Getty AJ Allmendinger (left) and Austin Cindric (right) crash at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The top three NASCAR series are in action at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sept. 25-26, providing racing fans with three consecutive nights of entertainment. The Truck Series and Xfinity Series races will kick off the weekend as drivers fight to avoid elimination. Here are the playoff lineups for both races.
The Camping World Truck Series race will take place on Friday, Sept. 24, at 9 p.m. ET (FS1). Kyle Busch Motorsports driver John Hunter Nemechek will lead the field to the green flag as the pole-sitter while teammate Chandler Smith will join him on the front row. Stewart Friesen and Zane Smith will make up the second row while rookie Carson Hocevar and three-time champion Matt Crafton form the third row.
John Hunter Nemechek on the pole Friday for the truck race at Las Vegas.
The two remaining drivers in the Round of Eight will line up on two separate rows. Ben Rhodes will join Todd Gilliland on row four while defending champion Sheldon Creed will line up next to Austin Hill on row five. Gilliland and Hill originally rounded out the field of 10 playoff drivers, but they both fell below the cutline during the race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Championship Favorites Continue Their Xfinity Series Battle
The Xfinity Series regular season came to a wild end with Team Penske’s Austin Cindric and Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger wrecking as they crossed the finish line. Allmendinger won by 0.082 seconds and locked up the first regular-season championship in team history. Now he and Cindric will continue their battle early in Sin City.
The two championship favorites will lead the field to the green flag on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET (NBC Sports Network). Cindric will have the pole position while Allmendinger will join him on the front row. Justin Allgaier and Justin Haley will line up just behind them while Harrison Burton and Ty Gibbs will make up row three.
Daniel Hemric, Brandon Jones, Noah Gragson, Riley Herbst, Sam Mayer, Myatt Snider, Jeremy Clements, and Jeb Burton round out rows four through seven. Gibbs and Mayer aren’t in the playoffs, but their cars are still alive in the owners’ championship race.
A Truck Series Champion Will Return at Las Vegas
.@Brett_Moffitt, in the No. 25 @RackleyRoofing @TeamChevy, will start in the 22nd-place, on Row 11, for the @NASCAR_Trucks Series #VictoriasVoice200 at the @LVMotorSpeedway.
When the Truck Series drivers head to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a former champion will be in their ranks. Brett Moffitt, an Xfinity Series driver for Our Motorsports, will climb into the No. 25 Rackley W.A.R. Chevrolet Silverado and start 22nd overall.
Moffitt spent three seasons as a full-time driver in the Camping World Truck Series. He drove for Hattori Racing Enterprises in 2018, winning six times and ending the season as the champion. In 2019, he switched teams and joined forces with GMS Racing, finishing third in the standings behind Matt Crafton and Ross Chastain.
Moffitt finished out his Camping World Truck Series career with one win and 10 top-fives in the 2020 season. He returned to the playoffs and contended for the championship once again. However, he finished the year third overall behind teammates Sheldon Creed and Zane Smith.
While Moffitt battled for the championship in the Truck Series, he also competed in the Xfinity Series for Our Motorsports. He started 29 of the 33 races, posting seven top-10s and one top-five. According to “Motorsport.com,” Moffitt and Our announced in November 2020 that he would depart GMS and take over the No. 02 Chevrolet Camaro for the 2021 season.
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