Allmendinger Gives Team Owner a Birthday Victory

Saturday's winner AJ Allmendinger (left) and Austin Hill talk during Friday's sessions at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

(LAS VEGAS, NV – OCT 19, 2024 – RIS) AJ Allmendinger locked himself into the Championship Four for the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series by winning the Ambetter Health 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The win also served as a birthday present for team owner Matt Kaulig. Ryan Sieg, Justin Allgaier, Chandler Smith and last weekend’s disappointed Parker Kligerman were the rest of the top five finishers.

Pole sitter Brandon Jones led the first laps of the Ambetter Health 302, with Dawson Cram unable to make the start after his car suffered transmission problems but the crew got him on track after a handful of laps. Then on the fourth lap, Leland Honeyman Jr got into the wall on the back stretch after contact with JJ Yeley to cause the first caution of the race.

Jones fell back to fourth on the first lap of the restart when Sammy Smith, Cole Custer and Chandler Smith all got around him.

Cole Custer used fresh tires to sweep around Riley Herbst, towing Justin Allgaier along to finish one-two in the first stage, followed by Herbst, AJ Allmendinger and Sheldon Creed as the top five in the stage.

Allgaier pulled ahead of Custer at the start of the second stage, opening up a half-second lead in just a couple of laps and continuing to pull ahead of the pack.

Allgaier went on to take the stage win, but AJ Allmendinger took the lead with a quicker pit stop. T hen on the restart, a stackup sent Tayler Gray into the outside wall with Austin Hill sneaking by the car with almost no room between the cars and the barrier.

‘Dinger moved ahead at the restart, with Allgaier in second, looking for a chance to close on the leader.

After a green flag pit stop cycle that saw Allmendinger back in the lead, Kyle Sieg’s solo spin in the fourth turn reset teams’ strategies for the remaining 31 laps. Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg, Allgaier, Chandler Smith all pitted with Allmendinger keeping the lead with Ryan Sieg second but Chandler Smith quickly took the runner-up position. 

A caution for Sammy Smith’s stalled car allowed Ryan Sieg to cool his tires after chasing down Allmendinger in a challenge for the lead. 

Sieg got a push from Allgaier at the restart but Allmendinger held on and won his first race of the 2024 season with a margin of 0.156 second ahead of Sieg. Allgaier, Chandler Smith and Parker Kligerman filled out the top five at the checkered flag.

“Happy birthday, Matt Kaulig” shouted Allmendinger in celebration of the win on the team owner’s birthday.

Unofficial Results: Ambetter Health 302, October 19, 2024 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 9, AJ Allmendinger (P), No. 16 Modern Day Garage Chevrolet, 201, 4, 2, 3, 102, 5, 56, Running
2) 10, Ryan Sieg, No. 28 Sci Aps Ford, 201, 6, 3, 2, 2, , 48, Running
3) 6, Justin Allgaier (P), No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet, 201, 2, 1, 1, 42, 1, 53, Running
4) 3, Chandler Smith (P), No. 81 QuickTie Toyota, 201, , 5, , , , 39, Running
5) 11, Parker Kligerman, No. 48 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet, 201, , , 1, 1, , 32, Running
6) 8, Jesse Love # (P), No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet, 201, 7, 8, 1, 3, , 38, Running
7) 7, Riley Herbst, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford, 201, 3, 9, 1, 4, , 40, Running
8) 2, Cole Custer (P), No. 00 3D Systems Ford, 201, 1, 6, 2, 31, 1, 44, Running
9) 38, Sheldon Creed, No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota, 201, 5, , , , , 34, Running
10) 17, Austin Hill (P), No. 21 Global Industrial Chevrolet, 201, 8, , , , , 30, Running
11) 14, Corey Heim(i), No. 26 Synergy Modular Toyota, 201, , , , , , 0, Running
12) 30, Daniel Dye(i), No. 10 Trackside Chevrolet, 201, , , , , , 0, Running
13) 12, Aric Almirola (P), No. 20 MRC Construction Toyota, 201, , 7, , , , 28, Running
14) 4, Sam Mayer (P), No. 1 10X Health Chevrolet, 201, 10, , , , , 24, Running
15) 23, Josh Williams, No. 11 Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet, 201, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 24, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 38 ReMA Ford, 201, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 1, Brandon Jones, No. 9 Menards/Pelonis Chevrolet, 201, 9, 4, 2, 11, , 29, Running
18) 19, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 First Pacific Funding Chevrolet, 201, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 18, Anthony Alfredo, No. 5 Dead On Tools Chevrolet, 201, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 27, Kyle Weatherman, No. 91 MyRadar/DriveSmartWarranty.com Chevrolet, 201, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 32, Brennan Poole, No. 44 Macc Door Systems Chevrolet, 201, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 20, Parker Retzlaff, No. 31 FUNKAWAY Chevrolet, 201, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 33, Myatt Snider, No. 07 BBPrintingCO.com Chevrolet, 201, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 15, Jeb Burton, No. 27 Puryear Tank Lines Chevrolet, 201, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 28, JJ Yeley, No. 14  Ford, 199, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 22, Kyle Sieg, No. 39 The Thomas Group Ford, 199, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 21, Dylan Lupton, No. 15 AirBox Ford, 198, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 34, Ryan Ellis, No. 43 Snapchat Chevrolet, 198, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 31, Garrett Smithley, No. 45 Vet the Vote Chevrolet, 198, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 36, Joey Gase, No. 53 Nevada Donor Network Chevrolet, 198, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 35, Blaine Perkins, No. 29 VIVID EV Ford, 198, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 5, Sammy Smith (P), No. 8 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet, 197, , , 1, 5, , 5, Running
33) 13, Taylor Gray(i), No. 19 Operation 300 Toyota, 197, , 10, , , , 0, Running
34) 29, Ryan Vargas, No. 74 Mike Harmon Racing Chevrolet, 197, , , , , , 3, Running
35) 37, Akinori Ogata(i), No. 35 Moon Chevrolet, 196, , , , , , 0, Running
36) 26, Dawson Cram(i), No. 92 Trade With thr Pros Chevrolet, 193, , , , , , 0, Running
37) 25, Leland Honeyman #, No. 42 LH Waterfront Construction Chevrolet, 130, , , , , , 1, Electrical
38) 16, Shane Van Gisbergen #, No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet, 77, , , , , , 1, Fuel Pump
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (P) Playoffs

Race Length: 201 Laps, 301.5 Miles
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 22 Mins, 12 Secs.
Average Speed: 127.215 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.156 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 00, 7, 98, 16, 18, 28, 2, 21, 9, 1
Stage 2 Top 10: 7, 16, 28, 9, 81, 00, 20, 2, 98, 19

Comments: AJ Allmendinger won the Ambetter Health 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his 18th NASCAR Xfinity Series victory.

Prior to the start, the following cars dropped to the rear for the reasons indicated: No. 18 (engine change), No. 91 (unapproved adjustments).

Cautions: 7 for 31 laps;
Laps: 6-8 (Debris on backstretch [None]);
36-39 (No. 15 incident turn 2 [35]);
47-51 (Stage 1 Conclusion [15]);
92-96 (Stage 2 Conclusion [51]);
98-102 (No. 19, 8 incident frontstretch [29]);
172-176 (No. 39 spin frontstretch [5]);
196-199 (No. 8 slowed on track [07]).

Lead Changes: 13 among 9 drivers;
B. Jones 1-8;
S. Smith (P) 9-13;
C. Custer (P) 14-35;
B. Jones 36-38;
R. Herbst 39-42;
C. Custer (P) 43-51;
J. Allgaier (P) 52-93;
A. Allmendinger (P) 94-145;
R. Sieg 146;
P. Kligerman 147;
J. Love # (P) 148-150;
A. Allmendinger (P) 151-191;
R. Sieg 192;
A. Allmendinger (P) 193-201.

John Davison

Long-time RIS staffer, beginning in the mid-80s. Charlotte, NC area local contact.

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