What’s Happening?

On Saturday, it was the NASCAR Xfinity Series driver’s turn to try their luck at the game of roulette that is Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The stars of tomorrow rumbled onto the strip to show the world what they could do. Unlike the truck race the night before, the forecast was ideal: bright and sunny with a pleasant light breeze. There were several stories heading into today’s race. The JRM drivers of Sammy Smith, Carson Kvapil, and Connor Zilisch showed some serious speed in qualifying. Also fast was Austin Hill who was looking to bounce back from his blunder last week in Phoenix.

With all that in mind, what drivers were able to beat the house and who lost it all? Let’s break it down. Here are the three main takeaways from today’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race in Sin City!

Things to Note:

• Sammy Smith scored to pole for today’s race with his teammates Justin Allgaier, Carson Kvapil, and Connor Zilisch not far behind him. Those Hendrick-powered hot rods were showing some serious speed in time trials which carried into the early stages of the race.
• A developing story throughout the race was the health of Josh Williams. Williams had been sick since the Phoenix race and was reportedly feeling awful from the start of the green flag. The contingency plan in place was for Ty Dillon to hop in the car. The driver change was made at the end of the first stage.
• Austin Hill had an up-and-down day. He had a fast car but a mistake on pit road saw him make an unscheduled pit stop for a loose wheel. Hill ended up going down a lap. He was, however, able to battle back. The 21 RCR Chevy ended the race in 4th, right behind his teammate Jesse Love.

Justin Allgaier Triumphs

Much like last week, Justin Allgaier and Aric Almirola were the key players in this race all day long. Allgaier won the first stage while Almirola took the second. The 7 JRM Chevy ended the second stage in the 2nd position. Despite the two falling behind on pit road during the Stage 2 break, the cream inevitably rose back to the top. They truly were the class of the field today and collectively, they put on a great show to end the race.

With 10 laps to go, Allgaier led with Almirola close behind but not yet able to pass him. As the two masterfully weaved their way through lapped traffic, the race for the lead got all the more intense. As the 19 of Almirola changed his line and started running high, he got into the marbles in the outside groove and got loose. This killed the 19’s momentum and he never recovered. Justin Allgaier went on to win the Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas after losing in a heart-breaking fashion last week.

Almirola and Allgaier Continue Their Dominance

Same old story from last week at Phoenix. Though Sammy Smith led a handful of laps in the opening stint of the race, he was eventually passed for the lead by JR Motorsports teammate and defending Xfinity Series champion, Justin Allgaier. Allgaier led the race to the end of the stage, collecting 10 stage points and yet another Playoff point for the postseason. Meanwhile, last week’s winner and NASCAR veteran Aric Almirola slowly worked his way through the strong wall of JRM Chevys, finding himself in the second position. Like Last week at Phoenix, Almirola was looking to rain on Allgaier’s parade early.

Allgaier lost a little bit of ground on pit road as he relinquished the lead to Almirola, falling to 6th. Upon the restart, Almirola flexed some of his JGR muscle and rocketed out front. Sammy Smith, Connor Zilisch, and Justin Allgaier trailed him. As the stage went on, the 7 of Allgaier came back into play. He regained the second position and started reeling in Almirola. With two laps to go in the stage, Allgaier briefly took the lead away after Almirola got trapped behind a lapped car. But after Allgaier slid up high coming out of turn-2, Almirola was able to pass him back. Almirola went on the win the stage, marking Toyota’s first stage win of the 2025 season.

Justin Allgaier regained the lead with 72 laps to go. Soon after cycling through green flag pit stops, Justin Allgaier and Aric Almirola once again found themselves in the 1 and 2 positions. As the laps wound down, it was clear that the 7 and 19 cars were going to settle this one amongst themselves. With his finish, Justin Allgaier qualified for next week’s Dash 4 Cash race. Almirola, however, did not qualify as he will not be running the race down in Homestead.

Austin Hill’s Bad Luck Continues

When we head to a superspeedway-style track, Austin Hill is instantly the driver that comes to mind for most fans. And though he isn’t nearly as dominant on intermediates and short tracks, he’s generally still pretty fast. That was no different this weekend in Las Vegas. But, like last week a Phoenix, Lady Luck was not on his side today in Sin City. However, this week wasn’t a mistake of his own doing, it was his team that cost him a ton of positions on track. During the second stage, Hill was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop after radioing in and complaining about a loose tire. This dropped him out of the top-25 in the running order and even cost him a lap.

When they lined back up for the restart, Austin Hill was granted the free pass. He restarted 23rd at the tale end of the lead lap cars. He was able to fight back, though, as he ended up scoring a top 5 finish. If this pit road mistake hadn’t happened, and considering the level of speed Hill showed in the closing laps of this race, he very well could have been in contention for the win.

Connor Zilisch Is More Than Just A Road Racer

Perhaps this goes without saying, but Connor Zilisch is certainly a rising star in NASCAR and may even be a generational talent at a similar level to Kyle Larson. We knew that he is good on road courses. He won in his Xfinity Series debut last year at Watkins Glen and followed that up with a win at COTA just a couple of weeks ago. But today, Zilisch proved that he can be a legitimate contender on intermediates as well. He qualified on the second row and ran solidly in the top 10 for much of the day. To start the second stage, Zilisch made a big move to pass the dominant cars of Justin Allgaier and Aric Almirola to snatch away the lead.

The 88 WeatherTech Chevy went on to lead a number of laps in the final stage of this race but a couple of rookie mistakes made his day come undone. First, he overdrove his car in the next to the final run of the race. This allowed Almirola and Allgaier to run him down as he faded back to 3rd. Then, during green flag pit stops, he sped on pit road. This meant that he had to serve a pass-through penalty under green. He was, however, able to stay on the lead lap. He finished the race in the 9th position. But, to his credit, he did score the Xfinity Fastest Lap Bonus point. If he can clean up some of his mistakes, he’ll no doubt win one of these intermediate races in the near future.

Conclusion

Well, that does it for us, Daily Downforce readers! How do you feel about this one? Did you find it exciting or boring? Are you happy to see Justin Allgaier take the checkered flag? Let us know your thoughts! Next week, the NASCAR Xfinity Series travel down south to Homestead-Miami Speedway! Be sure to tun in then for our coverage from Miami beach!