Posted on by Staff Report

Erik Jones’ hopes of advancing past the Round of 16 in the NASCAR Playoffs took a hit Sunday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Jones’ No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota slowed on the restart for Stage 2, forcing the driver to bring the car down pit road.

RELATED: Las Vegas results

Jones reported over the radio at the time the car’s throttle was stuck in second gear, and after his crew worked on the car in the pits, he was forced to take it to the garage. By the time Jones returned to the race, he was 16 laps down and in last place. He ultimately finished the South Point 400 in 36th, completing 254 of the 267 laps at the 1.5-mile track in Nevada, as teammate Martin Truex Jr. took the checkered flag and solidified his spot in the Round of 12.

“It’s unfortunate … I definitely think we could have run top five,” Jones told NBCSN after the race. “Just go to Richmond and go to work. … We were fast there in spring. Just have to bring a fast car and put it into contention.”

Jones entered the playoffs seeded 10th with 2,005 points, the five bonus points coming from his recent win at Darlington Raceway. He added just two overall points thanks to his 10th-place finish in Stage 1. That puts him at 2,007 points, which lands him 26 points below the cutline in 16th with two races left in the Round of 16.

The Federated Auto Parts 400 is next Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET (NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Richmond Raceway.

Posted on by Staff Report

Martin Truex Jr. took the lead with two laps remaining in Stage 2 of the South Point 400 as Joey Logano got caught up in lapped traffic, and the driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota went on to collect his fourth stage win of the season on Sunday.

Logano, who had led 72 laps of the 80-lap stage, finished second in the stage.

RELATED: Stage 2 results

Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick and Chase Elliott rounded out the top five in the stage as the top 11 finishers were playoff drivers.

Erik Jones had trouble with his throttle on the Stage 2 restart, and his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota reportedly was stuck in second gear. He came to pit road on Lap 87 for repairs, and then went to the garage.

He returned to the track on Lap 102, but was 15 laps down — last in the 39-car field. He finished the stage 14 laps down.

Kyle Busch attempted to better his position on track after his early race incident knocked him a lap down, but his strategy to delay his pit stop was foiled when no cautions came during the stage. He finished Stage 2 in 28th place, two laps down.

Polesitter Clint Bowyer also slowed during Stage 2, dropping to 20th and one lap down.

The race is scheduled to end on Lap 267.

Place Driver Team Pts
1  Martin Truex Jr.  Joe Gibbs Racing 10
2  Joey Logano  Team Penske 9
3  Kyle Larson  Chip Ganassi Racing 8
4  Kevin Harvick  Stewart-Haas Racing 7
5  Chase Elliott  Hendrick Motorsports 6
6  William Byron  Hendrick Motorsports 5
7  Denny Hamlin  Joe Gibbs Racing 4
8  Ryan Blaney  Team Penske 3
9  Kurt Busch  Chip Ganassi Racing 2
10  Alex Bowman  Hendrick Motorsports 1

 

STAGE 1
Joey Logano started the South Point 400 in 22nd but quickly zoomed to the front of the pack and retook the lead for good on Lap 59 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to win Stage 1 for his ninth stage victory of the season.

RELATED: Stage 1 results

Logano, the defending Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion, is also the most recent winner at Las Vegas, having won at the 1.5-mile track in March.

Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola and Daniel Suarez finished 2-3-4 behind Logano in the stage. Suarez and Austin Dillon were the lone non-playoff drivers to score stage points.

Regular season champion Kyle Busch encountered early trouble when he got loose on Lap 5 and his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota scraped the outside wall. He made an unscheduled pit stop on Lap 11 for his crew to make repairs and change right-side tires, and went down a lap early. Though he exited pit road 39th out of 39 cars, he finished Stage 1 in 29th and two laps down — lowest among the 16 drivers in the playoffs.

Place Driver Team Pts
1  Joey Logano  Team Penske 10
2  Kevin Harvick  Stewart-Haas Racing 9
3  Aric Almirola  Stewart-Haas Racing 8
4  Daniel Suarez  Stewart-Haas Racing 7
5  Austin Dillon  Richard Childress Racing 6
6  Kurt Busch  Chip Ganassi Racing 5
7  William Byron  Hendrick Motorsports 4
8  Martin Truex Jr.  Joe Gibbs Racing 3
9  Kyle Larson  Chip Ganassi Racing 2
10  Erik Jones  Joe Gibbs Racing 1
Posted on by Zack Albert

LAS VEGAS — Kyle Busch had rallied into contention for a top-five result in Sunday’s NASCAR Playoffs opener until two late-race encounters with lapped drivers Joey Gase and Garrett Smithley thwarted his momentum at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Busch’s impassioned post-race criticism was met with grumbles in return from Gase and Smithley in a disagreement involving drivers for teams at opposite ends of the Monster Energy Series garage.

Busch, the regular-season champion, opened the playoffs with a 19th-place finish in Sunday’s South Point 400, an outcome that chopped into his playoff-point buffer in the Round of 16. Post-race, he lashed out at the two drivers’ credentials and their difficulties in yielding to his faster No. 18 Toyota.

RELATED: Race results

“I don’t know. I was told he was going to go high. I thought he was going to go high, he went middle because I thought he was going to go high, and killed our day,” Busch told NBC Sports. He was scored one lap down at the finish. “I don’t know. I should’ve run fourth probably, but instead 19th. I don’t know. We’re the top echelon of motorsports and we’ve got guys that have never won Late Model races running out here on the race track. It’s pathetic. They don’t know where to go. So, what else do you do?”

As Busch stormed off, Gase and Smithley gave their views after debriefing with their smaller-budget teams. Smithley placed 35th, 12 laps off the pace in the Rick Ware Racing No. 52 Ford. Gase wound up 38th in the 39-car field, 18 laps down in the MBM Motorsports No. 66 Toyota.

Smithley’s No. 52 was the first to find Busch’s bumper.

“The spotter said that the leaders were coming and he said go to the top side, so we went to the top side and I was committed to that lane,” Smithley told NASCAR.com. “I mean, they’re supposed to go around us. I should’ve just stayed on the bottom, really. I shouldn’t have listened to the spotter, honestly. He did a good job all day long until he told us to go up there, so I don’t know. It is what it is.”

Gase’s encounter came a handful of laps later, as his car and Busch’s squeezed together exiting the fourth turn.

“I mean, as a lapped car you’ve just got to pick which groove you’re going to stay in because you can’t constantly switch for everybody, and I was just staying on high side the whole time and then he just decided to run in the back of me,” Gase told NASCAR.com. “I don’t know. Everyone else figured it out.”

Gase and Smithley are both Xfinity Series veterans. The 26-year-old Gase has made 38 premier-series starts, including eight this season, and has 233 Xfinity starts since 2011. Smithley, 27, made his 11th Cup Series start Sunday and has competed full-time in the Xfinity Series since 2016.

Their two teams were parked next to each other in the Las Vegas garage, at the far opposite end of Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing hauler in the parking pecking order. Asked to respond to Busch’s critiques, both drivers acknowledged they were doing all they could with their equipment.

“He’s never been in the position we’ve been in, so he doesn’t know how that goes,” Smithley said. “That’s the way I see it.”

Said Gase: “Any day if he wants to switch cars, I’d be happy to.”

Posted on by Nick Giffen

The Action Network specializes in providing sports betting insights/analytics and is a content partner with NASCAR. Check out more NASCAR betting analysis here.

The playoffs for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series kick off this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It’s important to understand track history when looking to bet outright winners, and Las Vegas offers a very consistent body of work.

Each of the eight races during the Gen-6 car era have been won by top-tier drivers.

• 2013: Matt Kenseth (Toyota)
• 2014: Brad Keselowski (Ford)
• 2015: Kevin Harvick (Chevrolet)
• 2016: Brad Keselowski (Ford)
• 2017: Martin Truex Jr. (Toyota)
• 2018: Kevin Harvick (Ford), Brad Keselowski (Ford)
• 2019: Joey Logano (Ford)

With this consistent history, the plan of attack is to find value in the upper echelon of drivers, and one or two longer shots that have the ability to run like top-tier drivers.

There’s also an ample amount of data from 1.5-mile tracks this year.

Six races have taken place — including one earlier this year at Las Vegas — under the 2019 aero package that includes the aero ducts.

Removing races where drivers experienced issues that gave them an outlying result in green flag speed, here are the top 20 drivers’ average green flag speed rank, and average finish.

Additionally, practice times and track history also factor into predicting finishing position at Las Vegas.

Let’s look at the best values for the South Point 400.

RELATED: Updating winning odds

Brad Keselowski +800, +225 Top-3

Keselowski has three wins and an impressive 3.25 average finish over his last eight races at LVMS. He topped the 15-lap chart in Happy Hour, and had the fastest 10-lap average among drivers who made their 10-lap run later in that session.

Yet he’s somehow only priced at +800 at the DraftKings Sportsbook. For comparison, he’s +650 at William Hill and +500 at Caesars.

Keselowski checks all the boxes: practice speed, track history, and 1.5-mile performance this year. There’s value here down to that +650 number, and +200 for a top-three finish.

Martin Truex Jr. +1400, +350 Top-3

Looking at the table above, Truex hasn’t been spectacular at 1.5-mile tracks this year, but he does have a win at the Coca-Cola 600. Earlier this year at Vegas, Truex posted the fifth-best average green flag speed and finished eighth.

Truex has a strong history at Vegas as well, with no finishes worse than 11th in five races at Vegas during his time running a Gibbs-affiliated Toyota. That includes a win, and two other finishes in the top four.

This race will start at the hottest part of the day in Vegas, but temperatures quickly cool after sundown. March’s race went caution-free outside of the two stage cautions, and still ran 2:38, which would make the race finish just after sundown. Any extra cautions, and this race will finish well after sunset. That will cool off track temperatures by double-digit degrees from race start.

I mention this because Truex is hands down the best night-time driver at 1.5-mile tracks. Martin Truex Jr. has won five of 14 night races at 1.5-mile tracks since 2016. He’s finished top three in four other instances for a 64.3% top three rate.

Truex also had the fastest 10-lap average in the cooler opening practice session on Friday among drivers whose lap came partway through the session. He wasn’t as good in the heat of the day in final practice, but I expect him to improve throughout the evening and be in contention late in the race.

There are concerns here for Truex, but there’s also plenty of upside, and upside wins races. I like Truex down to +1000.

Ryan Blaney +2500

Team Penske has won four of the eight races during the Gen-6 era at Las Vegas. Blaney has yet to win at Vegas, but he has posted strong finishes throughout his career at LVMS. With the exception of his rookie year where he ran part time for the Wood Brothers, Blaney has finished sixth, seventh, fifth, fifth, and 22nd.

His 22nd place finish was an aberration. He started 13th and moved into the top six on the first stint of the race before a tire went down thanks to a missing valve stem.

That put him two laps down and he was unable to recover in a race that was void of non-stage cautions. His average driver rating in his other four non-rookie starts is 103. That puts him sixth among all drivers at Vegas, right behind Keselowski, Truex, Harvick, Logano, and Kyle Busch.

Blaney hasn’t been near the top of the speed charts this weekend, but teammates Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano have shown top five speed. Teammate Brad Keselowski led all drivers in 15-lap average in final practice. Blaney only ran 10th in that same metric, but only 0.066 seconds per lap slower than his teammate.

Blaney’s history at Las Vegas and his team’s history are enough to throw a small bet on him at this number, available at DraftKings and William Hill Sportsbooks. You can also find him at +2000 at multiple books, but that’s right at the limit of value on Blaney.

Posted on by Staff Report

The extended NASCAR.com staff makes its picks for 2019 title contenders, postseason surprises and who will hoist the Monster Energy Series championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

RELATED: Printable playoff grid | Complete standings look 

ZACK ALBERT

Championship 4: Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski. Expecting a veteran feel to this season’s title-eligible quartet, made up of drivers who have snatched up victories in multiples this year.

Sleeper: Kyle Larson. A lengthy winless skid seems like an ominous sign, but it’s balanced by a recent show of strength from the No. 42 team, which is due for a turnaround at the right time.

Early out: Aric Almirola. One top-10 finish in 26 races this year makes the No. 10 tough to count on for a deep playoff run.

Champion: Kyle Busch. The regular-season champ is primed to become the overall champ at Homestead, where the No. 18 team’s benchmark of performance should carry the day.

PAT DeCOLA

Championship 4: Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano. NASCAR’s top-tier talents show why they’re the best and ride strong regular seasons into strong playoff runs all the way to Miami.

Sleeper: Kurt Busch. Kurt has quietly been lurking in that next rung under the top dogs all season, could be ready to pounce on any mistakes and sneak into the Championship 4 for another shot at a second title.

Early out: Alex Bowman. Bowman rides into the playoffs with a pretty decent No. 9 seed but has seemed to lose all the momentum he built up that led to his Chicagoland Speedway win.

Champion: Kyle Busch. Everyone seems to think Hamlin will be the favorite if he makes it to Homestead based on his track history, but this feels like Busch’s year. He got hot early on but has been extremely strong all season despite a recent winless streak.

MARISSA FULLER

Championship 4: Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano. These four all stand out in their own way this season – Busch and Hamlin will continue their winning ways, Elliott is going to fight for his life and solidify his spot with a win at one of the tracks in the Round of 8, and Logano’s momentum from last year’s title win will follow him back to the Championship 4.

Sleeper: Ryan Newman. The veteran has showed an insane amount of confidence this season and has slowly but surely found himself running up front and closing out races in the right spot at the right time.

Early out: Aric Almirola. The No. 10 driver made it into the NASCAR Playoffs on points, but I think a lack of confidence being winless in the playoffs will hurt him in the long run.

Champion: Denny Hamlin. Redemption is the name of the game for Hamlin, who is hoping to put 2010 behind him, as he and his new crew chief have shown their capabilities and I don’t think they’re done winning. It also helps that the playoff tracks are pretty good to Hamlin.

RJ KRAFT

Championship 4: Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano. Hamlin’s and Harvick’s summer hot streaks continue, while Busch and Logano have been the top drivers all season.

Sleeper: Kyle Larson. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver’s late-summer surge stayed under the radar due to Hamlin, Harvick and Erik Jones’ strong summers.

Early out: Ryan Blaney. He may be the reigning winner at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, but Richmond Raceway is statistically his worst track and despite solid numbers at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he has one top 10 on a 1.5-mile track in 2019.

Champion: Kevin Harvick. In addition to winning three of the last seven races, “Happy” always seem to shine when the pressure is on.

STEVE LUVENDER

Championship 4: Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott. Oh, and I’ve got a little bit riding on this.

Sleeper: Ryan Newman. He appeared to have fallen asleep during a red flag at Indianapolis Motor Speedway — the only driver to do so — making him the true sleeper.

Early out: Alex Bowman. He won his first career race at Chicagoland leading precisely 88 laps, so really, that’s good enough for 2019.

Champion: Denny Hamlin. If the race is somehow delayed a day, he’ll be crowned champion on his (and, selfishly, my) birthday, Nov. 18.

JONATHAN MERRYMAN

Championship 4: Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott. Busch, Harvick and Hamlin are expected to make it, while the next step for Elliott is to advance past the Round of 8.

Sleeper: Ryan Blaney. He’s a sleeper because he hasn’t won this year, but if he can close out races, he will be hard to deal with.

Early out: Kyle Larson. Historically, Round 1 has not been kind to Larson and 2019 has proven to be tough for the No. 42.

Champion: Denny Hamlin. Confidence is as abundant as the No. 11’s speed. This feels like Hamlin’s year.

@NASCARCASM

Championship 4: Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson (Sorry, habit), Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin

Sleeper: Kevin Harvick

Early out: Kevin Harvick

Champion: Denny Hamlin. It’s bizarre to have a year where Joe Gibbs Racing is so dominant that a past champion with three regular-season wins IS YOUR SLEEPER, but the JGR big three (If we’re using that designation again this year) will all make their way to Homestead, and it’s absolutely the year of Hamlin, and if I’m wrong, well then I’ll just ask my editor to delete this.

BRAD NORMAN

Championship 4: Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr. Playoff points reign supreme here, but the No. 9 team has a history of turning it up in the postseason.

Sleeper: Erik Jones. The No. 20 team has the look of a group primed for the Round of 8 — perhaps more.

Early out: Brad Keselowski. Speed abounds at Team Penske, but the No. 2 crew seems just a tick off.

Champion: Martin Truex Jr. Somehow, the 2017 champion enters the postseason under the radar — a situation he and crew chief Cole Pearn will thrive upon on the way to another trophy.

TERRIN WAACK

Championship 4: Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano. It was either Logano or Keselowski for Team Penske, but the reigning champ needs at least a chance to repeat.

Sleeper: William Byron. The young driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet has the points system figured out, so expect him to get far in the playoffs and perhaps his first win.

Early out: Aric Almirola. Almirola only has one top-five finish this season and hasn’t steered his No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford to a top-10 ending in the last eight races — not a good trend.

Champion: Denny Hamlin. It’s about time Hamlin wins a title after 14 full-time seasons, and the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota sure has been proving his capabilities this season with four wins, including the Daytona 500.

ALEX WEAVER

Championship 4: Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin. These guys are winning consistently throughout the season and know how to dominate on the biggest stage with the most pressure.

Sleeper: William Byron. He and crew chief Chad Knaus are finding their stride and heating up at the right time.

Early out: Clint Bowyer. Bowyer and the No. 14 team have let mistakes determine their season. If they can put together a well-executed race, they may be in. If not, think they’re out early.

Champion: Denny Hamlin. Hamlin and crew chief Chris Gabehart are the two best friends anyone can have right now in the garage. They have found it, and the No. 11 team is having fun winning.

GEORGE WINKLER

Championship 4: Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano. Tough decisions at the top, but I stuck with Team Penske for my last driver in based on the speed the team has shown all season.

Sleeper: Kyle Larson. If he learns to stay out of trouble, Larson has the talent to be a title contender.

Early out: Alex Bowman. He has just one top-10 finish in the nine races since his win at Chicago.

Champion: Denny Hamlin. What a story if Hamlin comes back from a zero-win season to claim a championship in honor of J.D. Gibbs.

CHASE WILHELM

Championship 4: Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing has been the class of the field all season and that will show in the Championship 4, but Chase Elliott is also in there to spoil the party.

Sleeper: William Byron. Byron and Knaus are starting to really click, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we see the second-year driver make it to the Round of 8.

Early out: Aric Almirola. The 2019 season hasn’t been pleasant for Almirola, so elimination after the first round is very likely unless the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing team can dig deep.

Champion: Chase Elliott. The No. 9 driver is going to go on a heater during this 10-race playoff stretch and beat some seasoned veterans at Homestead.

Posted on by Staff Report

LAS VEGAS — The RSS Racing No. 39 Chevrolet of Ryan Sieg failed Saturday’s post-race inspection at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, resulting in a disqualification after the NASCAR Xfinity Series event.

Sieg’s car did not meet the ride-height requirements after the Rhino Pro Truck Outfitters 300, the series’ regular-season finale. The 32-year-old Sieg had been scored one lap down in 14th at the end of the 200-lap race, but was demoted to last-place points in the 38-car field.

RELATED: Race results | Playoff field set | Reddick wins at Las Vegas 

The disqualification did not affect Sieg’s standing as one of the 12 drivers qualifying for the Xfinity Series Playoffs. Sieg was the last driver to clinch a postseason berth, having built up an significant cushion above the cutoff line in the points standings.

NASCAR officials also announced that two teams will be penalized for having a one lug nut not safely secured in a post-race check. The infractions were found on the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing car driven to third place by Brandon Jones and the No. 9 JR Motorsports entry of sixth-place Noah Gragson. Fines for both teams’ crew chiefs should be announced next week, according to guidelines in the NASCAR Rule Book.

 

Posted on by Holly Cain

LAS VEGAS – Tyler Reddick and his Richard Childress Racing team gambled and hit the jackpot Saturday evening at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, taking a chance on fuel mileage and racing just hard enough to hold off Christopher Bell by 0.738 seconds in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Rhino Pro Truck Outfitters 300.

Reddick, who hoisted his fifth trophy, also officially earned the regular-season championship based on points come lap 71 of the 200-lap race. He was running fifth at the time.

“Christopher Bell had a really fast race car today, but we were just able to come in and get fuel and tires and run really fast laps to keep us in front of him,’’ said Reddick, whose 30 laps led to close out the win were the sum of his laps out front. “Hats off to (crew chief) Randall (Burnett) and all the guys. We’ve had a really fast car in the past, unfortunately today we didn’t have it but we got them with strategy.’’

RELATED: Official Las Vegas results | Reddick wins regular-season title

Brandon Jones was third, polesitter Cole Custer was fourth, and Justin Allgaier rounded out the top five. Veteran Elliott Sadler, a four-time Xfinity Series championship runner-up and 13-race winner, finished 10th in his last NASCAR national series race.

It was a strong statement for Reddick, who earned his fifth victory to close out the regular season and now begins his playoff run on a high note Friday at Richmond Raceway. The Californian has a series-best 20 top-five and 22 top-10 finishes in 26 races and is the defending Xfinity Series champion.

A six-race winner this season, Bell led a race-high 154 laps and was disappointed in the outcome after an especially strong showing. He pitted for tires and fuel with 30 laps remaining and returned to the track to try to make up Reddick’s nearly 20-second advantage at the time. Bell slowly gained but ultimately came up short.

Although Bell’s effort didn’t earn him the race trophy, he does go into the playoffs with the points lead. He is the top-ranked driver with 2,055 points as they reset. Custer and Reddick are tied for second, 11 points fewer than Bell.

The rest of the Xfinity Series postseason qualifiers in their reseeded order include Austin Cindric, rookie Chase Briscoe, veterans Justin Allgaier and Michael Annett, rookie Noah Gragson, Brandon Jones, Justin Haley, Ryan Sieg and rookie John Hunter Nemechek.

Sieg failed post-race technical inspection, but it didn’t cost him a playoff berth.

RELATED: Complete look at 12-driver playoff field

Custer, who bested Bell for the pole position Saturday afternoon, earned his fourth consecutive top 10 at the track and, although disappointed not to win, seemed optimistic about his playoff potential.

“We were just tight,’’ Custer said of his No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. “We tried to make adjustments to fix it. Just a tough weekend. … We had a great regular season and looking forward to the playoffs. I’m pumped for it. I think all the tracks in the playoffs we’ll be strong and everybody should look out for us.’’

In addition to Richmond, there’s the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval and Dover International Speedway in the first round.

Reddick’s crew chief conceded it was a risky move to get the victory, but Burnett ultimately said he was feeling the Vegas vibe and that a strategic gamble was the team’s only hope in besting the faster Bell.

“We felt like we weren’t going to be able to get up there and compete with the 20; he was the class of the field all day,’’ Burnett said. “We saw an opportunity there. We knew we would be really close. None of the other guys came down (pit road). We really didn’t have anything to lose at this point.

“We got back out there, (Reddick) did a great job managing and holding pace. We just managed our pace based on how fast the 20 was catching us. We had to pick it back up at the end.

“It just worked out. “

Posted on by Staff Report

The 2019 Xfinity Series Playoffs field was officially set on Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the regular-season finale.

Nine of 12 spots had been clinched in advance of the Rhino Pro Truck Outfitters 300, meaning three spots were available. Brandon Jones, John Hunter Nemechek and Ryan Sieg locked them up in Saturday’s race.

RELATED: Reddick wins regular season title |Reddick wins at Las Vegas | Race results

“There’s a lot of guys that are going to be tough to beat, but I’m ready to go into battle,” Jones said after a third-place finish at las Vegas. “I have to make it past these couple hard ones, but get me to the mile-and-a-halves where we’re really decent and I think we’re going to be a sleeper coming into this thing.”

Sieg added that it is all about going all out because wild things can happen in the playoffs.

“Go hard and that’s all we can do,” Sieg said. “It’s what we’ve been doing these past few weeks. We just have to do all we can do. You never know what could happen.”

The seven-race Xfinity Series Playoffs begin Sept. 20 at Richmond Raceway. The Round of 12 is made up of Richmond, Charlotte Roval and Dover with the Round of 8 consisting of Kansas, Texas and ISM (Phoenix) and the Championship 4 taking place at Homestead-Miami.

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES PLAYOFFS FIELD WITH SEEDINGS AND POINTS

1. Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing: 2055 points
2. Cole Custer, Stewart-Haas Racing: 2044 points
3. Tyler Reddick, Richard Childress Racing: 2044 points
4. Austin Cindric, Team Penske: 2017 points
5. Chase Briscoe, Stewart-Haas Racing with Fred Biagi: 2012 points
6. Justin Allgaier, JR Motorsports: 2012 points
7. Michael Annett, JR Motorsports: 2009 points
8. Noah Gragson, JR Motorsports: 2005 points
9. Brandon Jones, Joe Gibbs Racing: 2004 points
10. Justin Haley, Kaulig Racing: 2003 points
11. Ryan Sieg, RSS Racing: 2001 points
12. John Hunter Nemechek, GMS Racing: 2000 points

Contributing: Chase Wilhelm from Las Vegas

Posted on by Staff Report

All Tyler Reddick did was win Saturday evening at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Reddick locked up the 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series Regular-Season Championship, taking the honor a season after scoring the series championship in 2018. He secured the title midway through Stage 2 of the Rhino Pro Truck Outfitters 30 after a combination of his eight points earned in Stage 1 and the number of early retirees guaranteeing him enough race-end points.

“We just need to be smart about what advantage we have,” Reddick said. “Obviously, if we can go out and win a race and take care of business and not have to worry about the final race, that would be great.

“We don’t want to obviously give away what we worked really hard for in the regular season. We want to use those points we’ve accumulated well and keep them in our back pocket in case we need them.”

RELATED: Official Las Vegas results | Xfinity Series playoff field

The No. 2 Richard Childress Racing driver also took the race victory in the regular-season finale at the 1.5-mile track, boldly stretching out his fuel to edge out Christopher Bell, who finished second.

“We knew we weren’t going to beat the 20 car straight up tonight,” No. 2 crew chief Randall Burnett said. “We didn’t have the speed. At that point, we didn’t have anything to lose because we had already clinched the regular season with the stage points we had gotten.

“We were like, heck, may as well have fun with it and try it. Probably won’t be that aggressive in the playoffs, but you know, if need be, we will. It’s just kind of circumstantial.”

Clinching the regular-season title hands Reddick a 15-point bonus heading into the seven-race playoffs that begin Sept. 20 at Richmond Raceway. The top-10 finishers in the regular-season standings receive bonus points on a sliding scale, starting with 15 for first and ending with one extra point for 10th.

The bonus inches Reddick closer to the total playoff points Bell and Cole Custer will carry entering the playoffs. Both Bell and Custer have six wins apiece this season to Reddick’s five. Bell is the first seed with 2,055 points, while Reddick and Custer are tied for the second with 2,044 points.

After his title season with JR Motorsports, Reddick moved over to Richard Childress Racing and hasn’t missed a beat. Already in 2019, he has more wins (five), top fives (20), top 10s (22), laps led (448) and poles (3) than he had all of last season. The 23-year-old California native has sat atop the point standings since the fourth race of the season at ISM Raceway.

Last season, Justin Allgaier scored the regular-season title. In 2017, Elliott Sadler took the honors. Neither driver went on to score the championship.

Contributing: Chase Wilhelm from Las Vegas

Posted on by Chase Wilhelm

LAS VEGAS – Cat Stevens was right and so was Sheryl Crow: The first cut is the deepest.

That’s the case for Jimmie Johnson, as feelings from missing the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs of his career sink in. The 10-race, 16-driver party didn’t have room on the invitation list for the seven-time champion.

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As Johnson continues to rebuild the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team alongside crew chief Cliff Daniels, the goals are set, the vision is clear and confidence is through the roof.

But that doesn’t stop the sting.

“There’s tons of excitement and optimism around that, but seeing everybody partying over there on the Strip, doing burnouts and everything, all the guys that made the playoffs, that hurt,” Johnson said. “There’s no way around it.”

The fact it’s painful to watch his competitors compete for a title without him proves the fire still burns bright. Of course, Johnson is not done yet. He just has to wait another year to fight for a record-setting eighth championship.

“I want to be a part of all that, and I should be,” Johnson said. “So, as I kind of analyze that, I’m glad it hurts. If it didn’t hurt, I think there’d be a problem.”

Adding insult to injury, all three of Johnson’s teammates are postseason bound, as Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman and William Byron get ready to fight for a championship beginning with Sunday night’s NASCAR Playoffs opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (7 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriuxXM NASCAR Radio).

“I even said to my teammates in our debriefs on Tuesday congratulations and take advantage of this opportunity that you have,” Johnson said. “I’d do anything to be in your position to have a shot at an eighth championship right now.”

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Disappointment aside, Elliott thinks Johnson will be an asset for all three teams over the next 10 weeks given the experience he carries.

“I’m going to lean on him,” Elliott said. “I try to lean on him as much as I can. I wish I was racing him to be a part of it as well, but I know how the kind of guy he is and the reason he’s a seven-time champion is because of the attitude he carries and I know he’s going to find the silver lining in it somewhere.

“I know that’s hard to find and it may not be this week and it may not be next week, but I know he’s going to find it at some point, and I expect he’ll come back stronger.”