Still chasing after his first victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series this season, Josh Berry comes to a facility he’s found major success at in the past, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, as his tenure in NASCAR’s second-tier series comes to a close.
Berry, driving the No. 8 LubeZone Chevrolet Camaro, posted the quickest time in qualifying from Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday, allowing the Hendersonville, Tennessee native to collect his third pole of the season with a lap of 29.671 seconds (181.996mph).
Cole Custer came up just half a tenth short of the quickest time on Friday, leaving him to start outside the front row in his Haas Automation Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing. Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith, a pair of ‘Round of 8’ drivers, will start third and fourth.
Rounding out the top five was Parker Retzlaff, who placed his Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet in fifth place on Friday, after a spectacular lap in qualifying, marking his third top-five qualifying result of the year.
Daniel Hemric posted the sixth-quickest time in qualifying, while Justin Allgaier, Riley Herbst, Layne Riggs, and Austin Hill completed the top-10. Riggs, starting ninth in his second event for Kaulig Racing, earned his first top-10 starting position.
Sam Mayer, the winner from last weekend’s event at the ROVAL, will start the race from 14th place, as he sits on the cutline to advance to the Championship 4 event at Phoenix Raceway. Fellow post-season driver Sheldon Creed will start 15th.
The biggest story to come from qualifying is another mechanical issue for John Hunter Nemechek, forcing the No. 20 Toyota Supra to be pushed behind the wall, and leaving the Joe Gibbs Racing driver to start at the rear of the field.
With 40 cars entered for Saturday’s 302-mile contest from Las Vegas, Garrett Smithley (#4 JD Motorsports) and Gray Gaulding (#07 SS GreenLight Racing) failed to make the show, after not posting a time quick enough to get inside the top 33.
Qualifying Results – Alsco Uniforms 302
Qualifying Results: 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Alsco Uniforms 302 at Las Vegas
