As the second-to-last driver to post his qualifying lap, AJ Allmendinger posted a speed of 184.187 mph, a lap so blisteringly fast that it was a full mile per hour faster than second place. That lap proved to be the fastest, and Allmendinger will start on the pole at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the second weekend in a row in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Josh Berry posted the second-fastest time, and he will start alongside Allmendinger on the front row for Saturday’s (Mar. 5) Xfinity race. It is also the highest that Berry has ever started in a Xfinity Series race, beating his previous best of third at Talladega Superspeedway last fall.
Riley Herbst qualified third, which means that each manufacturer will be represented in the top three starting positions. Noah Gragson, who posted the fastest lap in today’s practice session, will start fourth, and Landon Cassill posted the fifth-fastest time. However, because of a blown engine in last weekend’s race at Auto Club Speedway, Cassill will be forced to drop to the back during the pace laps.
Defending series champion Daniel Hemric qualified sixth, while Ryan Truex — in his first Xfinity Series race at Joe Gibbs Racing since 2012 — qualified seventh. Sheldon Creed – who will also drop to the rear – qualified eighth, Sam Mayer — second-fastest in today’s practice — qualified ninth, and John Hunter Nemechek — the pole winner for tonight’s Camping World Truck Series race — rounded out the top 10.
Jeb Burton had a near-miss in practice, as he had a tire go down but was able to save the car. Unfortunately, the same tire went down during qualifying, and Burton crashed into the turn 2 wall. It is currently unknown if the team will be able to repair the damage in time.
With 38 spots and 41 entries after Will Rodgers withdrew, three drivers failed to qualify for tomorrow’s race. The unlucky three were Stan Mullis, David Starr, and Josh Williams.
There will also be 13 drivers heading to the rear of the field during tomorrow’s pace laps. Those 13 will be Brandon Brown (backup car), Jade Buford (backup), Cassill (backup), Creed (backup), Bailey Currey (backup), Ryan Ellis (engine), Kaz Grala (backup), Austin Hill (backup), Brandon Jones (backup), Matt Mills (engine), Stefan Parsons (backup), Ryan Vargas (transmission), and JJ Yeley (backup).
The 2022 Alsco Uniforms 300 will take place on Saturday, Mar. 5 at 4:30 p.m. ET, with TV coverage provided by Fox Sports 1.
About the author
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly columns include “Stat Sheet” and “4 Burning Questions.” He also writes commentary, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Can find on Twitter @stephen_stumpf.
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