Aric Almirola Sweeps Stages En Route to Las Vegas Victory

Aric Almirola burns it down at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. (Photo: Patrick Vallely | NASCAR Digital Media)

LAS VEGAS — Aric Almirola swept the stages at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to win the Focused Health 302 for his third win of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.

Almirola led 107 of the 201 laps to clinch the victory, which also punched the No. 19 car’s ticket into the owner’s championship at Phoenix Raceway.

“Such an awesome opportunity to go race for an owner’s championship with J.D. Gibbs’ (Joe Gibbs’ late son) name on the car,” said Almirola. “I’m having so much fun. This is the time of my life.”

After a race-long battle with Connor Zilisch, he was able to complete the final pass for the lead with just nine laps remaining. Despite battling a tight-handling car, Almirola was able to run Zilisch down following the final restart with 23 laps to go.

Aric Almirola raises his arms in victory after winning Saturday night’s Focused Health 302 at Las Vegas. (Photo: Patrick Vallely | NASCAR Digital Media)

“Our car was really good, but the longer I ran, the tighter I got,” Almirola said. “I was just struggling on the long run at the beginning of Stage 3. Finally, on that restart, I took off incredibly tight and couldn’t get going and was able to go chase the (No.) 88 (Zilisch) down. He looked pretty loose, and I was able to capitalize on that.”

Zilisch, who crossed the start/finish to score a second-place finish, tallied his 18th consecutive top five finish, extending his NASCAR Xfinity Series record. Despite the strong points day, Zilisch was disappointed to be just one position away from clinching a spot in the Championship 4.

“The frustration just comes from the fact that this means so much to me and the chance to lock into Phoenix,” he said. “We put ourselves in the right spots, but unfortunately, I just didn’t come away with it. I gave it my all, and I drove as hard as I could.”

With the strong result and total points gained on the day, Zilisch grew his cushion over the playoff cutline to 82 points with two races remaining in the Round of 8.

Connor Zilisch (No. 88) dueled Aric Almirola (No. 19) tenaciously for the win in Saturday night’s Focused Health 302 at Las Vegas. (Photo: Nigel Kinrade | Nigel Kinrade Photography)

“Plus 82 (points) is not bad,” said Zilisch. “It could have been a lot worse, but having another win sticker on this thing (his No. 88 car) would have been a lot better.”

Rounding out the top five were Justin Allgaier, Corey Day and Nick Sanchez. Following the third-place finish, Allgaier sits 44 points above the cutline.

Jesse Love scored a sixth-place finish and now sits third on the playoff grid at +20 points. After the race, Love had words for Sanchez on how the two drivers’ battle for position late in the race ended.

“We about crashed four times on the straightaway side-drafting each other,” Love said. “Then, he put it on my door four laps in a row until I about crashed. I’m just obviously very frustrated.”

Aric Almirola dominated the Focused Health 302 at Las Vegas. (Photo: Patrick Vallely | NASCAR Digital Media)

Sanchez was defensive about how he raced when asked about the confrontation post-race, as he thought the battle was just hard racing between the two of them.

“We were racing,” said Sanchez. “You could be mad, you could whine, but we’re racing. And I didn’t wreck him. I’m gonna race the same way every time.”

Finishing inside the top 10 behind Love were Ryan Sieg, Taylor Gray, Sam Mayer and Austin Hill.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns next weekend for race No. 2 of the Round of 8 at Talladega Superspeedway for the United Rentals 250 on Saturday, Oct. 18, at 4 p.m. EST on The CW, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Stage 1 Top 10 Results

1. Aric Almirola
2. Connor Zilisch
3. Jesse Love
4. Justin Allgaier
5. Ryan Sieg
6. Austin Hill
7. Christian Eckes
8. Sam Mayer
9. Taylor Gray
10. Nick Sanchez

Stage 2 Top 10 Results

1. Aric Almirola
2. Jesse Love
3. Connor Zilisch
4. Justin Allgaier
5. Ryan Sieg
6. Austin Hill
7. Christian Eckes
8. Sam Mayer
9. Corey Day
10. Carson Kvapil

Playoff Standings (Race 1/3 in the Round of 8)

1. Connor Zilisch (+82)
2. Justin Allgaier (+44)
3. Jesse Love (+20)
4. Sam Mayer (+8)
5. Brandon Jones (-8)
6. Sheldon Creed (-21)
7. Carson Kvapil (-22)
8. Sammy Smith (-24)

Focused Health 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Finishing Results