Riley Herbst scores hometown win at Las Vegas

Here are some takeaways from the playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Mission accomplished

Riley Herbst announced the week prior to Saturday’s race at Las Vegas that he would return to Stewart-Haas Racing for the 2024 season. There were rumblings that he could potentially move up to Cup. He ultimately stayed in the No. 98.

As the NBC Sports broadcast team explained during the Xfinity race, Herbst didn’t want to move up to Cup before winning in Xfinity. He had 23 top-five finishes with three runner-ups. He just didn’t have a win.

Herbst accomplished this goal on Saturday. He won for the first time in a national NASCAR series.

Herbst now has a win on his resume and the confidence it brings. He will enter the 2024 season with an opportunity to get back into the playoffs and contend for more trips to Victory Lane.

“We just beat everybody in the playoffs trying to go to Phoenix,” Herbst said during his post-race press conference. “They all brought their best stuff and we whupped them by 10 seconds. Everybody said I can’t do it, couldn’t do it, won’t win, not good enough.

“I just flat out just beat them. So I’m pretty happy with myself, happy with Stewart-Haas Racing for sticking behind me. This is a huge weight off my shoulders. And I’m so relieved to be here in Victory Lane and in my home city.”

Building for the future

Layne Riggs, a NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national champion, made his Xfinity debut at Texas in September. He did not have a smooth weekend.

Riggs crashed during practice at the intermediate track. He was then involved in an incident during stage 1 of the race. He went on to finish 19th after starting last.

Riggs made his second start Saturday at Las Vegas. He turned in a stronger performance. He qualified ninth and ran around the top 10 all day. Riggs ultimately finished 10th.

Riggs has one more start on his schedule. He will return to the No. 11 at Martinsville on Oct. 28. This is another opportunity to potentially impress Xfinity teams and put together a deal for next season.

“I love Martinsville, I race there a lot,” Riggs told NBC Sports’ Dustin Long after the race. “I know it’s going to be a lot different, heavier car, radial tire, more horsepower. I think I’ll adapt quick. Just my short track knowledge at Martinsville — I think I race there sometimes even more than these guys do.

“To take that and then to take the Xfinity knowledge I have now, being so fresh in the short track scene, I feel like we can have a shot to go win the race.”

The work continues

Herbst’s win was the story of the late afternoon. There was another that continued into the evening. This is one that will have an impact on Sunday’s Cup race.

Chase Elliott crashed during Cup practice on Saturday afternoon after his car blew a right-rear tire. He went back to the garage, where Hendrick Motorsports determined that they would need to bring out the backup car.

While the Xfinity teams raced around the 1.5-mile tri-oval, Elliott’s team worked in the garage. After more than six hours of effort, they had the wrap on the body and the majority of work complete. However, there was still more to do.

The team’s effort and long hours will pay off. The car will be ready for Sunday’s race. It will just have to go through pre-race inspection in the morning.

Elliott will have to start Sunday’s race from the rear of the field. He will attempt to work his way through the field at a track where he has five top-10 finishes and three top fives.

One race of the Round of 8 is complete. None of the drivers have secured a spot in the Championship 4.

Riley Herbst, a non-playoff driver, won his hometown race. His teammate, Cole Custer, used the race to shake up the cutline.

Driver points after Las Vegas | Owner points after Las Vegas

Custer locked up 19 stage points before finishing third in the race. This helped him move from two points below the cutline to 15 points above.

Sam Mayer entered the race two points above the cutline. He scored three stage points and finished fifth but fell to 16 points below the cutline. Kaulig Racing’s Chandler Smith is the first driver below the cutline. He is one point ahead of Mayer.

Sammy Smith scored 10 stage points but fell to 35 points below the cutline. He finished two laps down after multiple loose wheels sent him down pit road for unscheduled stops.

Sheldon Creed is the last driver below the cutline. He missed out on points in the first two stages and finished 15th. He is 41 points out of the final transfer spot to the Championship 4.

Austin Hill and Justin Allgaier made minor moves after Las Vegas. Allgaier entered the weekend 17 points above the cutline. He is now 21 points above after finishing sixth with 11 stage points.

Hill entered the weekend 21 points above the cutline. He fell to 19 points above after finishing seventh with six stage points.

John Hunter Nemechek kept his spot atop the standings. He went from 37 points above the cutline to 47 points above after finishing second with 13 stage points. Like Herbst, he started the race at the rear of the field.

“We didn’t get to qualify, started last, got up to the front and battled in the top-five,” Nemechek told NBC Sports. “I think we got to sixth for the first stage. Called my shot, got stage points. Kind of just missed the balance there a little bit compared to the 98.

“The car was as fast as Xfinity 10G. I think we are 40 something above the cutline, so solid points day, we just have to keep on with it. I’m looking forward to Homestead next week.”

None of the playoff drivers secured a spot in the Championship 4. Riley Herbst won the Round of 8 race at Las Vegas.

Click here to see where everyone finished at Las Vegas.

Click here for the penalty report.

Click here for the cumulative report.

For the first time in a national NASCAR series, Riley Herbst is a winner.

The Stewart-Haas Racing driver dominated the final stage of the race. He built up a lead of nearly 15 seconds over the field and took the checkered flag for the first time in his career. He then jumped up and down on the top of his car.

John Hunter Nemechek finished second, Cole Custer was third, Chandler Smith was fourth and Sam Mayer was fifth.

Justin Allgaier, Austin Hill, Brandon Jones, Daniel Hemric and Layne Riggs rounded out the top 10. Only 10 drivers finished on the lead lap.

There are 20 laps left at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Riley Herbst has an opportunity to score his first national NASCAR series win.

The Stewart-Haas Racing driver has a lead of 13 seconds over John Hunter Nemechek in second. He continues to lap other drivers while working his way around the 1.5-mile tri-oval.

Chandler Smith is in third while Cole Custer is in fourth. Sam Mayer, who hasn’t finished inside the top 30 at a 1.5-mile track since March, is in fifth.

Justin Allgaier in sixth and Austin Hill in seventh are the only other playoff drivers inside of the top 10. Sheldon Creed is 14th while Sammy Smith is 17th and two laps down.

The leaders have made their green flag pit stops at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

With the final stage running caution-free, the teams had to choose the best time to come down pit road for fuel and tires. For race leader Riley Herbst, this was Lap 143.

Herbst had a lead of more than five seconds, and he used it to keep his distance between himself and Cole Custer in second. He blended back onto the track ahead of his teammate and cycled back to the lead.

Custer and John Hunter Nemechek had both pitted one lap earlier to potentially take the lead from Herbst. This strategy did not work. They were both still behind Herbst after his pit stop.

Sammy Smith, who stopped on Lap 143 with Herbst, made a second stop on Lap 148. NBC Sports’ Dave Burns reported that Smith had a loose wheel on his car.

This was Smith’s second loose wheel of the day and it knocked him out of contention for a top-10 finish. He fell two laps behind the leaders while on pit road.

Two stages are complete at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and seven of the eight playoff drivers have scored stage points.

Cole Custer has been the most productive on Saturday. He won the opening stage and then finished second in stage 2. This locked up 19 stage points and one playoff point.

Rookie Chandler Smith has scored crucial points as well. He has locked up 14 in the first two stages. John Hunter Nemechek is third with 13 stage points.

Justin Allgaier (11), Sammy Smith (10), Austin Hill (six) and Sam Mayer (three) are the other playoff drivers that scored stage points. Sheldon Creed is the only playoff driver that finished outside of the top 10 in the first two stages.

Cole Custer was the leader on the final lap of stage 2 at Las Vegas but was unable to score his second stage win of the day.

Riley Herbst was the reason. Custer’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammate used the bottom to pass him and John Hunter Nemechek on the final two laps of the stage. He went on to take the green and white checkered flag.

Custer finished second. Nemechek finished third. Justin Allgaier, Daniel Hemric, Chandler Smith, Josh Berry, Sam Mayer, Sammy Smith and Brandon Jones all scored stage points.

Austin Hill in 13th and Sheldon Creed in 14th were the two playoff drivers that missed out on stage points.

The red flag was displayed on Lap 55 after Kaz Grala’s engine expired and left fluid on the track. The race resumed after a stoppage lasting eight minutes and 35 seconds.

Cole Custer led the field to the green flag on Lap 59 and jumped back to the front of the pack after entering the restart zone. John Hunter Nemechek jumped up to second after passing Daniel Hemric. Justin Allgaier also passed Hemric and moved into third.

Austin Hill, who was sixth before the caution, restarted outside of the top 20. The reason is that he had a loose left-rear wheel on his Chevrolet. Though he was able to quickly work his way back up to 16th.

The second stage at Las Vegas started in the same way as the first — an engine expired and brought out the caution.

The latest incident occurred on Lap 54. Smoke began pouring from Kaz Grala’s Toyota as he moved up toward the wall. His engine expired, which led to fluid covering part of the track.

The result was a multi-car crash that collected Rajah Caruth, Anthony Alfredo, Kyle Weatherman, Jeremy Clements and Josh Williams.

Sammy Smith, who had to pit twice during the stage break, could have been collected in the multi-car incident. However, his spotter guided him down to the apron of the track. He avoided other cars and was able to continue in the race.

NASCAR had to display the red flag due to the fluid on the track and the cleanup required.

“Just was going down the frontstretch, heading into Turn 1 — was actually making a pass — and it just let go as soon as let off the throttle going into the corner, and I was along for the ride in my own oil,” Grala said. “It looks like there were several others in the same boat behind me.”

Cole Custer started Saturday’s race below the Championship 4 cutline. He has made significant moves early.

The Stewart-Haas Racing driver won the opening stage at Las Vegas. This locked up 10 points and one playoff point. This was key considering that he was only two points out of the final transfer spot to the Championship 4 at the start of the day.

Chandler Smith finished second in stage 1. Sammy Smith, Daniel Hemric, Austin Hill, John Hunter Nemechek, Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Parker Kligerman and Riley Herbst all scored stage points.

Sheldon Creed finished the stage 13th. Sam Mayer finished the stage 15th. They were the only playoff drivers that did not score stage points.

Josh Berry started Saturday’s race at Las Vegas from the pole. Chandler Smith took the lead after an early caution, but it was Cole Custer who took advantage near the end of stage 1.

Smith passed Berry on Lap 11 and continued to lead as the laps counted down in stage 1. He initially held off Custer at the track where he led over 100 laps in the spring, but Custer used the outside to take the lead.

Berry, for comparison, began to fall through the field after the restart on Lap 19. He could not hold off Justin Allgaier, Austin Hill, Sammy Smith, Daniel Hemric and John Hunter Nemechek.

The Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas has experienced two quick stoppages in the first 13 laps.

The first caution was for Patrick Emerling’s mechanical issue on Lap 4 that ended his day. The second caution was for Joe Graf Jr. making hard contact with the wall.

Graf could be heard over the radio making a comment about Brett Moffitt. The replay showed that Moffitt hit the wall right in front of Graf, leading to contact between the two. Graf spun into the outside wall in an incident that ended his day.

John Hunter Nemechek has steadily worked his way through the field despite the quick cautions. He was up to 15th before Graf hit the wall.

Chandler Smith, who led 118 laps in the spring, took the lead from Josh Berry prior to the caution.

The action at the front of the pack was the focus during the first three laps of the Xfinity race at Las Vegas. A caution became the prominent story on Lap 4.

Patrick Emerling was the cause. His No. 53 had a major mechanical issue, which led to smoke billowing out of the car as he made his way back to pit road. Emerling reported that he had no fuel pressure after the incident.

Josh Berry was in the lead at the time of the caution. Chandler Smith was in second and Cole Custer was in third. Daniel Hemric and Sammy Smith rounded out the top five.

John Hunter Nemechek, who started from the rear of the field after being unable to qualify, worked his way up to 19th in the first three laps of the race.

The honorary starter has waved the green flag and kicked off the second round of the Xfinity playoffs.

Josh Berry led the field to the green flag with Cole Custer on his inside. Once the entered the restart zone, the two drivers battled side-by-side.

Berry was able to clear Custer in Turn 3 using his momentum on the outside. Chandler Smith dove to the inside and took second from Custer. Daniel Hemric was able to move up into fourth after passing Sammy Smith on the outside.

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Josh Berry will lead the Xfinity Series field to the green flag for Saturday afternoon’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET, USA).

Berry won the pole with a lap of 181.996 mph. This is his fourth career pole and his third of the season. Berry’s last pole win was Michigan where he finished second.

Cole Custer will start second with a lap of 181.702 mph. Custer is followed by Sammy Smith (181.446 mph), Chandler Smith (181.226 mph) and Parker Retzlaff (181.184 mph).

MORE: Xfinity starting lineup

Daniel Hemric (owner championship) in sixth (180.880 mph), Justin Allgaier in seventh (180.717 mph) and Austin Hill in 10th (179.976 mph) are the only other playoff drivers inside of the top 10.

Sam Mayer will line up 14th with a lap of 178.849 mph. Sheldon Creed will line up 15th with a lap of 178.566 mph.

For the second week in a row, John Hunter Nemechek will start from the rear of the field after his crew discovered an oil leak in practice. He was not able to take part in qualifying.

Ryan Reed, a two-time Daytona winner, will make his first Xfinity start since the 2018 season. He qualified 25th with a lap of 176.707 mph.

Justin Allgaier has 18 career Xfinity starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He has only failed to finish one race. An engine failure in 2019 sent the No. 7 to the garage early.

Allgaier has finished top 15 or better in every other Xfinity race at Las Vegas. This includes 15 top 10s and 10 top fives. He finished second this spring, third in last season’s playoff race, fifth in last season’s spring race and second in 2021’s playoff race.

Allgaier enters the Round of 8 sitting 17 points above the playoff cutline. If he continues his consistency at one of his best tracks, he could leave Nevada with a bigger point cushion or even a win.

Other storylines to watch:

--Sam Mayer won his way into the Round of 8 at the Charlotte Roval. This was his third win of the season. Now he heads to Las Vegas two points above Cole Custer and the cutline. This race will be one of his biggest tests.

Mayer ranks 25th in points earned on 1.5-mile tracks this season with 45. For comparison, John Hunter Nemechek is first with 207 points earned on 1.5-mile tracks. Austin Hill is second with 191 points earned.

Mayer’s seventh-place finish at Las Vegas in the spring is his only top-30 finish on 1.5-mile tracks. He finished 35th at Charlotte, 37th at Kansas and 38th at Texas. Whether he breaks this streak could play a role in him making the Championship 4.

--The regular season featured a battle between Hill and Nemechek. Both were in contention for the regular-season championship until the season finale at Kansas. Hill captured the trophy and the 15 bonus points while Nemechek won the race. Now Nemechek is the points leader on the strength of 10 stage wins and a series-high seven race wins.

The two contenders will be drivers to watch once again at Las Vegas. They are in a tie for the most top-five finishes in the series at 15 each. They have also both been strong at the 1.5-mile track. Nemechek has three top-10 finishes and one top five in five starts. Hill has two top-10 finishes and one win in four starts.

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