What an incredible Friday night for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s team when qualifying at the LiUNA in Las Vegas! Three JR Motorsports drivers swept the field to secure Saturday’s top starting positions. No. 8 Sammy Smith held off teammate No.1 Carson Kvapil (P2) by 0.067 seconds to win his first pole since 2023. The pole win marks the third of his career. Can he hold onto the starting position despite the strong competition from his teammates at the LiUNA?
Connor Zilisch (P3) came up short to Kvapil at 0.062 seconds. That’s less than a fraction between the two teammates, so the stakes will be high at tonight’s LiUNA! Teammate No. 7 Justin Allgaier wasn’t as lucky. He fought with Taylor Gray and Sam Mayer to secure a spot in the top five, but it unfortunately eluded him. Gray overpowered Allgaier by 0.051 seconds and Mayer by 0.080 seconds in a disappointing upset. Sammy Smith spoke about the team’s performance to news correspondents from the CW Network post qualifying.
“We have to work on our long-run pace a little bit,” Smith said. “Our goal is to keep it out front, Saturday,” he proclaimed. That seems to be the perfect advice for teammate Justin Allgaier. How he performed last starkly contrasted his starting position and win in Phoenix last week. Can he redeem himself over his domineering teammates to force a top position at the LiUNA? Here’s a look at what today’s starting lineup for the LiUNA! tells us.
NASCAR Xfinity Series: The LIUNA! Starting LineupLas Vegas Motor Speedway |
|||||||
| Postion | Row | Lap Time | Speed | Driver | No. | Veh Mfg. | Team |
| 1 | 1 | 29.435 | 183.455 | Sammy Smith | 8 | Chevrolet | JR Motorsports |
| 2 | 1 | 29.502 | 183.038 | Carson Kvapil | 1 | Chevrolet | JR Motorsports |
| 3 | 2 | 29.564 | 182.655 | Connor Zilisch | 88 | Chevrolet | JR Motorsports |
| 4 | 2 | 29.592 | 182.482 | Taylor Gray | 54 | Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 5 | 3 | 29.634 | 182.223 | Sam Mayer | 41 | Ford | Haas Factory Team |
| 6 | 3 | 29.642 | 182.174 | Justin Allgaier | 7 | Chevrolet | JR Motorsports |
| 7 | 4 | 29.645 | 182.156 | Jesse Love | 2 | Chevrolet | Richard Childress Racing |
| 8 | 4 | 29.668 | 182.014 | William Sawalich | 18 | Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 9 | 5 | 29.674 | 181.977 | Nick Sanchez | 48 | Chevrolet | Big Machine Racing |
| 10 | 5 | 29.688 | 181.892 | Jeb Burton | 27 | Chevrolet | Jordan Anderson Racing |
| 11 | 6 | 29.710 | 181.757 | Aric Almirola | 19 | Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 12 | 6 | 29.724 | 181.671 | Parker Retzlaff | 4 | Chevrolet | Alpha Prime Racing |
| 13 | 7 | 29.807 | 181.165 | Jeremy Clements | 51 | Chevrolet | Jeremy Clements Racing |
| 14 | 7 | 29.822 | 181.074 | Austin Hill | 21 | Chevrolet | Richard Childress Racing |
| 15 | 8 | 29.833 | 181.008 | Brandon Jones | 20 | Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 16 | 8 | 30.063 | 179.623 | Daniel Dye | 10 | Chevrolet | Kaulig Racing |
| 17 | 9 | 30.075 | 179.551 | Christian Eckes | 16 | Chevrolet | Kaulig Racing |
| 18 | 9 | 30.094 | 179.438 | Harrison Burton | 25 | Ford | AM Racing |
| 19 | 10 | 30.133 | 179.206 | Matt DiBenedetto | 99 | Chevrolet | Viking Motorsports |
| 20 | 10 | 30.201 | 178.802 | Ryan Sieg | 39 | Ford | RSS Racing |
| 21 | 11 | 30.263 | 178.436 | Kyle Sieg | 28 | Ford | RSS Racing |
| 22 | 11 | 30.270 | 178.394 | Anthony Alfredo | 42 | Chevrolet | Young’s Motorsports |
| 23 | 12 | 30.310 | 178.159 | Sheldon Creed | 00 | Ford | Haas Factory Team |
| 24 | 12 | 30.364 | 177.842 | Josh Williams | 11 | Chevrolet | Kaulig Racing |
| 25 | 13 | 30.412 | 177.561 | Patrick Emerling | 07 | Chevrolet | SS-GreenLight Racing |
| 26 | 13 | 30.436 | 177.421 | Kris Wright | 5 | Chevrolet | Our Motorsports |
| 27 | 14 | 30.521 | 176.927 | Blaine Perkins | 31 | Chevrolet | Jordan Anderson Racing |
| 28 | 14 | 30.577 | 176.603 | Dean Thompson | 26 | Toyota | Sam Hunt Racing |
| 29 | 15 | 30.585 | 176.557 | Leland Honeyman | 70 | Chevrolet | Cope Family Racing |
| 30 | 15 | 30.699 | 175.901 | Brennan Poole | 44 | Chevrolet | Alpha Prime Racing |
| 31 | 16 | 30.916 | 174.667 | Mason Massey | 45 | Chevrolet | Alpha Prime Racing |
| 32 | 16 | 31.119 | 173.527 | Dawson Cram | 74 | Chevrolet | Mike Harmon Racing |
| 33 | 17 | 31.183 | 173.171 | Garrett Smithley | 14 | Chevrolet | SS-GreenLight Racing |
| 34 | 17 | 31.198 | 173.088 | Josh Bilicki | 91 | Chevrolet | DGM Racing |
| 35 | 18 | 31.288 | 172.590 | Ryan Ellis | 71 | Chevrolet | DGM Racing |
| 36 | 18 | 31.367 | 172.155 | Austin Green | 32 | Chevrolet | Jordan Anderson Racing |
| 37 | 19 | 31.744 | 170.111 | Joey Gase | 53 | Chevrolet | Joey Gase Motorsports |
| 38 | 19 | 32.112 | 168.161 | Greg Van Alst | 35 | Chevrolet | Joey Gase Motorsports |
Final Thoughts
There was an interesting turn of events on Friday night qualifying for the LiUNA! resulted in a JR Motorsports sweep. However, No. 7 teammate Justin Allgaier fell by the wayside after getting caught up with Taylor Gray and Sam Mayer. Allgaier won at the Bennett Transportation and Logistics 250, but fell short in Phoenix last week, landing him in P5. It also seems like the P9 finish he pulled at the United Rentals 300 in Daytona has returned to haunt him. Can he pull himself out of this rut? Tune into the LiUNA! at 3:30 p.m. CT for more!
