Las Vegas proved to be lucky for some and a disaster for others as the NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series completed their opening races in the Round of 8.

While a number of the high rollers performed well at the intermediate track of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the Playoff standings were shaken like dice at the craps tables. 

The Xfinity Series opened up the weekend with the Focused Health 302 and we had a surprise jackpot winner who disrupted the Playoff field on Saturday night.

On Sunday, The Cup Series wrapped up the Las Vegas festivities with the South Point 400. It was an exciting on-track battle for fans in attendance and watching at home. In the end, we got our first entrant into the Championship Race and it’s a driver chasing after his first title.

If you missed any of the racing action from Las Vegas this weekend, we’ve got you covered. Continue reading our NASCAR results, race recaps, and catch up on all of the weekend’s stockcar excitement.

Additionally, check out how our NASCAR picks fared for the Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Truck Series races.

NASCAR Xfinity Series Results

The following NASCAR Xfinity Series results are for the Focused Health 302:

Xfinity Series Results	Driver	Team
Race Winner	Aric Almirola	Joe Gibbs Racing
Stage 1 Winner	Aric Almirola	Joe Gibbs Racing
Stage 2 Winner	Aric Almirola	Joe Gibbs Racing
Led Most Laps	Aric Almirola (107/201)	Joe Gibbs Racing
Pole Position	Justin Allgaier	JR Motorsports

One has to wonder what would’ve happened if Aric Almirola actually raced full-time in the Xfinity Series this season. The JGR driver has now picked up his second win in the Xfinity Series Playoffs and his third on the season.

Almirola has only competed in 14 races this season, but has been a factor in almost all of them as he’s now posted nine Top 10s. After his thrilling victory, where he swept both stages, Almirola made the following comments:

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

Xfinity’s top driver Connor Zilisch finished runner up. It’s the 11^th time in the last 13 races that the phenom has scored a Top 2 finish. It’s also his 18^th consecutive Top 5 finish, which is a new Xfinity Series record.

Zilisch’s teammate at JR Motorsports, and the reigning Xfinity champ, Justin Allgaier finished third after starting on the Pole. The teammates have a comfortable lead in the standings with two races left in the Round of 8. Allgaier was our pick to win the race, but he came up two spots shy of making us look like geniuses.

Jesse Love finished 6^th in the race, after two Top 3 results on the stages, but now sits in the third spot for the driver standings. Sam Mayer sits in fourth, eight points above the cut-off line.

In total, there were only four cautions for 22 laps. However, there were 15 lead changes in this race, which saw a number of drivers lead laps. Almirola took the final lead on Lap 193 as he passed Zilisch and led the remining nine laps.

Brandon Jones, Sheldon Creed, Carson Kvapil and Sammy Smith sit below the cutoff line as the Xfinity Series turns its attention towards Talladega Superspeedway next week for the United Rentals 250. The race begins at 4pm ET on The CW.

NASCAR Cup Series Results

The following NASCAR Cup Series results are for the South Point 400:

Cup Series Results	Driver	Team
Race Winner	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing
Stage 1 Winner	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports
Stage 2 Winner	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports
Led Most Laps	Kyle Larson (129/267)	Hendrick Motorsports
Pole Position	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing

Following the conclusion of the South Point 400, we got our first entrant into the Championship Race as Denny Hamlin took the checkered flag in Las Vegas. It was the 60^th win of his career as he’s now tied for 10^th all-time, along with Kevin Harvick.

Hamlin came on strong in the end as his pit strategy paid off by taking four tires, while teammate Chase Briscoe took two tires and ended up fourth. Hamlin only led the final nine laps but that’s all that matters as the no.11 car is heading to compete for a Championship.

Hamlin made the following post-race comments:

“This win means a lot, this is the point where I kind of give the fans some [expletive], but not today, I appreciate you all so much. We were hoping to get 60 [wins] today, but didn’t think we were. Just put the pedal down those last 10 laps and made it happen.”

Kyle Larson finished second on the day after leading the most laps (129/267) and winning Stage 2. For the eighth time, Larson and Hamlin finished as the Top 2 in a race. However, Larson sits 35 points above the cutoff line with two races left in the Round of 8.

Christopher Bell finished 3^rd in the race and sits 3^rd in the standings. Chase Briscoe, who finished 4^th at Las Vegas, is also 4^th in the standings.

William Byron, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney all sit well below the cutoff. Of these four, Logano finished the highest with a sixth-place result. However, he also gambled and lost on a two-tire pit stop. Elliott finished 18^th after rallying from a penalty and pit road issue.

Byron crashed into Ty Dillon after he didn’t see the no.10 car going to pit road. This caused Byron to finish 36^th and fall below the cutoff line. Byron had won Stage 1 and led 55 laps before this incident.

Blaney had a tire incident that caused him to crash in the first stage of the race. He ended up finishing last on the day (38^th) and falling to 31 points below the cutoff.

Fortunately for Blaney, he’s fared well at Talladega which is where the Cup Series will head to for next weekend’s race – the Yellawood 500 on Sunday, October 19.

The South Point 400 saw 21 lead changes with Hamlin leading the final nine laps for the victory. There were 5 cautions for 32 laps. Although Hendrick Motorsports didn’t win the race, they did sweep both stages and finished runner up on the day.

The Cup Series Round of 8 will wrap up on Sunday, October 26, with the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Following the conclusion of that race, four drivers will be eliminated and the remaining four will compete for the Championship on Sunday, November 2.