It was a continuation of last week at Phoenix Raceway with Justin Allgaier and Aric Almirola racing for a win in the Xfinity Series but this time at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
This time, Allgaier was out front at the finish and maintained the lead over a long green flag run to the finish, that included regaining the lead after losing it on pit road. Allgaier held Almirola off over a 102-lap green flag run to finally check Vegas off his personal bucket list with four previous career runner-ups.
“It feels amazing, this whole team – I cannot say enough, the fans that are here, I hope we put on a good show for you,” Allgaier said. “Aric and I were going at it, hats off to him he raced a heck of a race and just so proud of everybody on this Jarrett Camaro. To see the speed, we had off the truck, I was really sad about the sixth-place qualifying effort, and to be able to get here.”
What did Allgaier need?
“Clean air,” Almirola said. “We were evenly matched, I felt like. He was just so much better than me on the short run, and I would kind of run him back down on the long run. I thought that might play into our favor if it went green. And I thought my best shot was to cycle in front of him on the green flag stop, which we did. Our guys did a great job on pit road, and then I just misjudged some slower lapped traffic and he was able to get back by me. That honestly was the difference maker.”
Jesse Love scored a podium.
“We were faster than the two cars in front of us, and obviously, we didn’t have track position, so they would have needed to be really bad for us to catch them,” Love said. “I went into tire saving mode and then decided to go.
Zilisch contends
Connor Zilisch showed he was more than a road course ace, leading around 25 laps in the closing stages, but eventually faded in traffic and then was hit with a speeding penalty that relegated him to a ninth place finish.
“I definitely had a shot at it, which is why it’s so frustrating that I was speeding,” Zilisch told Frontstretch after the race. “I didn’t even think I was speeding. I thought I was under my lights and just took it easy. We were really good the first 15 laps of a run, and then got a little bit tight, and had such a good car.
“I was making so many mistakes out front, giving Allgaier space to get air by the line. I have some things to improve on, but got some solid points, and on to Homestead.”
Early playoff grid
Austin Hill
Justin Allgaier
Jesse Love
Connor Zilisch
Sam Mayer +56
Sammy Smith +42
Sheldon Creed +39
Taylor Gray +23
Ryan Sieg +19
Christian Eckes +13
Jeb Burton +7
Harrison Burton +5
—
Carson Kvpail -5
Brandon Jones -9
Nick Sanchez -16
Daniel Dye -16
Results
- Justin Allgaier
- Aric Almirola
- Jesse Love
- Austin Hill
- Sam Mayer
- Brandon Jones
- Ryan Sieg
- Harrison Burton
- Connor Zilisch
- Sheldon Creed
- Kyle Sieg
- Daniel Dye
- Christian Eckes
- Sammy Smith
- Dean Thompson
- Matt DiBenedetto
- Carson Kvapil
- Anthony Alfredo
- Taylor Gray
- Nick Sanchez
- Parker Retzlaff
- Brennan Poole
- Jeb Burton
- Jeremy Clements
- Kris Wright
- Blaine Perkins
- Garrett Smithley
- Patrick Emerling
- Josh Williams
- Leland Honeyman
- Josh Bilicki
- Dawson Cram
- Joey Gase
- Ryan Ellis
- Greg Van Alst
- Austin Green
- Mason Massey
- William Sawalich
