Aric Almirola led 107 of the 201 laps and took over the race lead from Connor Zilisch with nine laps remaining to win Saturday night’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway by .696 seconds.
“First, thank you God. This is such an unbelievable opportunity to do this with the Signatry and Young Life. They have watch parties all over the globe with these Young Life kids, and it is so much fun to be a part of this. Thank you, Coach (Joe Gibbs, owner and founder, Joe Gibbs Racing). Such an awesome honor to go race for an owner’s championship with JD Gibbs’ name on the car – the whole Gibbs family. I’m having so much fun. This is the time of my life, man.” Almirola said.
The win in the Focused Health 302 was Almirola’s third win of the 2025 season and 10th of his career.
“Our car was really good, but the longer I ran, the tighter I got. I was just struggling on the long run in the beginning of stage three and finally that restart there. I just took off incredibly tight, and I couldn’t get going. The 48 (Nick Sanchez) slowed my momentum down. Finally, I got clear of him and was able to go and chase the 88 (Connor Zilisch) down. He looked pretty loose, and I was able to capitalize on it.” Almirola added.
Almirola, who is racing part-time this season, gave the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team the first automatic berth for the owners’ championship 4 at Phoenix.
“We decided that this week that we’re going to go try and win an owner’s championship.” Almirola said during his post-race press conference. “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.”
Zilisch finished in second place and extended his series record of consecutive top-five finishes to 18 races.
“The frustration just comes from the fact this means so much to me and the chance to lock into Phoenix,” said Zilisch. “I gave it my all, and I drove as hard as I could. But I guess that’s all we had today. I just have to do a better job.”
Justin Allgaier finished third, Corey Day fourth, and Nick Sanchez rounded out the top 5 finishers.
After Vegas, Connor Zilisch has a 38-point lead over Justin Allgaier, 62 points over Jesse Love, 74 points over Sam Mayer, 82 points over Brandon Jones, 95 points over Sheldon Creed, 96 points over Carson Kvapil, and 98 points over Sammy Smith.
Up Next:
The Xfinity series heads to Talladega Superspeedway for the United Rentals 250 at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
Standings after the Focused Health 302
| Pos | Driver | No | Points | Behind | Next | Raec Wins | Stage Wins | PLayoff Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Connor Zilisch # (P) | 88 | 3124 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 11 | 71 |
| 2 | Justin Allgaier (P) | 7 | 3086 | -38 | 38 | 3 | 13 | 38 |
| 3 | Jesse Love (P) | 2 | 3062 | -62 | 24 | 1 | 2 | 14 |
| 4 | Sam Mayer (P) | 41 | 3050 | -74 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 16 |
| 5 | Brandon Jones (P) | 20 | 3042 | -82 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 18 |
| 6 | Sheldon Creed (P) | 0 | 3029 | -95 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 7 | Carson Kvapil # (P) | 1 | 3028 | -96 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 8 | Sammy Smith (P) | 8 | 3026 | -98 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 30
Race Results for the Focused Health 302 – Saturday, October 11, 2025
Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Las Vegas, NV – 1.5 – Mile Paved
| Pos | St | No | Driver | Team | Laps | S1 | S2 | S3 | Points | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 19 | Aric Almirola (P) | Young Life Toyota | 201 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 60 | Running |
| 2 | 2 | 88 | Connor Zilisch # (P) | WeatherTech Chevrolet | 201 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 53 | Running |
| 3 | 1 | 7 | Justin Allgaier (P) | BRANDT Chevrolet | 201 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 48 | Running |
| 4 | 19 | 17 | Corey Day | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 201 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 35 | Running |
| 5 | 5 | 48 | Nick Sanchez # | DIOS AZUL Tequila Chevrolet | 201 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 33 | Running |
| 6 | 6 | 2 | Jesse Love (P) | Whelen Chevrolet | 201 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 48 | Running |
| 7 | 14 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Sci Aps Ford | 201 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 42 | Running |
| 8 | 8 | 54 | Taylor Gray # | Operation 300 Toyota | 201 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 31 | Running |
| 9 | 16 | 41 | Sam Mayer (P) | Audibel Ford | 201 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 34 | Running |
| 10 | 12 | 21 | Austin Hill (P) | Global Industrial Chevrolet | 201 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 37 | Running |
| 11 | 10 | 0 | Sheldon Creed (P) | Ollie’s Ford | 201 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | Running |
| 12 | 11 | 18 | William Sawalich # | Soundgear Toyota | 201 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | Running |
| 13 | 3 | 20 | Brandon Jones (P) | Menards/Nibco Toyota | 201 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | Running |
| 14 | 20 | 25 | Harrison Burton | Dead On Tools Ford | 201 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | Running |
| 15 | 9 | 1 | Carson Kvapil # (P) | Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Tech Chevrolet | 201 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 23 | Running |
| 16 | 13 | 11 | Daniel Hemric(i) | Benesch Attorneys Chevrolet | 201 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Running |
| 17 | 18 | 10 | Daniel Dye # | Champion Container Chevrolet | 201 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | Running |
| 18 | 7 | 16 | Christian Eckes # | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 201 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 27 | Running |
| 19 | 17 | 99 | Matt DiBenedetto | Viking Motorsports Chevrolet | 201 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | Running |
| 20 | 15 | 8 | Sammy Smith (P) | Pilot Chevrolet | 201 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | Running |
| 21 | 24 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | Sci Aps Ford | 201 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | Running |
| 22 | 26 | 24 | Trevor Bayne(i) | OLIPOP/SpongeBob Movie Toyota | 201 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Running |
| 23 | 27 | 91 | Josh Williams | Optum Chevrolet | 201 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | Running |
| 24 | 25 | 42 | Anthony Alfredo | Dude Wipes Chevrolet | 201 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | Running |
| 25 | 31 | 44 | Brennan Poole | Macc Door Systems Chevrolet | 201 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | Running |
| 26 | 22 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Crocodile Cloth Chevrolet | 201 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | Running |
| 27 | 28 | 31 | Blaine Perkins | C.H. Robinson Chevrolet | 201 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | Running |
| 28 | 23 | 26 | Dean Thompson # | MCM Transportation Toyota | 200 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | Running |
| 29 | 38 | 71 | Ryan Ellis | Classic Collision Chevrolet | 200 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | Running |
| 30 | 37 | 4 | Parker Retzlaff | Dr Teal’s Chevrolet | 200 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | Running |
| 31 | 33 | 32 | Austin Green | 3Dimensional.com Chevrolet | 199 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | Running |
| 32 | 36 | 14 | Garrett Smithley | ThermoTech Chevrolet | 199 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | Running |
| 33 | 35 | 35 | Mason Maggio | Denssi Energy Pouches Ford | 198 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | Running |
| 34 | 34 | 7 | Nick Leitz | FrontLine Optics Chevrolet | 198 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Running |
| 35 | 32 | 53 | Joey Gase | Nevada Donor Network Chevrolet | 196 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Running |
| 36 | 21 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Henderson Jet/Alliance Chevrolet | 146 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Transmission |
| 37 | 30 | 45 | Mason Massey | Brunt Chevrolet | 84 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Suspension |
| 38 | 29 | 70 | Thomas Annunziata | Bayshore Mortgage Chevrolet | 68 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Transmission |
