October 11, 2025 | By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

Aric Almirola bests Connor Zilisch in Xfinity Playoff race at Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, Nev.—An incredible race-long scramble among the day’s front-running trio of veteran Aric Almirola and young talents Connor Zilisch and Jesse Love ended in favor of the experienced Almirola, but he really had to earn this trophy in Saturday’s Focused Health 302 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Almirola, who led a race best 107 of the 201 laps, took the lead for good from the season’s most dominant driver Zilisch with nine laps remaining and he held off the championship leader by .696-second in one of the most competitive races of the season.

The win for the 41-year-old Almirola – who is racing part-time this season – gives his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota the first automatic berth for the owners championship in the Nov. 1 season-ending Championship Four finale in Phoenix.

It was the third win of the 2025 season and 10th of his career for Almirola, who made the dramatic race-winning move – diving low on the 19-year-old Zilisch – and then having to out-run and out-maneuver the talented young star in the closing laps.

Almirola’s victory settles an owner’s championship position but also means the final four championship race is still open to four drivers – at least two of which will now advance based on points.

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

“Our car was good. Our car was really good but the longer I ran the tighter I got and I was just struggling on the long run at the beginning of Stage 3 and finally on that re-start [with 23 laps remaining] I took off incredibly tight and couldn’t get going and was able to go chase the 88 [Zilisch] down. He looked pretty loose and I was able to capitalize on that.

“It was awesome racing them.”

Zilisch’s runner-up finish extends his series record consecutive top-five efforts to 18 races. He’s finished first or second place an incredible 11 of the last 13 races. However, that streak of success was no comfort in the immediate moments after Saturday’s checkered flag. He even apologized to his JR Motorsports team on the cool-down lap for not being more aggressive in the race’s closing laps.

“The frustration just comes from the fact this means so much to me and the chance to lock into Phoenix,” said Zilisch, who boosted his advantage in the championship to 82 points above the four-driver Playoff cutoff line.

“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.”

“We put ourselves int eh right spots, but unfortunately I just didn’t come away with it,” he added. “Plus, 82 [points] is not bad, it could have been a lot worse but having another “win” sticker on this thing would have been a lot better.

Zilisch’s JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier, Saturday’s polesitter and the defending race winner, finished third  followed by Hendrick Motorsports’ development driver Corey Day and Big Machine Racing’s Nick Sanchez.

Love, who led three times for 22 laps, finished sixth in the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. He got caught up racing hard with Sanchez in the closing laps after running among the top-three for most of the day. He was frustrated and he and Sanchez had words on pit road following the checkered flag.

“I had words with him and obviously I’m extremely pissed off,” said Love who is now 20-points above the cutoff line. “It was my fault I was in the spot racing him. … I don’t run into people and don’t put people in bad spots for no reason and that’s why I’m upset about it.

“I did a lot of things really really good tonight and I did a lot of things really really bad tonight,” Love added.

For his part, Sanchez said he was just racing hard an even though he is no longer Playoff-eligible, he still intends to race hard for wins in these final races of the season.

Ryan Sieg, Taylor Gray, Playoff driver Sam Mayer and Austin Hill rounded out the top-10.

Beyond Zilisch’s huge lead in the Playoff standings, Allgaier is second, 44 points up on the cutoff. Love’s sixth place showing moved him from fifth place into third place and Mayer is fourth, eight points above the line.

JGR’s Brandon Jones, who finished 13th Saturday, is now fifth in points, minus-eight. Mayer’s Haas Factory Team teammate Sheldon Creed, who finished 11th is now 21 points off the cutline. Zilisch’s JR Motorsports teammates Carson Kvapil, who finished 15th and Sammy Smith, who finished 20th are now 22 and 24 points, respectively, below the four-drive cutoff.

The series returns to Playoff action next week at the 2.66-mile Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway for next Saturday’s United Rentals 250 (4 p.m. ET, CW Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Sammy Smith is the defending race winner.


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

Total Race Length - 201 Laps - 301.5 Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 10/11/2025 @ 10:15 PM Eastern

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 4 19 Aric Almirola (P) Young Life Toyota 201 1 1 60 Running 4 107 7
2 2 88 Connor Zilisch # (P) WeatherTech Chevrolet 201 2 3 53 Running 3 34
3 1 7 Justin Allgaier (P) BRANDT Chevrolet 201 4 4 48 Running 1 28
4 19 17 Corey Day HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 201  9 35 Running  
5 5 48 Nick Sanchez # DIOS AZUL Tequila Chevrolet 201 10  33 Running 1 1
6 6 2 Jesse Love (P) Whelen Chevrolet 201 3 2 48 Running 3 22
7 14 39 Ryan Sieg Sci Aps Ford 201 5 5 42 Running  
8 8 54 Taylor Gray # Operation 300 Toyota 201 9  31 Running  
9 16 41 Sam Mayer (P) Audibel Ford 201 8 8 34 Running  
10 12 21 Austin Hill (P) Global Industrial Chevrolet 201 6 6 37 Running  
11 10 00 Sheldon Creed (P) Ollie's Ford 201   26 Running  
12 11 18 William Sawalich # Soundgear Toyota 201   25 Running  
13 3 20 Brandon Jones (P) Menards/Nibco Toyota 201   24 Running 1 1
14 20 25 Harrison Burton Dead On Tools Ford 201   23 Running  
15 9 1 Carson Kvapil # (P) Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Tech Chevrolet 201  10 23 Running  
16 13 11 Daniel Hemric(i) Benesch Attorneys Chevrolet 201   0 Running 1 4
17 18 10 Daniel Dye # Champion Container Chevrolet 201   20 Running 1 2
18 7 16 Christian Eckes # LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 201 7 7 27 Running  
19 17 99 Matt DiBenedetto Viking Motorsports Chevrolet 201   18 Running  
20 15 8 Sammy Smith (P) Pilot Chevrolet 201   17 Running  
21 24 28 Kyle Sieg Sci Aps Ford 201   16 Running 1 2
22 26 24 Trevor Bayne(i) OLIPOP/SpongeBob Movie Toyota 201   0 Running  
23 27 91 Josh Williams Optum Chevrolet 201   14 Running  
24 25 42 Anthony Alfredo Dude Wipes Chevrolet 201   13 Running  
25 31 44 Brennan Poole Macc Door Systems Chevrolet 201   12 Running  
26 22 27 Jeb Burton Crocodile Cloth Chevrolet 201   11 Running  
27 28 31 Blaine Perkins C.H. Robinson Chevrolet 201   10 Running  
28 23 26 Dean Thompson # MCM Transportation Toyota 200   9 Running  
29 38 71 Ryan Ellis Classic Collision Chevrolet 200   8 Running  
30 37 4 Parker Retzlaff Dr Teal's Chevrolet 200   7 Running  
31 33 32 Austin Green 3Dimensional.com Chevrolet 199   6 Running  
32 36 14 Garrett Smithley ThermoTech Chevrolet 199   5 Running  
33 35 35 Mason Maggio Denssi Energy Pouches Ford 198   4 Running  
34 34 07 Nick Leitz FrontLine Optics Chevrolet 198   3 Running  
35 32 53 Joey Gase Nevada Donor Network Chevrolet 196   2 Running  
36 21 51 Jeremy Clements Henderson Jet/Alliance Chevrolet 146   1 Transmission  
37 30 45 Mason Massey Brunt Chevrolet 84   1 Suspension  
38 29 70 Thomas Annunziata Bayshore Mortgage Chevrolet 68   1 Transmission  

Fastest Lap Bonus:  # 88 lap 100 / 30.442                                                              

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 13 Mins, 31 Secs. Average Speed: 135.489 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.696 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 19, 88, 2, 7, 39, 21, 16, 41, 54, 48
Stage 2 Top 10: 19, 2, 88, 7, 39, 21, 16, 41, 17, 1

Race Comments: Aric Almirola has won the Focused Health 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his 10th victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty: Nos. 4 (Unapproved adjustments), No. 71 (Engine Change).

Failed to Qualify: None.

Caution Flags: 4 for 22 laps; Laps: 25-28 (Debris Turn 2 [None]); 47-52 (Stage 1 Conclusion [None]); 92-98 (Stage 2 Conclusion [35]); 174-178 (#26 Spin Turn 4 [8]).

Lead Changes: 15 among 9 drivers; J. Allgaier (P) 1-28; A. Almirola (P) 29-49; J. Love (P) 50-53; A. Almirola (P) 54-94; C. Zilisch # (P) 95-106; A. Almirola (P) 107-142; J. Love (P) 143; C. Zilisch # (P) 144; N. Sanchez # 145; B. Jones (P) 146; D. Dye # 147-148; D. Hemric(i) 149-152; K. Sieg 153-154; J. Love (P) 155-171; C. Zilisch # (P) 172-192; A. Almirola (P) 193-201.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: October 18, 2025 - Talladega Superspeedway

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CURRENT NASCAR XFINITY SERIES STANDINGS

POS NO. DRIVER MFR +/-

1 88 Connor Zilisch Chevrolet +82
2 7 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet +44
3 2 Jesse Love Chevrolet +20
4 41 Sam Mayer Ford +8

CUTOFF LINE - FOUR DRIVERS TO BE ELIMINATED AFTER MARTINSVILLE(OCT. 25)

5 20 Brandon Jones Toyota -8
6 00SheldonCreedFord -21
7 1CarsonKvapilChevrolet -22
8 8SammySmith Chevrolet -24