The NASCAR Xfinity Series begins its all-important push to the 2023 championship with Saturday afternoon’s Alsco Uniforms 302 (3:30 p.m. ET on the USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) — the first race in this final three-race round to set the Championship 4.
JR Motorsports driver Sam Mayer closed out the last round with one of the most clutch performances of the season. The 20-year-old led 50 of 67 laps to claim victory in what was a “must-win” race for him at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course and earn him a position in this vital next round of competition. Not only did it send him to the penultimate playoff round, but it also vaulted him into the fourth-place bubble position two points up on Stewart-Haas Racing driver Cole Custer in fifth.
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Only two drivers in Saturday’s field have won an Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas — Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill, who is ranked second in the playoff standings 21 points above the elimination line — and JR Motorsports’ Josh Berry, who was eliminated from the playoffs last weekend.
Hill won at Vegas this spring and a repeat performance would place the Georgia native in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4 for the first time in his career. The driver of the No. 21 RCR Chevrolet could also become only the second driver in track history to win back-to-back races — matching a mark by Chase Briscoe, who swept the 2020 season races there.
As has been the case all season, Hill can expect stiff competition from Joe Gibbs Racing’s John Hunter Nemechek. The driver of the No. 20 JGR Toyota has a notable history in Round of 8 opening races wherever they may be, winning that race on the schedule twice — when he was not playoff-eligible.
Nemechek shows up in Vegas with a series-best and season-high seven victories and 22 top-10 finishes through the opening 29 races. His 956 laps led is nearly three times that of any other driver. He has three top 10s in five series starts at Las Vegas with a best showing in his first series race there — a runner-up in 2019.
JR Motorsports veteran Justin Allgaier is ranked third in the championship. He’s also a multi-time winner in 2023, claiming three victories and holding a reasonable 17-point cushion inside the top-four standings. He has yet to win at Vegas but has four runner-up showings, including one in March.
Also, championship-eligible this weekend are Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer, Kaulig Racing rookie Chandler Smith, RCR’s Sheldon Creed and JGR rookie Sammy Smith. Chandler Smith, in particular among those four, boasts a promising Vegas resume — winning the pole position and leading 118 of the 200 laps to claim a third-place finish in his March debut there.
Practice for the Alsco Uniforms 302 is slated for 7:05 p.m. ET on Friday, followed by qualifying at 7:35 p.m. ET — both televised on the USA Network.