With four races in the books and four different winners, the NASCAR Xfinity Series made the trip to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, for the running of The LiUNA!. This was the first race of the season on a 1.5-mile track and gave drivers their first high-speed test on a traditional track this season. It also served as a Dash 4 Cash qualifying race, with the top four highest finishing full-time drivers earning the right to battle for the $100,000 bonus next week at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Dash 4 Cash, which started in 2009, is a program that financially rewards Xfinity Series regulars for performing well. The race in Miami will be the first of four Dash 4 Cash races.
JR Motorsports' Sammy Smith led the field to the green. The race's first caution occurred down the backstretch on the opening lap when Joe Gibbs Racing rookie William Sawalich got into the Turn 2 wall. Defending champion Justin Allgaier would go on to win the stage - his fourth career stage win at Las Vegas.
After experiencing breathing issues in the first stage, Kaulig Racing's Josh Williams was replaced by Cup Series regular Ty Dillon for the remainder of the race, beginning in Stage 2. The stage would go caution-free with JGR's Aric Almirola winning Stage 2. Richard Childress Racing's Austin Hill lost track position after pitting under green with loose lug nuts on his left rear tire. That would set the stage for the final 102-lap green flag run to the finish, which was completed without a stoppage.
Who won The LiUNA! at Las Vegas?
After pitting under green and battling Almirola off pit road for the race lead, Allgaier - leader of a race-high 102 laps - would hold off a late charge from the veteran to get his first win of the season, his 26th career win and the 90th for JR Motorsports. Per the CW broadcast, it is the ninth consecutive season with a win for Allgaier, which ties him with two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch and NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin for the longest streak all-time in the Xfinity Series. Smith and teammate Connor Zilisch - both of whom ran in the top five for most of the day - were busted for speeding on their green flag stop midway through the final stage and were unable to fully recover. As the four highest-finishing Xfinity Series regulars, Allgaier, Jesse Love, Hill and Sam Mayer qualify for next week's Dash 4 Cash opener.
The LiUNA! finishing position | Driver | Points |
---|---|---|
Winner | Justin Allgaier | 59 |
2nd | Aric Almirola | 54 |
3rd | Jesse Love | 38 |
4th | Austin Hill | 37 |
5th | Sam Mayer | 40 |
6th | Brandon Jones | 34 |
7th | Ryan Sieg | 31 |
8th | Harrison Burton | 29 |
9th | Connor Zilisch | 44 |
10th | Sheldon Creed | 29 |
11th | Kyle Sieg | 26 |
12th | Daniel Dye | 25 |
13th | Christian Eckes | 24 |
14th | Sammy Smith | 35 |
15th | Dean Thompson | 22 |
16th | Matt DiBenedetto | 21 |
17th | Carson Kvapil | 33 |
18th | Anthony Alfredo | 19 |
19th | Taylor Gray | 28 |
20th | Nick Sanchez | 17 |
21st | Parker Retzlaff | 16 |
22nd | Brennan Poole | 15 |
23rd | Jeb Burton | 14 |
24th | Jeremy Clements | 13 |
25th | Kris Wright | 12 |
26th | Blaine Perkins | 11 |
27th | Garrett Smithley | 10 |
28th | Patrick Emerling | 9 |
29th | Josh Williams | 8 |
30th | Leland Honeyman | 7 |
31st | Josh Bilicki | 6 |
32nd | Dawson Cram | 5 |
33rd | Joey Gase | 4 |
34th | Ryan Ellis | 3 |
35th | Greg Van Alst | 2 |
36th | Austin Green | 1 |
37th | Mason Massey | 1 |
38th | William Sawalich | 1 |
Allgaier holds a 19-point lead over Love as the series heads to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the running of the Hard Rock Bet 300 on Saturday, March 22 (4 p.m. ET, the CW, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Hill is the defending race winner.