Kyle Larson took the checkered flag in The LiUNA NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (NOAPS) race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Saturday.
Larson, the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion earned his 18th NOAPS victory and gave JR Motorsports its fifth win in Las Vegas, who led 47 laps after starting from the outside of Row 1
In his No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, Larson took the lead on Lap 154 of 200 and pulled away to a 2.557-second margin of victory over NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Briscoe, who crossed the line nearly four seconds ahead of third-place Sheldon Creed.
He led 47 laps after starting from the outside of Row 1.
“Clean air meant a lot today, so I’m glad we were able to get the lead when it mattered,” Larson said. “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.”
Justin Allgaier, who won The LiUNA race last year, took the first two stages and led a race-best 48 laps before finishing fourth. He now leads the NOAPS points standings by 13 points over Jesse Love.
On Lap 119, a caution came out, and Love was sent to the rear of the field after a pit crew member fell into the pit box, penalizing his team for having too many people over the wall. Love finished in sixth place in his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet.
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 in 35th place.