battle for third place. A few laps later, Allgaier launched a bid for the lead to the outside of Nemechek, but Nemechek managed to pull ahead on the inside lane as Chandler Smith and Hill joined the battle. The battle for spots towards the top five proceeded as Sammy Smith and Kyle Busch crept into the picture at the front while Allgaier managed to pull ahead in front of Chandler Smith and Hill for the runner-up spot. Amid the battles, Nemechek checked out with a decent advantage while Hill and Kyle Busch duked for fourth place in front of Sammy Smith.

    Through the first 60 scheduled laps, Nemechek was leading by two-tenths of a second over Allgaier, who had Chandler Smith closing in for the spot, while Kyle Busch and Sammy Smith were in the top five. Meanwhile, Hill fell back to sixth ahead of Mayer, Herbst, Hemric and Kligerman while Brandon Jones, Creed, Berry, Custer and Moffitt were mired in the top 15.

    Ten laps later, Nemechek continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over the new runner-up competitor Chandler Smith, who overtook Allgaier for the spot nearly 10 laps earlier, while Allgaier, Kyle Busch and Mayer were running in the top five. In the midst of the battles, Hill was back in sixth ahead of Sammy Smith, Kligerman, Brandon Jones and Herbst while Hemric was back in 11th.

    Then after Chandler Smith reassumed the lead on Lap 72 followed by Allgaier, the caution flew a lap later when Josh Berry, who was battling Herbst for 10th place, got loose entering Turn 4 and spun his No. 8 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro across the grass without sustaining any damage. By then, Nemechek had fallen back to third in front of his former boss Kyle Busch. During the caution period, Berry pitted along with Nemechek, who radioed a possible vibration and loose wheel throughout the second stage, while the rest led by Chandler Smith on the track.

    When the race proceeded under green on Lap 78, Chandler Smith and Allgaier battled for the lead for nearly a lap until Allgaier managed to pull ahead on the inside lane to take over the lead. In the midst of the battles, Hill was in third place followed by Kyle Busch while Brandon Jones emerged in the top five in fifth over Sammy Smith.

    Five laps later, however, Allgaier surrendered the lead and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty down pit road after being assessed a restart violation for diving his car below the inside line prior to the start/finish line. With Allgaier plummeting to 26th place and as the last competitor on the lead lap, Chandler Smith reassumed the lead followed by Hill and Kyle Busch while Brandon Jones and Sammy Smith were in the top five. Then with four laps remaining in the second stage, Hill overtook Chandler Smith for the lead as Kyle Busch and Jones closed in on the two leaders.

    With two laps remaining in the second stage, the caution flew when Rajah Caruth spun towards the apron in Turn 2. Caruth’s spin was enough for the second stage scheduled on Lap 90 to conclude under caution as Hill captured his second stage victory of the 2023 Xfinity season. Brandon Jones settled in second in front of a hard-charging Kyle Busch while Mayer, Sammy Smith, Chandler Smith, Herbst, Custer, Moffitt and Creed were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the leaders led by Hill returned to pit road for service and Hill retained the lead after exiting pit road first. Kyle Busch exited second followed by Berry, who only opted for fuel for his service, while Herbst, Brandon Jones and Chandler Smith exited in fourth through sixth, respectively. Following the pit stops, Ryan Sieg and Jeremy Clements were penalized for speeding on pit road.

    With 103 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as Hill and Kyle Busch occupied the front row. At the start, Hill and Busch duked for the lead through the first two turns as the field behind fanned out. As the field returned to the frontstretch, Busch peaked ahead with the lead and started to maintain control of the field in his No. 10 LA Golf Chevrolet Camaro while teammate Chandler Smith battled Hill for second place.

    With the event surpassing its halfway mark, Busch maintained a slight advantage over teammate Chandler Smith, with the latter launching his own challenge for the lead before reassuming it on Lap 102. Meanwhile, Hill fell back to third in front of Brandon Jones and Herbst while Berry was back in sixth over teammate Mayer, Sammy Smith, Custer and Hemric. By then, Allgaier was in 12th while Nemechek was in 15th.

    Down to the final 90 laps of the event, Chandler Smith was leading by nine-tenths of a second over teammate Kyle Busch and a second-and-a-half over Hill while Bery and Mayer were in the top five. By then, Brandon Jones was in sixth ahead of Herbst and a hard-charging Allgaier while Sammy Smith and Hemric occupied the top 10. By then, Custer was back in 11th over Creed, Nemechek, Kligerman and Tyler Reddick while Moffitt, Kaz Grala, Ryan Sieg, Jeb Burton and Joe Graf Jr. were mired in the top 20.

    Fifteen laps later, Chandler Smith continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over teammate Kyle Busch, who slowly began to decrease his deficit to his Kaulig Racing teammate, while Hill remained in third place and trailed by more than a second. Meanwhile, Allgaier charged his way back to fifth place following his restart violation penalty in the second stage as he tried to navigate his way around teammate Mayer for fourth place. Then with 69 laps remaining, Hill navigated his way around Busch for the runner-up spot as Allgaier started to close in on Busch for third place.

    With nearly 60 laps remaining, Chandler Smith retained the lead by more than a second over the new runner-up competitor Allgaier while Hill, Mayer and Kyle Busch were scored in the top five. By then, Nemechek carved his way back to eighth behind Herbst and Berry while Hemric had fallen to 14th in between Custer and Moffitt.

    Not long after, pit stops under green ensued as Kyle Busch pitted. Chandler Smith would pit his No. 16 Quick Tie Chevrolet Camaro a lap later along with Allgaier, Hill, Mayer and others. During the pit stops, Sammy Smith slid his No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota Supra sideways below the apron while trying to enter pit road. During his spin, he managed to come to a stop sideways in front of Josh Williams’ pit stall and avoid hitting Mayer, who was completing his service, as the race remained under green flag conditions. Amid his spin, Sammy Smith was penalized for speeding on pit road. Brandon Jones was also assessed a pass-through penalty for speeding on pit road, but his situation went from bad to worse when he received another speeding penalty when he sped while serving his first penalty.

    With less than 55 laps remaining and with the series of green flag pit stops completed, Chandler Smith, who lost the lead to Hill following his pit stop under green before navigating his way back around Hill, cycled his way back to the lead followed by Hill, Kyle Busch, Allgaier and Mayer.

    Under the final 40 laps of the event, Chandler Smith was leading by more than two seconds over Hill followed by Allgaier, who navigated his way around Kyle Busch for third place, while Mayer settled in fifth. By then, Berry occupied sixth in front of Herbst, Nemechek, Creed and Hemric while 13 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap. Following his pair of pit road speeding penalties, Brandon Jones was relegated back to 28th.

    With 25 laps remaining, Chandler Smith extended his advantage to nearly three seconds over Hill while Allgaier trailed by nearly four seconds in third place. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was mired in fourth place, trailing by more than six seconds, while Mayer was back in fifth place and trailing by nearly 10 seconds.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Chandler Smith, who was mired behind lapped competitors a few laps earlier and had led by more than two seconds, continued to lead by over a second Hill despite being reported to save fuel. Hill remained in second followed by Allgaier, who closed in on Hill for the runner-up spot.

    With five laps remaining, Chandler Smith retained the lead, but only by nearly half a second as Hill continued to cut Smith’s advantage in his final bid for the lead and the win. Then with two laps remaining, Hill, who managed to close the gap and get close to the rear bumper of Smith’s car through the first two turns and through the backstretch, made his move beneath Smith’s No. 16 entry as he assumed the lead entering the frontstretch.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hill was out in front ahead of Smith as Allgaier drew himself alongside Smith for the runner-up spot. Through the backstretch, Allgaier overtook Smith as Hill remained as the leader. As Allgaier tried to close in to Hill’s rear bumper, Hill managed to methodically navigate his No. 21 Global Industrial Chevrolet Camaro through the final two turns out in front and beat Allgaier by two-tenths of a second to steal the show and grab the victory.

    With the victory, Hill, who won the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in February, notched his fourth career win in the Xfinity Series, his first in the series at Las Vegas and the 90th Xfinity victory overall for Richard Childress Racing.

    “[While I was] Passing one of the lapped cars early in our run, when [Chandler Smith] got by me [after a restart on Lap 98], I got really, really loose on entry to [Turn] 3,” Hill said on FS1. “I thought I was gonna wreck it, saved it. [Smith] got really far out. I just knew I had to not abuse the tires and try to methodically just work my way through traffic. The track was really tough today. Had a really thin line between [Turns] 3 and 4. If you missed it by—it seemed like a half of an inch—you paid for it through the whole lap. That’s just really what I stuck to all race long, was just trying to be disciplined through 3 and 4…I saw [Smith] struggling in traffic and my spotter Derek [Kneeland] was like, ‘Come on, baby. You can get it!’ I saw him get tight off of [Turn] 4 there, and I knew I painted the line perfectly. I knew if I could clear him down the frontstretch, I felt like once we had clean air, we could hold him off. We still got some things to work on, but it feels good to win on a mile and a half, not just these superspeedways.”

    As Hill celebrated the victory, Chandler Smith was left disappointed over falling short of his first Xfinity Series victory. The 20-year-old Smith from Talking Rock, Georgia, however, remained optimistic over his third-place finish and a strong run in his third career start with Kaulig Racing.

    “Overall, I got a little tight there at the very end,” Smith said. “It is what it is. That’s a tough pill to swallow. There’s some things I could’ve done inside before we started getting tight. All in all, I can’t be too disappointed. It’s my sixth [Xfinity] start, third start with Kaulig Racing. We had a really fast Quick Tie Products Camaro, and I just really appreciate [owner] Matt Kaulig, [team president] Chris Rice, everybody at Kaulig Racing for bringing me on board, believing in me. We’re going to win a few races this year, for sure.”

    Allgaier settled in second place while Kyle Busch, who was aiming for a triple weekend sweep at his home track, ended up in fourth place in his first start with Kaulig Racing and in his first of five Xfinity starts of the 2023 season. Berry rallied to finish fifth while Nemechek, Mayer, Herbst, Creed and Hemric completed the top 10.

    There were 14 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 22 laps. Only 12 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the third event of the 2023 Xfinity Series season, Austin Hill leads the regular-season standings by 21 points over Justin Allgaier, 24 over John Hunter Nemechek, 34 over Chandler Smith and 44 over Riley Herbst.

    Results.

    1. Austin Hill, 19 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Justin Allgaier, 10 laps led

    3. Chandler Smith, 118 laps led

    4. Kyle Busch, four laps led

    5. Josh Berry, two laps led

    6. John Hunter Nemechek, 45 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    7. Sam Mayer, one lap led

    8. Riley Herbst

    9. Sheldon Creed

    10. Daniel Hemric

    11. Parker Kligerman

    12. Cole Custer

    13. Tyler Reddick, one lap down

    14. Jeb Burton, one lap down

    15. Joe Graf Jr., one lap down

    16. Kyle Weatherman, one lap down

    17. Sammy Smith, one lap down

    18. Alex Labbe, one lap down

    19. Anthony Alfredo, two laps down, one lap led

    20. Kyle Sieg, two laps down

    21. Brandon Jones, two laps down

    22. Brett Moffitt, two laps down

    23. Kaz Grala, two laps down

    24. Ryan Sieg, three laps down

    25. Jeremy Clements, three laps down

    26. Rajah Caruth, three laps down

    27. Ryan Ellis, three laps down

    28. Bayley Currey, three laps down

    29. Jeffrey Earnhardt, three laps down

    30. Josh Williams, three laps down

    31. Josh Bilicki, four laps down

    32. Gray Gaulding, four laps down

    33. Brennan Poole, four laps down

    34. Patrick Emerling, six laps down

    35. Blaine Perkins, eight laps down

    36. Garrett Smithley, 13 laps down

    37. Parker Retzlaff, 14 laps down

    38. Joey Gase – OUT, Fuel Pump

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, for the series’ third and final stretch of a three-week West Coast swing. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, March 11, at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Joey Logano claims NASCAR Cup Series Pole at Las Vegas

    Joey Logano claims NASCAR Cup Series Pole at Las Vegas

    Joey Logano earned the NASCAR Cup Series Busch Light Pole Award Saturday afternoon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a lap time of 29.024 seconds at 186.053 mph in his Team Penske Ford. It was his first pole this season and the 27th of his career.

    “The car was wicked good,” Logano said. “It really just handled well and obviously has really good speed which is what you hope for when you get here. You hope you make the right changes and adjustments from the fall when we were here last.

    “Obviously, we were pretty good then but you have to keep evolving and trying things. It gets a little nerve-wracking when you try to make these changes that you are married to for the most part when practice starts.

    “I think Paul (Wolfe) made some great changes there, some good decisions, gave me a really fast Pennzoil Mustang today that has good speed in it. Hopefully that transfers to the race tomorrow. I think it will. We have some fine-tuning to do in race trim which we will talk about tonight and try to make some adjustments tomorrow morning.”

    William Byron qualified second in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

    I felt good (during qualifying). That was a wide open lap there, so I’m not sure what I could have done different. Maybe cut a little bit of the track off (turn) four and I could have just let the car kind of wind out. I’m happy with the lap though. Being second is good. Not pumped to be second for the fact of not getting the pole, but at least it’s a good starting spot. I’m excited for that.

    “We just need a good, solid day tomorrow with the No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevy. Hopefully we can get ourselves a win and move up the points standings.”

    Logano’s teammate, Ryan Blaney, was third fastest in his No. 12 Ford. Ty Gibbs was the fastest qualifying rookie and will start fourth in the No. 54 Toyota with Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch rounding out the top five.

    Harrison Burton hit the wall during practice in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford and was unable to qualify. He will go to a backup car and will start at the rear of the field for Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 Presented by Jiffy Lube.

    Tyler Reddick will start at the back of the field due to an engine change in his No. 45 12XI Racing Toyota.  

    Live Fast Motorsports driver, BJ McLeod, who did not practice or qualify due to a transaxle issue, will also start at the rear of the field in his No. 78 Chevrolet.

    The Pennzoil 400 Presented by Jiffy Lube will air live on FOX Sunday at 3:30 p.m. with radio coverage by PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.