Josh Berry piloted his machine to a victory Saturday (Oct. 15) in the Alsco Uniforms 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and locked himself into the final round of the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs.
Behind him, Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier, Ty Gibbs and Trevor Bayne rounded out the top five. This marked the fifth win of Berry’s career, and despite being billed as a short-track aficionado, Berry is making quite the name for himself at the 1.5-mile tracks.
Despite Berry’s wheelman skills, several others found themselves in the spotlight in the desert, including some fresh faces to the Xfinity Series.
The Winners
If you’re tired of the Hailie Deegan content, too bad. Deegan’s first Xfinity Series start came at an interesting juncture — smack dab in the middle of the playoffs at a challenging track when tensions are highest. Her goal was an ambitious one: a top-15 performance in her debut. She met that goal and then a little more.
Deegan brought her ride home in 13th to complete one of the most anticipated and delivered debuts in recent Xfinity Series memory. Her first season in the Camping World Truck Series hasn’t gone as well as she had hoped, but some still have expressed interest for her to jump into the Xfinity ranks with so many drivers leaving the fold.
Delightful debut for Deegan.@HailieDeegan brings it home 13th in her #XfinitySeries debut, that’s the 2nd best result for the @SSGLR0708 No. 07 on a 1.5 mile track this season. pic.twitter.com/aMuCJ2VqsZ
— Xfinity Racing (@XfinityRacing) October 15, 2022
Deegan was the highest finishing Ford in the field, and it’s got plenty of people asking the same question: is the Truck Series the best place for development? Noah Gragson didn’t exactly light it up for Kyle Busch Motorsports when he drove KBM’s truck before jumping to the Xfinity Series. Deegan could be a very similar story, as her average finishing position in the Truck Series is only 22.0.
JR Motorsports yet again managed to slot all four of its drivers inside the top 10, all four of which also happen to be playoff drivers. Sam Mayer crossed the line in seventh for one of his better finishes of the season, but still short of where he needs to be to advance.
The Losers
AJ Allmendinger was riding high coming to Vegas after a commanding win at the ROVAL last week, and all signs were pointing to another successful run on Saturday. Those plans changed, though, as Allmendinger had to pit under green after…
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