There’s something about the postseason that just brings out the best in some drivers.
Such was the case with AJ Allmendinger, who led 102 laps en route to victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Ambetter Health 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Saturday (Oct. 19).
Allmendinger took the lead on pit road, getting out ahead of Justin Allgaier during the stage two break. He held the position even after a spin for Kyle Sieg brought out the caution with less than 30 laps to go.
However, Ryan Sieg‘s team brought a rocket ship, as the No. 28 made headway within the next 15 laps and began to battle the No. 16 for the lead.
A caution for a stalled Sammy Smith derailed Sieg’s efforts, bunching up the field for one last restart. Allmendinger shot out to the lead and held off Sieg’s advances to take the win and secure his position in the Championship 4.
Ryan Sieg was second, Allgaier finished third, Chandler Smith fourth and Parker Kligerman rounded out the top-five.
Winners
This was without a doubt Allmendinger’s best performance all season, and it came at an important time. He now has a chance to win an Xfinity championship before he heads back to the Cup Series next year.
The win was his seventh top-five finish of the year and second straight, finishing runner-up last weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL. Though Allmendinger hasn’t led as many laps as some of his playoff peers, his ability to earn stage points (especially at Talladega Superspeedway and the ROVAL) helped him get to the Round of 8. Now with a win, he’ll hope to carry the momentum all the way to Phoenix Raceway.
Ryan Sieg may have been on the losing end of the battle, but he still had the chance to play spoiler. Plus, it was a big points boost for the No. 28 team, after he switched numbers with Kyle Sieg to help it in the owners standings.
After earning two top fives and four top 10s on the regular 1.5-mile tracks, Ryan Sieg and his team will be able to build on the success and race-winning speed for next year’s races.
Allgaier seemed to shake that monkey off his back that brought him bad luck over the past couple months. He led several laps early on and clearly had a fast No. 7, but a slightly slower pit stop allowed the No. 16 to be the control car on restarts. His car also seemed to change a bit when the sun went down (and a piece of debris and possible alternator issue didn’t help either).
Still, he overcame those troubles to…
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