Herbst Eclipses Las Vegas Xfinity Field for First Career Win

Riley Herbst - here at the ROVAL, scored his first career Xfinity Series win, dominating the race at Las Vegas

(LAS VEGAS, NV – OCT 14, 2023 – RIS) Riley Herbst dominated his hometown NASCAR Xfinity Series race, leading 103 of the 201 laps at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on the way to an initial series win. Herbst beat John Hunter Nemechek to the checkeredflag on the mile and a half speedway. Nemechek had started last after an oil leak kept his car in the garage during qualifying Friday. Nemechek padded his series points lead, heading to next week’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

After a pre-race partial solar eclipse this morning, Josh Berry and Cole Custer led the field to the green flag in the Alsco Uniforms 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway but only three laps into the race, Patrick Emerling’s car erupted into a huge cloud of smoke with a long streak of oil behind it.

Chandler Smith took the lead from Berry at the restart and John Hunter Nemechek, after a problem that saw him start last, running in the top fifteen already. Then, Joe Graf Jr slammed the wall to start a second caution, asking what the No. 25, Brett Moffitt, was doing, Moffitt had hit the wall in front of Graf and Graf spun. 

Chandler Smith and Josh Berry led at the restart, but Cole Custer moved around Berry for second place. Nemechek moved into eleventh place from fifteenth, then tenth just a few laps later, following up on his promise to race for stage points after not registering a qualifying time on Friday.

Cole Custer used the momentum of the top lanes to sweep around Chandler Smith for the lead on lap 35. Back in the middle of the top ten, Nemechek’s charge seemed to have stalled as he pursued Austin Hill. Cole Custer, Chandler Smith, Sammy Smith, Daniel Hemric, Austin Hill, Nemechek, Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Parker Kligerman and Riley Herbst ran in the top ten positions as the first stage ended.

Stage Two began with Custer, Hemric, C. Smith and Nemechek in the front pair of rows, then Kaz Grala suffered an engine explosion, spraying pol on the track and sending multiple cars into the wall and each other, bringing out a red flag to allow a safer cleanup of the track and recovery of the damaged cars.

At the restart, Cole Custer headed Hemric but Nemechek swept into second, tailed by Allgaier as the field started to spread out.

Riley Herbst took his second career stage win, edging ahead of Custer on the final lap of the stage while Nemechek, Allgaier, Hemric, Chandler Smith, Josh Berry, Sam Mayer, Sammy Smith and Brandon Jones followed him across the line.

Riley Herbst and Cole Custer headed the field as the final stage began, with Hemric and Nemechek the next pair entering the longest stage of the race. Custer jumped out to the lead and then Nemechek easily dispatched Herbst for second place on the track with Herbst returning the favor a lap later.

As the final pit stops approached, Herbst led Custer by nearly ten seconds, with Chandler Smith and John Hunter Nemechek next. Nemechek got around Smith for second place, but Herbst kept easing ahead, increasing the gap gradually o over 13 seconds ahead of Nemechek when the twenty-lap mark came by.

Cole Custer stole third place from Chandler Smith, using the inside line for the pass and using Ryan Ellis as a mild pick for the pass. Herbst went on to win his first career Xfinity victory at his home track, dominating the field and leading three times for 103 laps. Nemechek was second, almost fifteen seconds back, 

“Oh my goodness, you don’t even know what this means to me,” said an emotional winning driver after the race.”I can’t fathom it.”

Unofficial Results: Alsco Uniforms 302, October 14, 2023 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 8, Riley Herbst, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford, 201, 10, 1, 3, 103, 6, 51, Running
2) 38, John Hunter Nemechek (P), No. 20 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota, 201, 6, 3, , , , 48, Running
3) 2, Cole Custer (P), No. 00 Haas Automation Ford, 201, 1, 2, 3, 62, 1, 53, Running
4) 4, Chandler Smith # (P), No. 16 Barger Precast/Quick Tie Products Inc Chevrolet, 201, 2, 6, 2, 23, , 47, Running
5) 14, Sam Mayer (P), No. 1 Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet, 201, , 8, , , , 35, Running
6) 7, Justin Allgaier (P), No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet, 201, 7, 4, , , , 42, Running
7) 10, Austin Hill (P), No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet, 201, 5, , , , , 36, Running
8) 13, Brandon Jones, No. 9 Menards/Jeld-Wen Windows Chevrolet, 201, 8, 10, , , , 33, Running
9) 6, Daniel Hemric (P), No. 10 Cirkul Chevrolet, 201, 4, 5, 1, 1, , 41, Running
10) 9, Layne Riggs, No. 11 Infinity Communications Group Chevrolet, 201, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 19, Myatt Snider, No. 19 Tree Top Toyota, 200, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 1, Josh Berry, No. 8 LubeZone Chevrolet, 200, , 7, 2, 11, , 29, Running
13) 11, Parker Kligerman, No. 48 Spiked Light Coolers Chevrolet, 200, 9, , , , , 26, Running
14) 5, Parker Retzlaff #, No. 31 FUNKAWAY Chevrolet, 200, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 15, Sheldon Creed (P), No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet, 200, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 17, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 Sci Aps Ford, 199, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 3, Sammy Smith # (P), No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota, 199, 3, 9, , , , 30, Running
18) 24, Kyle Sieg, No. 29 HEC Ford, 199, , , 1, 1, , 19, Running
19) 28, Connor Mosack, No. 24 Comprehensive Cancer Centers Toyota, 199, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 25, Ryan Reed, No. 66 Tandem Diabetes Care Chevrolet, 198, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 23, Daniel Dye(i), No. 44 Champion Container Chevrolet, 198, , , , , , 0, Running
22) 18, Jeb Burton, No. 27 Alsco Uniforms Chevrolet, 197, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 35, Rajah Caruth(i), No. 45 Circle Pay Chevrolet, 197, , , , , , 0, Running
24) 27, Brett Moffitt, No. 25 Lane Frost Brand Ford, 197, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 34, Brennan Poole, No. 6 Macc Door Systems Chevrolet, 197, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 29, Stefan Parsons, No. 08 Sokal Chevrolet, 197, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 32, Ryan Ellis, No. 43 Eclipse Claims Consulting Ford, 197, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 31, Blaine Perkins #, No. 02 To The Point Chevrolet, 195, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 37, CJ McLaughlin, No. 28 Sci Aps Ford, 194, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 16, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 First Pacific Funding Chevrolet, 193, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 21, Dawson Cram, No. 74 Chevrolet, 193, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 36, Joey Gase, No. 35 Nevada Donor Network Toyota, 193, , , , , , 5, Running
33) 26, Josh Williams, No. 92 Parking Guidance Systems Chevrolet, 56, , , , , , 4, Accident
34) 20, Anthony Alfredo, No. 78 BJ McLeod Motorsports Chevrolet, 54, , , , , , 3, Accident
35) 22, Kaz Grala, No. 26 Ruedebusch Toyota, 53, , , , , , 2, Accident
36) 12, Kyle Weatherman, No. 91 PORAC Chevrolet, 53, , , , , , 1, Accident
37) 30, Joe Graf Jr., No. 38 G-Coin Ford, 12, , , , , , 1, Accident
38) 33, Patrick Emerling, No. 53 The Meredith Haga Foundation Chevrolet, 3, , , , , , 1, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (P) Playoffs

Distance: 201 Laps - 301.5 Miles
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 18 Mins, 31 Secs.
Average Speed: 130.598 MPH
Margin of Victory: 14.959 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 00, 16, 18, 10, 21, 20, 7, 9, 48, 98
Stage 2 Top 10: 98, 00, 20, 7, 10, 16, 8, 1, 18, 9

Comments: Riley Herbst won the Alsco Uniforms 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory.

Prior to the start, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: No. 08, 20, 52, 92 and 98 (unapproved adjustments).

Failed to Qualify: (2) 4 Garrett Smithley, 07 Gray Gaulding.

Cautions: 5 for 26 laps;
Laps: 5-10 (Fluid on the Frontstretch from No. 53 [None]);
14-18 (No. 38 and 25 Incident on the Frontstretch [None]);
47-52 (Stage 1 Conclusion [43]);
55-58 (26, 45, 51, 78, 91 and 92 Incident in Turn 1 [Red Flag: 8:34] [25]);
92-96 (Stage 2 Conclusion [43]).

Lead Changes: 11 among 6 drivers;
J. Berry 1-10;
C. Smith # (P) 11-17;
J. Berry 18;
C. Smith # (P) 19-34;
C. Custer (P) 35-51;
D. Hemric (P) 52;
C. Custer (P) 53-89;
R. Herbst 90-96;
C. Custer (P) 97-104;
R. Herbst 105-143;
K. Sieg 144;
R. Herbst 145-201.