AJ Allmendinger clinches Championship 4 spot by winning Xfinity race at Las Vegas: It was the first NASCAR Xfinity Series trophy of the season for A.J. Allmendinger but the timing was on point, his Playoff win in Saturday’s Ambetter Health 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway punching his ticket into next month’s season finale Championship race.(Read more)(10-19-2024)

Dominating the final stage, #16-AJ Allmendinger won the Ambetter Health 302 Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to advance to the Championship 4. This is Allmendinger’s first victory of the season and Kaulig Racing’s first triumph on a non-road course since June 2023 at Nashville. Allmendinger led a race-high 102 laps.
#28-Ryan Sieg finished runner-up, as he was closing on on Allmendinger in the final laps until a caution flew to set up a two-lap dash. Sieg spun his tires on the restart and took the checkered flag in second for the third time this season.
#7-Justin Allgaier led 42 laps en route to his 16th stage victory of the season in Stage 2, but dropped to third in the final stage. #81-Chandler Smith and #48-Parker Kligerman rounded out the top five.
#2-Jesse Love made a late charge to sixth. #98-Riley Herbst, #00-Cole Custer (Stage 1 winner), #18-Sheldon Creed and #21-Austin Hill filled out the top 10.
There were 13 lead changes among nine drivers and seven cautions for 31 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 127.215 mph. See race details at: Race Results, Driver Points Standings, Owner Points Standings, Cumulative Report, Penalty Report.

Las Vegas Paint Schemes

Race Fast Facts – Las Vegas:
AJ Allmendinger (P) won the Ambetter Health 302, his 18th victory in 128 Xfinity Series races.
This is his first victory and 16th top-10 finish in 2024.
This is his second victory and fifth top-10 finish in six races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Ryan Sieg (second) posted his fifth top-10 finish in 19 races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It is his eighth top-10 finish in 2024.
Justin Allgaier (P) (third) posted his 18th top-10 finish in 21 races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Jesse Love (P) (sixth) was the highest finishing rookie.
Justin Allgaier (P) leads the point standings by 16 points over Cole Custer (P).

Xfinity Series Standings after Las Vegas(Race 30 of 33):
1)#16-AJ Allmendinger, win
2)#7-Justin Allgaier 3,088, +32
3)#00-Cole Custer 3,072, +16
4)#81-Chandler Smith 2,064, +8
Currently below elimination line
5)#21-Austin Hill 3,056, -8
6)#2-Jesse Love 3,051, -13
7)#1-Sam Mayer 3,041, -23
8)#8-Sammy Smith 3,011, -53
See the Drivers Points Standings and Owners Points Standings.

Race Updates:
Lap 201: #16-Allmendinger wins at Las Vegas to clinch a spot into the Championship 4. #28-Sieg, #7-Allgaier, #81-Smith and #48-Kligerman round out the top five.
Lap 194: The seventh caution of the race flies for #8-Smith being stalled on the backstretch.
Lap 192: #28-Sieg gets loose underneath #16-Allmendinger while battling for the lead and loses half a second.
Lap 184: #28-Sieg is closing the gap on #16-Allmendinger, and is within three-tenths of a second.
Lap 178: #28-Sieg passes #81-Smith for second position. #16-Allmendinger leads by three-quarters of a second.
Lap 173: #16-Allmendinger wins the race off pit road, followed by #28-Sieg. #7-Allgaier dropped two spots to fifth.
Lap 170: #39-Sieg spins off Turn 4 to bring out the caution.
Lap 151: #11-Williams pits to end the cycle. #16-Allmendinger takes the lead with 50 laps remaining in the race.
Lap 149: #2-Love pits. #16-Allmendinger cycled out to be more than two seconds ahead of #7-Allgaier.
Lap 147: #48-Kligerman and #18-Creed pit, handing the lead to #2-Love.
Lap 145: #16-Race leader #16-Allmendinger pits for his final scheduled stop. #9-Jones and #21-Hill also get service.
Lap 144: #7-Allgaier pits from second position. #20-Almirola and #1-Mayer follow down pit road.
Lap 143: Both Stewart-Haas Racing drivers #00-Custer and #98-Herbst pit.
Lap 142: #81-Smith is the first of the leaders to pit from fourth position.
Lap 140: #8-Smith goes a lap down in 24th position.
Lap 138: #48-Kligerman has raced inside the top five after spending the majority of the race outside the top 10.
Lap 133: #16-Allmendinger has stretched the lead to 1.7 seconds as a round of pit stops approach.
Lap 126: #7-Allgaier gets the debris off his grille by drafting #35-Ogata.
Lap 120: #7-Allgaier checked in to see if #16-Allmendinger would back up to him to get debris off the grille. Allmendinger disobeyed.
Lap 112: #7-Allgaier has debris on his grille for the second time in the race. He trails #16-Allmendinger by half a second for the lead.
Lap 111: #8-Smith has dropped to 22nd with damage to the nose of his car from the restart wreck.
Lap 99: Richard Childress Racing teammates #2-Love and #21-Hill pit, as does #26-Heim, #74-Vargas and #43-Ellis, whose team is under the hood.
Lap 96: #19-Gray spins on the frontstretch after the field stacks up in the restart zone. #8-Smith got into the rear of Gray to trigger the wreck.
Lap 93: #16-Allmendinger leads the race off pit road, followed by #7-Allgaier, #00-Custer, #81-Smith and #98-Herbst.
Lap 90: #7-Allgaier wins Stage 2, his series-high 16th of the season. #16-Allmendinger, #28-Sieg, #9-Jones, #81-Smith, #00-Custer, #20-Almirola, #2-Love, #98-Herbst and #19-Gray earn stage points.
Lap 79: #00-Custer reports that he’s struggling with his car and has dropped to sixth. #20-Almirola has drove to ninth after restarting in the rear.
Lap 72: #16-Allmendinger has charged to second position, passing #28-Sieg and #00-Custer.
Lap 70: #21-Hill has dropped from inside the top to 16th in the last handful of laps and is struggling with the handling of his car.
Lap 61: #7-Allgaier has checked out to a lead of three seconds over #00-Custer. #28-Sieg has moved into third position.
Lap 51: #7-Allgaier takes the lead on the restart. #00-Custer drops to second, with #18-Creed, #28-Sieg and #1-Mayer rounding out the top five.
Lap 47: #98-Herbst leads the race off pit road, followed by #15-Allmendinger, #20-Almirola, #81-Smith, #9-Jones and #8-Smith.#00-Custer stayed out and remains the race leader. #20-Almirola will drop the rear for vehicle interference
Lap 45: #00-Custer wins Stage 1, his fourth stage victory of the season. #7-Allgaier, #98-Herbst, #16-Allmendinger, #18-Creed, #28-Sieg, #2-Love, #21-Hill, #9-Jones and #1-Mayer earn stage points. #81-Smith and #8-Smith dropped to 15th and 16th.
Lap 42: #00-Custer drives deep into Turn 3 to take the lead. #7-Allgaier sneaks by #98-Herbst for second.
Lap 39: #00-Custer is up to sixth after restarting outside the top 15. #98-Herbst takes the lead.
Lap 35: #00-Custer leads roughly half the field down pit road. #7-Allgaier, #28-Sieg, #2-Love, #21-Hill, #1-Mayer, #31-Retzlaff, #18-Creed led the way.
Lap 34: #15-Lupton gets into the wall to bring out the caution. #97-van Gisbergen is being pushed to the garage.
Lap 32: #97-van Gisbergen makes an unscheduled pit stop and the team goes under the hood. #9-Jones is cutting into the lead of #00-Custer.
Lap 23: #8-Smith has dropped to fourth, losing positions to his JR Motorsports teammates #9-Jones and #7-Allgaier.
Lap 13: #00-Custer takes the lead from #8-Smith. #1-Mayer has dropped 10 positions to 14th since the restart.
Lap 11: #7-Allgaier gets #81-Smith gets loose in Turn 3 and drops back to seventh.
Lap 9: #8-Smith makes a three-wide pass on the restart to get the lead from #9-Jones.
Lap 5: #42-Honeyman squeezed #14-Yeley and was turned into the outside wall.
Lap 1: #9-Jones leads the opening lap from the pole. #00-Custer and #81-Smith are side-by-side for second.

Cars to the rear: #18-Sheldon Creed (engine change), #91-Kyle Weatherman (unapproved adjustments)

Pit Stall Selections

For the fourth time in the 2024 season, #9-Brandon Jones will lead the field to the green flag of the Xfinity Series race. He scored the pole (183.430 mph) at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Saturday’s Ambetter Health 302.
#00-Cole Custer was the first of five straight Playoff drivers in second (183.167 mph). #81-Chandler Smith will start third (182.760 mph), with #1-Sam Mayer (182.642 mph) and #8-Sammy Smith (182.587 mph) rounding out the top five.
#7-Justin Allgaier, defending race winner #98-Riley Herbst, #2-Jesse Love, #16-AJ Allmendinger and #28-Ryan Sieg complete the top 10.
The lone Playoff driver to miss the top 10 in qualifying was #21-Austin Hill in 17th.
See the complete Las Vegas Starting Lineup.

Qualifying Fast Facts — Las Vegas
Brandon Jones won the Pole Award for the Ambetter Health 302 with a lap of 29.439 seconds, 183.430 mph.
This is his 12th pole in 299 NASCAR Xfinity Series races.
This is his fourth pole and 11th top-10 start in 2024.
This is his first pole in 16 races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Cole Custer (P) (second) posted his 22nd top-10 start of 2024 and his eighth in nine races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Chandler Smith (P) (third) posted his fourth top-10 start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It is his 24th in 30 races this season.
Jesse Love (P) (eighth) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

Qualifying Order

Practice for the Ambetter Health 302 Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is complete. The top five, slowest, news and notes:
#9-Brandon Jones 179.074 mph
#19-Taylor Gray 177.830 mph
#8-Sammy Smith 177.608 mph
#00-Cole Custer 177.462 mph
#98-Riley Herbst 177.438 mph
Slowest: #35-Akinori Ogata 166.538 mph
Most laps run: #81-Chandler Smith, 26
Notes: #18-Sheldon Creed ran the ninth quickest speed, but blew an engine and won’t attempt a qualifying lap. He will start at the rear of the race on Saturday.
See full Las Vegas Practice Results.

Crew Rosters

Goodyear Tire Notes

There are 38 drivers/teams on the entry list for the Ambetter Health 302 Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Every car will make the race.
Notables: #07-Myatt Snider, #10-Daniel Dye, #14-JJ Yeley, #15-Dylan Lupton, #19-Taylor Gray, #20-Aric Almirola, #26-Corey Heim, #35-Akinori Ogata, #45-Garrett Smithley, #53-Joey Gase, #74-Ryan Vargas, #92-Dawson Cram.
See the full Las Vegas Entry List.

Las Vegas At-Track Schedule