XFINITY: Justin Allgaier Avenges Phoenix Disappointment with Vegas Win

Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

A week after a heartbreaking loss on what was a dominating performance at Phoenix Raceway, Justin Allgaier returned with avengence in Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series The LiUNA! at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The JR Motorsports driver led over half of the 200-lap event as he finished the day with 102 laps led, including the final 49 laps of the race. In the closing laps though, Allgaier looked to have only the second-best car on track as Aric Almirola was threatening to steal his second win in a row.

However, just as Almirola was applying the most intense pressure that he had during the final run of the race, his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota GR Supra washed up high on the exit of Turn 4, which killed his momentum with three laps remaining. Allgaier was able to close it out as he crossed the finish line 1.067 seconds ahead of Almirola.

“It feels amazing, this whole team – I cannot say enough, the fans that are here, I hope we put on a good show for you. Aric [Almirola] and I were going at it, hats off to him he raced a heck of a race and just so proud of everybody on this Jarrett Camaro,” said Allgaier. “To see the speed, we had off the truck, I was really sad about the sixth-place qualifying effort, and to be able to get here.”

The victory is the first of Allgaier's career at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and it is his first victory of the 2025 season. Overall, the win marks the 26th career victory for Allgaier, the defending series champion.

Not only did Allgaier take home a trophy on Saturday, but he also assumed the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season championship lead. Allgaier holds a 19-point advantage over Jesse Love after the fifth race of the season.

Almirola, who won last weekend's race at Phoenix, feels like there was only one thing that could have helped him change the outcome of Saturday's race.

"Clean air," Almirola chuckled. "We were evenly matched, I felt like. He was just so much better than me on the short run, and I would kind of run him back down on the long run. I thought that might play into our favor if it went green. And I thought my best shot was to cycle in front of him on the green flag stop, which we did. Our guys did a great job on pit road, and then I just misjudged some slower lapped traffic and he was able to get back by me. That honestly was the difference maker."

Behind Allgaier and Almirola were Richard Childress Racing teammates Jesse Love, and Austin Hill, who captured wins earlier this season at Daytona International Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Haas Factory Team's Sam Mayer would cap off the finishers inside of the top-five of Saturday's The LiUNA!

Brandon Jones, Ryan Sieg, Harrison Burton, Connor Zilisch, and Sheldon Creed rounded out the top-10 finishers in the race.

For Burton, who drives for the No. 25 AM Racing team, this is already his third top-10 finish through the opening five races of the season. The AM Racing team recorded just two top-10 finishes all of last season. So, it's been quite the turnaround for the organization, which selected Burton to pilot its race cars this year.

Saturday's race was an Xfinity Dash4Cash qualifier race. With Almirola, who finished second, not slated to compete in next week's NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Homestead-Miami Speedway, that will leave Allgaier, Love, Hill, and Mayer to battle it out for the $100,000 bonus next weekend. Whichever driver finishes highest of the four will collect the big check.

Next up for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is the Hard Rock Bet 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. That race is set for Saturday, March 22, and will be televised by The CW. Television coverage of the event at Homestead will kick off at 4:00 PM ET.