NASCAR Xfinity Series: Who won The LiUNA! at Las Vegas?

What happened in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas?
NASCAR Xfinity Series The LiUNA!
NASCAR Xfinity Series The LiUNA! | Jonathan Bachman/GettyImages

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.