This weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway marks the first mile-and-a-half event of the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series campaign, and Haas Factory Team has stepped up to prove that they’ll be a serious contender.
Sam Mayer, driver of the No. 41 Audibel Chevrolet Camaro for Haas Factory Team, secured the pole position for Saturday’s The LiUNA! at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his sixth career pole position in NASCAR’s second-tier division.
With a lap time of 29.462 seconds (183.287mph), the Franklin, Wisconsin-native rocketed to the top of the qualifying leaderboard late in the session, dethroning the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion, Kyle Larson, driving the No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet.
“Huge shoutout to the alliance cars. Having that in our corner is really good for us because we can kind of put our notes together and work together really well,” said Sam Mayer, polesitter. “So, it helped us out. Having Cole [Custer] in the field helped a lot, too. Just kind of knowing what the track has, what each kind of car is fighting or not fighting.”
STARTING LINEUP: 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series The LiUNA! Starting Lineup (Las Vegas)
Larson, contesting the first of three scheduled events in the No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports in 2026, will be starting alongside Mayer as the field takes the green flag on Saturday afternoon. Larson is a former NASCAR Cup Series winner at the Las Vegas, Nevada-based racetrack.
Sheldon Creed, piloting the No. 00 Chevrolet Camaro (the second entry out of the Haas Factory Team stable), will roll from third-place on Saturday, as he attempts to collect his second career victory in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
Sammy Smith ranked fourth in qualifying, with Brandon Jones rounding out the top-five. Taylor Gray, Jesse Love, Rajah Caruth, Justin Allgaier, and Jeremy Clements completed the top-10 in Saturday’s single-vehicle qualifying session.
Caruth, running his first full-time campaign in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, is splitting time between JR Motorsports and Jordan Anderson Racing in 2026, and in his second event of the season, will roll from eighth-place — exactly where he finished one weekend ago in the entry at Phoenix Raceway.
Jeremy Clements, who, starting this season, finds his No. 51 Chevrolet Camaro under the umbrella of Haas Factory Team, rounded out the top-10 after posting the quickest lap in practice earlier on Saturday morning.
Other notable drivers starting outside the top-10 for Saturday’s event include Austin Hill (13th), William Sawalich (14th), Cole Custer (16th, driving the No. 0 for SS-GreenLight Racing), Connor Zilisch (17th), Carson Kvapil (18th), and Chase Briscoe (23rd).
Patrick Staropoli, driving the No. 48 SYFOVRE Chevrolet Camaro for Big Machine Racing, was the only driver to have a significant issue in qualifying on Saturday, smacking the wall on the exit of Turn 2, after having a stunning start to his time trial lap. Staropoli kept his foot in the throttle, though, and qualified 22nd.
With 41 drivers on the entry list for Saturday’s The LiUNA! at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, three drivers were sent packing early: Myatt Snider (No. 30 Cope Barrett Racing), Chad Finchum (No. 35 Joey Gase Motorsports), and Dawson Cram (No. 74 Mike Harmon Racing).
Cram and Mike Harmon Racing didn’t have the opportunity to make a qualifying lap after an engine issue in practice effectively ended their weekend.
The LiUNA! will take place on Saturday, March 14 at 5:30 PM ET on The CW, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
