Las Vegas Recap: Berry, Logano Advance to the Championship 4.

The Round of 8 began for both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Cup Series, as both circuits made their way out west to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The remaining contenders came in with only one thing in mind, win the race and punch a ticket to Phoenix.

In Saturday’s Xfinity race, it was all glory for Josh Berry of Jr Motorsports, as he led 65 laps and took the checkered flag to advance to the Championship 4. Berry won this race a year ago while subbing for Michael Annett. Berry was able to take the lead from AJ Allmendinger with 34 laps left in the race, as the two fought side-by-side on a late-race restart.

Noah Gragson, a Las Vegas native, finished second after leading 87 laps and scoring a stage win. Fellow Jr Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier ended up finishing third, allowing Jr Motorsports to sweep the podium with a 1-2-3 finish.

“I was a little bit tight off (Turn) 4 the whole time, and [Allmendinger] left me a lane but nothing extra, but I wasn’t letting off,” said Berry after the race. “That was for a trip to Phoenix and I was willing to hit the wall or whatever. We’ve had a tough couple weeks or months, but we knew we could do this if we were at our best.

“Had a caution with 30 to go and was able to wrestle the lead away from those guys and build enough of a [points] gap to keep it,” Berry said. “I tell you, I’m just speechless.”

Berry’s win also marked Chevrolet’s 500th win all-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series as well as clinching the manufacturer’s sixth consecutive NASCAR Xfinity Series Manufacturer’s Championship.

As for AJ Allmendinger, his race quickly derailed after battling Josh Berry for the win, as he had to pit under green-flag conditions due to a pair of loose tires that resulted in a 22nd place finish, as well as falling under the cutline to make the Championship 4. He was also the only playoff driver to finish outside the top 10.

Currently, Gragson, Ty Gibbs, and Justin Allgaier sit above the cutline, while Austin Hill (-15), AJ Allmendinger (-16), Brandon Jones (-29), and Sam Mayer (-36) are in a hole, and looking for a big breakthrough in the next two races.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Hailie Deegan made her Xfinity debut at Las Vegas, earning a 13th-place finish in her first race, driving the No. 07 for SS Greenlight Racing.

“I’m pretty excited right now, the guys gave me an amazing car,” Deegan said, noting that she would love the opportunity to race more in the Xfinity Series should a sponsor step up to help with funding.

Moving over to the NASCAR Cup Series, Joey Logano, the 2018 Champion, was the first driver to clinch a spot in the Championship 4 after chasing down fellow championship contender Ross Chastain and passing him with three laps to go to win the race. This is Logano’s first win since June at the inaugural Cup Series race in St. Louis (Gateway).

“Let’s go get a championship, baby,’’ Logano cheered into the team radio after taking the checkered flag.

Logano made a pit stop with 26 laps to go, which allowed him the freshest of tires and helped him track down Ross Chastain.

“What a great car, the Penske cars were all fast today,” said Logano, who earned his third win of the season and 30th of his career.

“Oh man, all you want to do is get to the Championship 4 before the season starts and race for the championship and we’ve got the team to do it. I don’t see why we can’t win it at this point. Things are looking really good for us.

“A lot of adversity we fought though in the last 50 laps or so. I thought we were going to win then kinda fell out, got some tires, and racing Ross was fun. He did a good job air-blocking me and I was just trying to be patient but eventually, I was like, ‘I’ve got to go here.’ “

Las Vegas native Kyle Busch finished in third followed by playoff contenders Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin. As for the remaining Hendrick Motorsports playoff contenders, William Byron and Chase Elliott had disappointing finishes as they finished 13th and 21st respectively. Ryan Blaney, Logano’s teammate, did lead 39 laps and won stage two but finished 28th after hitting the wall late in the race. Christopher Bell finished 34th after being an innocent victim in an earlier accident in the race.

Speaking of that earlier accident, it was one of the most talked about moments in the race. Shortly after the restart to begin Stage 2, Kyle Larson and Bubba Wallace were battling for position near the front of the field, when coming off turn four, Larson’s car got loose and ran Wallace’s No. 45 Toyota into the outside wall. Wallace, who won stage 1, bounced off the wall and then drove into Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet, turning both of them as well as collecting Christopher Bell. After the smoke cleared, Wallace took his helmet off and headed towards Larson, who was just getting out of his car.

The two exchanged words and Wallace pushed Larson multiple times before walking away.

“You get shoved into the fence deliberately like he [Larson] did trying to force me to lift, the steering was gone,’’ Wallace said when asked if he intentionally spun Larson. “He just happened to be there.

“Hate it for our team. Super fast car. Larson wanted to make a three-wide dive bomb but never cleared me and I don’t lift. I know I’m kinda new running at the front, but I don’t lift, was never in a spot to lift and he never lifted either. Now we’re junk. Just piss poor move on his execution. He knows what he did was wrong. He never cleared me and just hate it for my team.’’

As for Kyle Larson, he realized he got into Wallace and wasn’t entirely surprised by Wallace’s aggression afterward. Larson also said he not hit Wallace intentionally.

“I knew he was going to retaliate,’’ Larson said. “He had reason to be mad but his race wasn’t over until he retaliated. It is what it is. Just aggression turned into frustration and he retaliated.”

“I know he’s probably still upset but I’m sure with everything going on he’ll know he made a mistake in the retaliation part and I’m sure he’ll think twice about it next time,’’ Larson added. “I saw him walking over so I figured he’d do something. He had every right to be upset and I’d rather him do that than tear up our cars in a dangerous manner.’’

Both series as well as the Camping World Truck Series will head to Homestead-Miami Speedway next week to continue the second race of the Round of 8 across all three circuits.