John Hunter Nemechek wins big in Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas: Chandler Smith won the battle. John Hunter Nemechek won the war. The Joe Gibbs Racing teammates spent most of Saturday afternoon racing each other for the top spot in The LiUNA!, a 300-mile NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It was Nemechek who proved superior in the long run.(Read more)(3-2-2024)

After leading a race-high 99 laps, #20-John Hunter Nemechek won The LiUNA Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It’s his first win at Las Vegas and the 10th victory of his career.
Polesitter #00-Cole Custer finished runner-up, though never leading a lap. #81-Chandler Smith won both stages but faded in the final stage to third position. #21-Austin Hill and #98-Riley Herbst rounded out the top five.
#16-AJ Allmendinger, #39-Ryan Sieg, #8-Sammy Smith, #9-Brandon Jones and #7-Justin Allgaier completed the top 10.
There were 12 lead changes among five drivers and four cautions for 22 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 137.143 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:
John Hunter Nemechek(i) won the The LiUNA!, his 10th victory in 103 Xfinity Series races.
This is his first victory and second top-10 finish in 2024.
This is his first victory and fifth top-10 finish in seven races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Cole Custer (second) posted his sixth top-10 finish in eight races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It is his first top-10 finish in 2024.
Chandler Smith (third) posted his third top-10 finish in three races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Hailie Deegan (15th) was the highest finishing rookie.
Austin Hill leads the point standings by 22 points over Chandler Smith.

Xfinity Series Standings after Las Vegas (Race 3 of 33):
1)#21-Austin Hill 148 points (2 wins)
2)#81-Chandler Smith 126, -22
3)#98-Riley Herbst 121, -27
4)#16-AJ Allmendinger 105, -43
5)#00-Cole Custer 99, -49
6)#18-Sheldon Creed 96, -52
7)#2-Jesse Love 96, -52
8)#7-Justin Allgaier 94. -54
9)#8-Sammy Smith 86, -62
10)#9-Brandon Jones 81, -67
11)#48-Parker Kligerman 76, -72
12)#5-Anthony Alfredo 71, -77
See the Drivers Points Standings and Owners Points Standings.

Race Updates:
Lap 200: #20-Nemechek wins at Las Vegas, leading 99 laps. #00-Custer, #81-Smith, #21-Hill and #98-Herbst round out the top five. #16-Allmendinger, #39-Sieg, #8-Smith, #9-Jones and #7-Allgaier complete the top 10.
Lap 190: #11-Williams pits from the lead, cycling #20-Nemechek to the front.
Lap 168: Race leader #20-Nemechek pits.
Lap 167: #98-Herbst and #21-Hill pit from top-five spots.
Lap 166: #81-Smith pits from third position.
Lap 165: Green-flag pit stops are underway. #9-Jones pits from just outside the top 10.
Lap 144: #98-Herbst passes #81-Smith for second. Smith  is reporting a lack of lateral grip.
Lap 140: #20-Nemechek has stretched his lead out to nearly one second over #81-Smith with 60 laps remaining.
Lap 125: #20-Nemechek wins the race off pit road, ahead of #81-Smith. #21-Hill gained two spots, moving up to third.
Lap 122: Caution is out for #31-Retzlaff stalled at the end of pit road.
Lap 114: Race leader #81-Smith reports rain on the backstretch.
Lap 109: #81-Smith retakes the lead from #20-Nemechek with 90 laps remaining in the race.
Lap 97: #20-Nemechek passes #81-Smith for the lead on the second lap after the restart.
Lap 91: #81-Smith reports smoke in the cockpit following the stage win.
Lap 90: #81-Smith passes #20-Nemechek on the final lap of the stage to score the stage win. #98-Herbst, #7-Allgaier, #16-Allmendinger, #21-Hill, #2-Love, #48-Kligerman, #00-Custer and #39-Sieg score stage points.
Lap 82: #81-Smith is beginning to close the gap on #20-Nemechek for the lead. #2-Love runs eighth and has the fastest car on the track.
Lap 57: #21-Hill drops to seventh before getting the debris off his grille.
Lap 55: #20-emechek takes the lead from #21-Hill, who is trying to get debris off his grille.
Lap 49: #21-Hill wins the race off pit road; #81-Smith lost six spots and dropped to seventh with an issue with the jack.
Lap 45: #81-Smith leads all 45 laps in the opening stage to earn the playoff point. #20-Nemechek, #21-Hill, #98-Herbst and #00-Custer are the top five. #16-Allmendinger, #7-Allgaier, #48-Kligerman, #39-Sieg and #9-Jones round out the top 10.
Lap 28: #97-van Gisbergen has lost power and brings his car to pit road for the team to go under the hood.
Lap 20: #7-Allgaier has raced to the top 10 from starting at the rear of the field.
Lap 13: #31-Retzlaff pits for a flat tire as the field takes the green flag to restart.
Lap 9: #1-Mayer is done for the day after the contact with #31-Retzlaff. #32-Karam has also been pushed behind the wall after running just one lap.
Lap 8: #31-Retzlaff spun off turn 4 with contact from #8-Smith to bring out the first caution. #1-Mayer ran into Retzlaff.
Lap 4: #20-Nemechek has gained 10 spots since the beginning of the race, moving to second position behind #81-Smith.
Lap 1: #81-Smith takes the lead while polesitter #00-Custer dropped four spots to fifth.

Cars to the rear: #5-Anthony Alfredo (backup car); #7-Justin Allgaier, #29-Blaine Perkins, #32-Sage Karam (unapproved adjustments)

Pit Stall Selections

For the third time in his career, #00-Cole Custer won an Xfinity Series pole at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. His speed of 181.281 mph squeaked out the pole by .017 seconds ahead of #81-Chandler Smith (181.178 mph).
#16-AJ Allmendinger will start third (180.578), followed by #31-Parker Retzlaff (180.078 mph) and #21-Austin Hill (179.928 mph) rounding out the top five.
#39-Ryan Sieg will lineup sixth, as #48-Parker Kligerman, #8-Sammy Smith, #18-Sheldon Creed and #19-Aric Almirola complete the top 10.
The most recent winner at Las Vegas, #98-Riley Herbst, just missed the top 10 in 11th. #7-Justin Allgaier didn’t complete a lap, as he got loose in the middle of Turns 1 and 2. #5-Anthony Alfredo didn’t post a lap either, as his Our Motorsports team will go to a backup car.
All 38 cars qualified for the race.
See the complete Las Vegas Starting Lineup.

Qualifying Fast Facts — Las Vegas
Cole Custer won the Pole Award for the The LiUNA! with a lap of 29.788 seconds, 181.281 mph.
This is his 19th pole in 146 NASCAR Xfinity Series races.
This is his first pole and first top-10 start in 2024.
This is his third pole in eight races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Chandler Smith (second) posted his first top-10 start of 2024 and his third in three races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
AJ Allmendinger (third) posted his fifth top-10 start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It is his third in three races this season.
Jesse Love (15th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

Qualifying Order

Practice for The LiUNA NASCAR Xfinity Series is complete. After 50 minutes, the top five, slowest, news and notes:
#9-Brandon Jones 177.497 mph
#00-Cole Custer 177.485 mph
#31-Parker Retzlaff 176.904 mph
#8-Sammy Smith 176.713 mph
#7-Justin Allgaier 176.453 mph
Slowest: #38-CJ McLaughlin 164.408 mph.
Most laps run: #8-Smith, #81-Chandler Smith, 31
Notes: Multiple teams were still going through inspection as practice got underway, including #27-Jeb Burton and #97-Shane van Gisbergen. With seven minutes remaining, #5-Anthony Alfredo blew a right front tire and made heavy contact with the wall.
See full Las Vegas Practice Results.

Crew Rosters

Goodyear Tire Notes

There are 38 drivers/teams on the entry list for The LiUNA NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. No drivers will miss the race.
Notables: #6-Garrett Smithley, #07-Patrick Emerling, #14-JJ Yeley, #19-Aric Almirola, #26-Corey Heim, #32-TBA, #35-Joey Gase, #78-BJ McLeod, #92-Nick Leitz
See the full Las Vegas Entry List.

Las Vegas At-Track Schedule