LAS VEGAS – Kyle Larson remained undefeated in his No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet after taking the checkered flag in The LiUNA NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (NOAPS) race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon.
The reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion earned his 18th career NOAPS victory and gave JR Motorsports its fifth Las Vegas triumph. He took the lead on Lap 154 of 200 and pulled away to a 2.557-second margin of victory over fellow NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Briscoe.
“Clean air meant a lot today, so I’m glad we were able to get the lead when it mattered,” said Larson, who led 47 laps after starting from the outside of Row 1.
“On that last restart, we had some guys stay out and I had a good lap and was able to get to the middle and get some clean air. Just me being able to run a line and allow my front tires to build to get where they needed to to allow my car to be OK I think helped.”
Larson will run in Saturday night’s SugarBee Blackjack Bash — the Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing Series’ season-opener — at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway as he aims for a weekend trifecta in Las Vegas. Should he win, it would make him the first driver to sweep a NOAPS and High Limits race in the same day.
Briscoe crossed the line nearly four seconds ahead of third-place Sheldon Creed in his No. 19 Toyota.
“It was definitely harder than it needed to be, but I had a really good Wix Filters Toyota,” said Briscoe, who started 23rd. “These cars just drive so different. In the Cup cars, we can’t even run the fence in (Turns) 1 and 2, and here you can move around, so it was fun. I’ve just got to be better, and just can’t mistakes at any level, especially when you’re racing (Kyle) Larson and guys for the win.”
Jesse Love was leading when a caution came out on Lap 119 and was sent to the rear of the field after a pit crew member fell into the pit box, penalizing his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet team for having too many people over the wall. Love rebounded, but was unable to regain the lead and crossed the line in sixth place.
Justin Allgaier, who won The LiUNA last year, took the first two stages and led a race-best 48 laps before finishing fourth in his No. 7 Jarrett Logistics Chevy. He now leads the NOAPS points standings by 13 points over Love.
Pole sitter Sam Mayer led 32 laps early before losing power on Lap 48 and taking a trip to the garage after the end of Stage 1. He returned to the track four laps down and finished 35th.