The Rick Hendrick Chevrolets ran wild at Las Vegas Motor Speedway as William Byron led 176 laps en route to his first win of the NASCAR season. Teammates Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman finished second and third as the three drivers combined to lead 241 of the 271 laps on the day. Byron joins Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch as automatic qualifiers for the playoffs.
Byron had the dominant car all day. He started on the outside pole and finished first in the first two stages on the day. But things looked bleak for Byron as he fell behind his teammate, Kyle Larson, in the final stage of the race. Byron was closing on Larson in the final ten laps, but it appeared he was going to come up short until Aric Almirola crashed sending the race into overtime and forcing a decision from the crew chiefs.
Both Byron and Larson decided to pit, taking two tires, but Byron’s crew was just a tad bit faster, getting him out ahead of Larson. They restarted second and third due to Martin Truex Jr. deciding to stay out. Byron used the track position and the two fresher tires to get ahead of Truex and then hold off Larson for the win. Truex, meanwhile, would be passed by six cars who pitted finishing in seventh place.
DRIVER REPLACEMENT
The only disappointment for Rick Hendrick Motorsports Sunday was the performance of the number nine car. Xfinity Series regular Josh Berry had to step in for 2020 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series Champion Chase Elliott who fractured his leg in a snowboarding accident. Berry hit the wall and finished the race two laps down in 29th. Berry will have a chance to redeem himself as he has been named Elliott’s replacement until Elliott can drive again.
TOP 10 FINISHERS
- William Byron
- Kyle Larson
- Alex Bowman
- Bubba Wallace
- Christopher Bell
- Austin Cindric
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Justin Haley
- Kevin Harvick
- Daniel Suárez
TOP 10 POINTS
- Ross Chastain
- Joey Logano
- Alex Bowman
- Kevin Harvick
- Daniel Suárez
- Chris Buescher
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Kyle Busch
- Denny Hamlin
- Brad Keselowski
NASCAR TRUCK SERIES RECAP
It was a dominant performance for last week’s Cup Series winner in the Craftsman Truck Series. Kyle Busch started on the pole and led 84 of 134 laps en route to his 63rd win in the truck series. While Busch raced in all three series at his home track in Las Vegas, he isn’t eligible for the truck series championship. The best performance by a championship contender was by defending series champion Zane Smith. Smith, who won the series opener in Daytona, finished second at Las Vegas.
TOP 10 FINISHERS
- Kyle Busch
- Zane Smith
- Ben Rhodes
- Corey Heim
- Ty Majeski
- Christian Eckes
- Carson Hocevar
- Chase Purdy
- Grant Enfinger
- Jake Garcia
TOP 10 POINTS
- Zane Smith
- Ty Majeski
- Christian Eckes
- Matt Crafton
- Ben Rhodes
- Grant Enfinger
- Carson Hocevar
- Matt Dibenedetto
- Tanner Gray
- Chase Purdy
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES RECAP
Austin Hill becomes the first repeat winner in the Xfinity Series for 2023. Hill, who previously won the season opener at Daytona, rallied past rookie Chandler Smith in the final laps to take the checkers at Las Vegas. Smith had been the dominant car most of the day, starting on the pole and leading 118 of the 200 laps, but finished third as Justin Allgaier also got by him in the final laps. Meanwhile Kyle Busch, who started all three races at his home track, came home fourth in the Xfinity race, just one day after winning the Craftsman Truck Series race. And last week’s winner, John Hunter Nemechek finished sixth.
TOP 10 FINISHERS
- Austin Hill
- Justin Allgaier
- Chandler Smith
- Kyle Busch
- Josh Berry
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Sam Mayer
- Riley Herbst
- Sheldon Creed
- Daniel Hemric
TOP 10 POINTS
- Austin Hill
- Justin Allgaier
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Chandler Smith
- Riley Herbst
- Sam Mayer
- Cole Custer
- Josh Berry
- Joe Graf Jr.
- Parker Kligerman
NEXT UP
The Cup and Xfinity Series will continue their west coast swing next week as they head to Alex Bowman’s home track of Phoenix. The truck series will take three weeks off before returning at the Circuit of the Americas road course in Austin, Texas.
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