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The 2024 Ambetter Health 302 NASCAR XFINITY Series practice results offer insights into driver performance, including lap times, top speeds, and practice session leaders at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Ambetter Health 302

Saturday, October 19th, 2024

Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, NV

Previous race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
  • 25 Chevrolet
  • 5 Toyota
  • 7 Ford

  • Thursday, October 17th, 2024
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
Las Vegas is the first chance for Xfinity Playoff contenders to lock into the Championship Four

A week after the NASCAR Xfinity Series first thrilling Playoff elimination race, the series moves to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway 1.5-miler for Saturday’s Ambetter Health 302 (7 p.m. ET on the CW, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

JR Motorsports Justin Allgaier, who claimed the final Playoff transfer position a week ago at the Charlotte ROVAL, now leads the newly reseeded eight-driver standings by 18 points over the Championship 4 Round’s cut line with races at Las Vegas, Homestead-Miami and Martinsville, Va. to ultimately decide which four drivers will compete for the season trophy in the Nov. 9 Phoenix finale.

Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chandler Smith are nine and eight points – respectively – above the cutoff line entering this round.

Challenging those four are last weekend’s ultimate clutch race winner, JR Motorsports’ Sam Mayer (-8), RCR rookie Jesse Love (-12), Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger (-18) and a third JR Motorsports driver, Sammy Smith (-19), who won the Talladega, Ala. Playoff race two weeks ago.

“The win last week was a true testament to how hard this team works,” said Mayer, who had to win at the Charlotte ROVAL to advance in the Playoffs. “We knew we had one job and we did just that to keep ourselves in contention for the championship. Vegas has been hit or miss for me in the past, but it is a fun track to run at and I think we have great momentum to keep up the speed and effort to have a solid finish in the end.”

While this is a re-set for the Playoff drivers such as Mayer, there remains major motivation for the entire race field to change a strong trend at the track. However, the Vegas high-banks have historically been kind to the championship contenders since it became a part of the Playoffs seven years ago.

Five of the six previous Fall Vegas races have been won by Playoff drivers. Last Fall is the lone exception with SHR’s Riley Herbst claiming an emotional first career victory at his home track. He was one of four drivers just eliminated from 2024 Playoff contention at the ROVAL.

Among the Playoff drivers, Hill has celebrated the most in Las Vegas’s flashy Victory Lane with a NASCAR Xfinity Series win there last February and a pair of NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series wins in the spring of 2019 and 2020.

Allmendinger won the 2021 Spring NASCAR Xfinity Series race and Chandler Smith won the 2022 Spring Truck race at Vegas.

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series fulltime drivers Daniel Dye, Taylor Gray and Corey Heim join former NASCAR Cup Series regular Aric Almirola on the entry list this weekend.

Practice for the Ambetter Health 302 is Friday afternoon at 6:35 p.m. ET followed by qualifying at 7:05 p.m. ET – both sessions will be on USA Network and the NBC Sports App.

  • Ambetter Health 302
  • Pole Winner: Brandon Jones
  • Age: 27
  • Team : No 9 - Menards/Pelonis Chevrolet
  • Owner: Rick Hendrick
  • Crew Chief: Adam Wall
  • Brandon Jones won the Pole Award for the Ambetter Health 302 with a lap of 29439 seconds, 183430 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 (second) posted his 22nd top-10 start of 2024 and his eighth in nine races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
  • Chandler Smith (third) posted his fourth top-10 start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway It is his 24th in 30 races this season
  • Jesse Love (eighth) was the fastest qualifying rookie

  • Saturday, October 19th, 2024
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
Allmendinger locks up spot in Championship Race with win in Vegas

t 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.

The 42-year old Californian held off a hard-charging Ryan Sieg by a mere .156-second to claim his 18th career win – leading a race best 102 of the 201 laps in his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet. Allmendinger had to out-run and out-negotiate Sieg in the closing laps, ultimately getting the best of the field on a final re-start at the 1.5-miler with two laps remaining.

An exuberant Allmendinger – who is moving to the NASCAR Cup Series next year – climbed out of his Chevrolet, raising his arms to urge the crowd cheer and shouting congratulations to his team and his team owner Matt Kaulig, whose birthday was Saturday.

“I absolutely love these guys and girls at Kaulig Racing, it’s been such up-and-down but what I love about them is we stick together, we keep fighting,’’ Allmendinger said before turning toward his team and shouting, “Happy Birthday Matt Kaulig. The boss’s birthday I told you I was getting you a trophy. I love you.’’

“What a way to get to Phoenix after the year we’ve had. Let’s go win a championship. LET’S GOOOOOO!”

For Sieg – who is still looking for his first win in 364 Xfinity Series starts – Saturday’s near-miss marked the fifth runner-up showing of his career and second in just the last three races. He challenged Allmendinger mightily in the final 30 laps – passing him with nine laps to go, only to get passed right back the following lap.

“We had the best car on the longer run and I needed a long run and we were getting there,’’ the RSS Racing driver Sieg said afterward. “I just overdrove [turn] one and lost some of our track position, but I was able to gain it back. Just sucks to finish second again with a great car. One of these days it’s going to go our way.’’

Allmendinger’s fellow Playoff drivers, JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chandler Smith finished third and fourth. Parker Kligerman, who was eliminated from the Playoffs just last week, finished fifth.

Allgaier had a strong No. 7 Chevrolet, winning Stage 2 and leading 42 laps – second best to Allmendinger. His work didn’t get him the automatic Championship 4 berth but does put him atop the championship standings 32 points to the good with races at Homestead-Miami Speedway next week and then at the half-mile Martinsville, Va. track to formally decide which four drivers move to the Nov. 9 seasons finale eligible to compete for the season trophy.

“He did a great job and hats off to those guys to get a Chevrolet in victory lane,’’ Allgaier said of Allmendinger. “Ryan [Sieg] did a great job too.

“Really proud of this team. Yesterday in practice we weren’t as good as we wanted to be but they went to work and made good adjustments all day to put us in a good position.’’

“At the end there, just not able to get into dirty air like I wanted to,’’ he said, adding, “great start to the next round and obviously got some good stage points so we’ll move on to next week.’’

Richard Childress Racing rookie driver Jesse Love – a Playoff contender – was sixth, followed by Stewart-Haas Racing teammates, defending race winner Riley Herbst and Playoff driver Cole Custer. JGR’s Sheldon Creed – also eliminated from Playoff contention last week – was 10th.

Playoff contenders RCR’s Austin Hill and JR Motorsports’ Sam Mayer were 13th and 14th, respectively, with JR Motorsports’ Sammy Smith getting involved in an early race accident and finishing 32nd – last among the Playoff eight.

The reigning series champion Custer sits just behind Allgaier in the points standings – 16 points to the good with Chandler Smith in that fourth position, eight points to the good.

Hill (-8) is fifth followed by Love (-13), Mayer (-23) and Smith (-53).

The series moves to the Homestead-Miami Speedway 1.5-miler for next Saturday’s Credit One NASCAR Amex Credit Card 300 (4 p.m. ET, CW, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Mayer is the defending race winner.

  • Drivers Entered: 38
  • Laps Scheduled: 200
  • Laps Actual: 201 - NASCAR OVERTIME!
  • Margin of Victory: 0.156 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 2 Hours 22 Minutes 12 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 127.215
  • Cautions: 7 for 31 laps
  • Lead Changes: 13
  • Green Flag Passes: 2,323 (13.7 passes per green flag lap)

  • Ambetter Health 302
  • Race Winner: AJ Allmendinger
  • Age: 42
  • Team : No 16 - Modern Day Garage Chevrolet
  • Owner: Matthew Kaulig
  • Crew Chief: Alex Yontz
  • AJ Allmendinger 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 (third) posted his 18th top-10 finish in 21 races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
  • Jesse Love (sixth) was the highest finishing rookie
  • Justin Allgaier leads the point standings by 16 points over Cole Custer
AJ Allmendinger and Austin Hill talk on the grid during qualifying
Las Vegas, Nevada - October 18, 2024 : AJ Allmendinger, driver of the #16 Modern Day Garage Chevrolet, (L) and Austin Hill, driver of the #21 Global Industrial Chevrolet, talk on the grid during qualifying for the NASCAR Xfinity Ambetter Health 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Meg OliphantGetty Images
Entry List
Qualifying
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Ambetter Health 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Practice results
# DRIVER MAKE RNK SPD TME BHND LAP LAPS 5- 10- 15- 20- 25- 30- 10-LAP FRM TO
16 AJ Allmendinger Chevrolet 13 176.091 30.666 0.511 1 18 30.855 31.466 0 0 0 0 171.621 8 17
20 Aric Almirola Toyota 7 176.881 30.529 0.374 2 21 30.693 30.874 0 0 0 0 174.918 1 10
14 JJ Yeley Chevrolet 25 173.868 31.058 0.903 2 12 31.215 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
7 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 10 176.171 30.652 0.497 5 21 30.820 30.903 31.035 0 0 0 174.747 2 11
48 Parker Kligerman Chevrolet 6 177.427 30.435 0.280 2 19 30.685 30.913 31.069 0 0 0 174.697 1 10
53 Joey Gase Chevrolet 37 170.449 31.681 1.526 5 14 32.599 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
27 Jeb Burton Chevrolet 14 175.982 30.685 0.530 1 20 30.822 31.088 31.290 0 0 0 173.715 1 10
38 Matt DiBenedetto Ford 32 172.828 31.245 1.090 3 15 31.346 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
43 Ryan Ellis Chevrolet 28 173.260 31.167 1.012 3 10 31.839 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
15 Dylan Lupton Ford 22 174.927 30.870 0.715 1 14 32.100 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
28 Ryan Sieg Ford 8 176.864 30.532 0.377 1 19 30.719 30.892 0 0 0 0 174.813 1 10
91 Kyle Weatherman Chevrolet 21 175.154 30.830 0.675 1 9 31.070 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
44 Brennan Poole Chevrolet 26 173.516 31.121 0.966 3 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
00 Cole Custer Ford 4 177.462 30.429 0.274 2 18 30.580 30.751 30.914 0 0 0 175.615 1 10
45 Garrett Smithley Chevrolet 30 172.977 31.218 1.063 4 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
21 Austin Hill Chevrolet 11 176.142 30.657 0.502 3 19 30.804 31.003 0 0 0 0 174.188 1 10
9 Brandon Jones Chevrolet 1 179.075 30.155 0.000 2 24 30.822 30.843 30.997 31.136 0 0 175.171 1 10
51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 24 173.975 31.039 0.884 4 13 31.154 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
11 Josh Williams Chevrolet 23 174.797 30.893 0.738 4 17 31.678 32.085 0 0 0 0 168.435 6 15
Myatt Snider 34 172.205 31.358 1.203 2 14 31.517 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
98 Riley Herbst Ford 5 177.439 30.433 0.278 3 21 30.617 30.825 30.910 31.040 0 0 175.196 1 10
5 Anthony Alfredo Chevrolet 27 173.266 31.166 1.011 6 23 31.258 31.363 31.489 31.605 0 0 172.179 1 10
74 Ryan Vargas Chevrolet 35 170.762 31.623 1.468 5 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
18 Sheldon Creed Toyota 9 176.615 30.575 0.420 2 18 30.731 30.934 31.062 0 0 0 174.580 1 10
29 Blaine Perkins Ford 36 170.557 31.661 1.506 8 15 32.217 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
39 Kyle Sieg Ford 33 172.656 31.276 1.121 3 18 31.348 31.528 0 0 0 0 171.284 2 11
1 Sam Mayer Chevrolet 16 175.695 30.735 0.580 2 16 30.935 31.722 0 0 0 0 170.247 7 16
92 Dawson Cram Chevrolet 31 172.949 31.223 1.068 4 15 31.523 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
35 Akinori Ogata Chevrolet 38 166.538 32.425 2.270 10 17 32.579 32.622 32.725 0 0 0 165.535 4 13
81 Chandler Smith Toyota 12 176.131 30.659 0.504 2 26 30.800 30.932 31.106 31.231 31.380 0 174.581 1 10
26 Corey Heim Toyota 18 175.684 30.737 0.582 3 14 31.014 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
19 Taylor Gray Toyota 2 177.830 30.366 0.211 2 19 30.609 30.815 30.954 0 0 0 175.252 1 10
31 Parker Retzlaff Chevrolet 19 175.518 30.766 0.611 3 14 31.030 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
8 Sammy Smith Chevrolet 3 177.608 30.404 0.249 2 24 30.584 30.763 30.906 31.064 0 0 175.545 1 10
42 Leland Honeyman Jr Chevrolet 17 175.684 30.737 0.582 3 21 30.891 31.089 31.203 31.363 0 0 173.705 2 11
10 Daniel Dye Chevrolet 20 175.194 30.823 0.668 2 16 31.046 31.119 0 0 0 0 173.533 1 10
2 Jesse Love Chevrolet 15 175.838 30.710 0.555 2 21 30.849 31.638 0 0 0 0 170.693 9 18
97 Shane van Gisbergen Chevrolet 29 173.066 31.202 1.047 5 20 31.553 31.631 0 0 0 0 170.720 7 16