LAS VEGAS VALLEY, Nev. – The NASCAR Xfinity Series also begins the next round of the 2022 Playoffs this week with Saturday’s Alsco Uniforms 302 (3 p.m. ET on NBC, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Four different drivers have won the last four series races on the 1.5-mile Vegas track. JR Motorsports driver Josh Berry is the defending winner of this Fall Playoff race – earning a convincing 4.3-second victory over teammate Justin Allgaier in 2021.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs won at Las Vegas this March, edging Las Vegas native Noah Gragson. Berry finished fourth and Allgaier was fifth
All these drivers have advanced to the Round of 8 with Gragson atop the standings by 12-points over Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger. Gibbs is ranked third, 18 points back and Allgaier is fourth, 23 points back.
Berry, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill, JGR driver Brandon Jones and JR Motorsports’ Sam Mayer round out the Playoff Round of 8 competitors.
Although he is still winless in seven races at his “home track,” the Las Vegas native Gragson does have a pair of runner-up finishes (2020, 2022) in the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet and has never finished outside the top-10 in those seven starts.
Allmendinger, who won two of the three races in the last round of the Playoffs – back-to-back victories at Talladega (Ala.) and the Charlotte ROVAL – is also a former winner at Las Vegas taking the trophy in Spring, 2021. He’s finished top-10 in all three starts as well.
The 40-year-old is currently riding a string of 11 top-10 finishes – eight top-five finishes in the last eight races – with three of his five victories in the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet in that span. His 26 top-10 finishes through 29 races this season is best in the series.
Although he celebrated a victory the last time he raced in Vegas, Gibbs, 20, would love to have a good showing this weekend to sort of course-correct his championship hopes. He has six top-10 finishes in the seven races coming to Las Vegas – including all three Playoff races – but suffered a disappointing 36th-place finish in the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at Bristol, Tenn. last month.
Practice and qualifying for the Alsco Uniforms 302 will take place Friday evening beginning at 8:35 p.m. ET and airing on USA Network.
Source: Holly Cain/NASCAR Wire Service
