March 2, 2024 | By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

John Hunter Nemechek wins Xfinity race at Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — 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.

After Smith won the first two stages of the race—the second with a deft last-lap pass of Nemechek’s No. 20 Toyota—Nemechek asserted his dominance.

By the time Nemechek crossed the finish line at the end of Lap 200, he held a 4.360-second lead over pole winner Cole Custer, who had charged into second place after a late cycle of green-flag pit stops.

“Hats off to all the guys on this 20 team for Joe Gibbs Racing, said Nemechek, who led a race-high 99 laps in securing his first victory of the season, his first at Las Vegas and the 10th of his career.

“Man, it’s awesome to come out here and win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with a limited number of starts. Our goal is to come and win as many as we possibly could. Nothing else matters.

“Congrats to Tyler (Allen). He’s the crew chief this year on the 20 car—his first win as a crew chief. Our spotter, Ryan Blanchard—his first win as well… Man, it feels so good to win here in Las Vegas. Got to rest for tomorrow., so I’m excited.”

Now full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series with Legacy Motor Club, Nemechek will race in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Smith arguably had the best car in the race until he pitted with the rest of the field at the second stage break.

“We just over-adjusted a little bit,” said Smith, who led 74 laps, including the first 49, and came home third. “(We were) trying to stay ahead of the race track, and it feels actually like it might have gotten a little colder as well.

“It felt like track definitely freed up, and we went in that same direction, thinking it was going to tighten up. So you live and you learn… We were pretty dominant and we just over-adjusted, but I’m happy that a Joe Gibbs Racing car still won.”

Austin Hill, who triumphed in the first two races of the season, at Daytona and Atlanta, was fourth, with Riley Herbst finishing fifth after dominating the Las Vegas race last fall. AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones and Justin Allgaier completed the top 10.

Hill retained his series lead by 22 points over Smith in second. Hailie Deegan was the top Sunoco rookie with a 15th-place finish.

For the second time in three races, ill fortune beset JR Motorsports’ Sam Mayer, who completed just 22 of 120 laps in the season opener at Daytona.

Mayer was running 10th on Lap 8 on Saturday when the No. 31 Chevrolet of fifth-place qualifier Parker Retzlaff turned sideways in front of him and slammed into the right side of Mayer’s car, knocking him out of the race.

“It’s just the year from hell,” Mayer said. “Very frustrating and unfortunate and can’t wait to get to Phoenix (for next Saturday’s race).”

Another early casualty was New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen, who took his Kaulig Racing Chevrolet behind the wall with overheating problems after completing 27 laps.

Van Gisbergen and Mayer finished 37th and 38th, respectively, in the 38-car field.



NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 3
Race Results for the The LiUNA! - Saturday, March 2, 2024
Las Vegas Motor Speedway - Las Vegas, NV - 1.5 - Mile Paved

Total Race Length - 200 Laps - 300. Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 3/2/2024 @ 07:42 PM Eastern

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 12 20 John Hunter Nemechek(i) Safeway/Albertsons Toyota 200 2 2 0 Running 5 99
2 1 00 Cole Custer Production Alliance Group Ford 200 5 9 43 Running  
3 2 81 Chandler Smith QuickTie Toyota 200 1 1 54 Running 4 74 2
4 5 21 Austin Hill Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 200 3 6 46 Running 1 6
5 11 98 Riley Herbst Monster Energy Ford 200 4 3 47 Running  
6 3 16 AJ Allmendinger Action Industries Chevrolet 200 6 5 42 Running  
7 6 39 Ryan Sieg Sci Aps Ford 200 9 10 33 Running  
8 8 8 Sammy Smith Pilot Flying J/BTI Chevrolet 200   29 Running  
9 13 9 Brandon Jones Menards/Jeld-Wen Chevrolet 200 10  29 Running  
10 36 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Chevrolet 200 7 4 38 Running 1 11
11 7 48 Parker Kligerman Spiked Lite Coolers Chevrolet 200 8 8 32 Running  
12 10 19 Aric Almirola He Gets Us Toyota 200   25 Running  
13 16 26 Corey Heim(i) GearWrench Toyota 200   0 Running  
14 32 11 Josh Williams Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet 199   23 Running 1 10
15 28 15 Hailie Deegan # AirBox Ford 199   22 Running  
16 37 5 Anthony Alfredo Dude Wipes Chevrolet 199   21 Running  
17 15 2 Jesse Love # Whelen Chevrolet 199  7 24 Running  
18 19 42 Leland Honeyman # LH Waterfront Construction Chevrolet 199   19 Running  
19 18 44 Brennan Poole Macc Door Systems Chevrolet 199   18 Running  
20 27 28 Kyle Sieg TOPPOOL.com Ford 199   17 Running  
21 20 91 Kyle Weatherman DriveSmartWarranty.com Chevrolet 199   16 Running  
22 23 43 Ryan Ellis Classic Collision Chevrolet 199   15 Running  
23 21 27 Jeb Burton State Water Heaters Chevrolet 198   14 Running  
24 22 14 JJ Yeley  Chevrolet 198   13 Running  
25 17 51 Jeremy Clements First Pacific Funding Chevrolet 197   12 Running  
26 9 18 Sheldon Creed Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota 197   11 Running  
27 31 92 Nick Leitz Precision Measurements Inc Chevrolet 197   10 Running  
28 30 07 Patrick Emerling Frontline Optics Chevrolet 196   9 Running  
29 33 6 Garrett Smithley Teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet 195   8 Running  
30 38 35 Joey Gase Nevada Donor Network Chevrolet 195   7 Running  
31 29 29 Blaine Perkins AutoParkit.com Ford 195   6 Running  
32 24 78 BJ McLeod BJ McLeod Motorsports Chevrolet 195   5 Running  
33 34 38 CJ McLaughlin Viking Motorsports Ford 194   4 Running  
34 26 4 Dawson Cram # KSDT CPA Chevrolet 192   3 Running  
35 4 31 Parker Retzlaff FUNKAWAY Chevrolet 115   2 Fuel Pump  
36 35 32 Sage Karam EasyCare Chevrolet 104   1 Transmission  
37 25 97 Shane Van Gisbergen # Focused Health Chevrolet 27   1 Engine  
38 14 1 Sam Mayer Club Car Chevrolet 7   1 Accident  

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 11 Mins, 15 Secs. Average Speed: 137.143 MPH Margin of Victory: 4.360 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 81, 20, 21, 98, 00, 16, 7, 48, 39, 9
Stage 2 Top 10: 81, 20, 98, 7, 16, 21, 2, 48, 00, 39

Caution Flags: 4 for 22 laps; Laps: 9-13 (#1, 31 incident turn 4 [None]); 47-53 (Stage 1 Conclusion [14]); 92-96 (Stage 2 Conclusion [14]); 124-128 (#31 stalled on track [51]).

Lead Changes: 12 among 5 drivers; C. Custer 0; C. Smith 1-49; A. Hill 50-55; J. Nemechek(i) 56-89; C. Smith 90-97; J. Nemechek(i) 98-99; C. Smith 100; J. Nemechek(i) 101-109; C. Smith 110-125; J. Nemechek(i) 126-168; J. Allgaier 169-179; J. Williams 180-189; J. Nemechek(i) 190-200.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series