By Lori Vizza
3:35 pm - Larson Wins the Boyd Gaming 300 - Larson gets a good jump on the restart and pulls out to the lead with 6 laps to go. Bell and Allgaier are still running 2nd and 3rd.
Busch restarted 17th and has made up five positions in a single lap.
5 laps to go - Larson is still out front with no one close enough to challenge.
4 laps to go - The only battle is for 5th between Hemric, Sadler and Blaney
White Flag – Larson has just one lap to go and clear track in front of him
Larson wins the Boyd Gaming 300!
2nd-5th: Bell, Allgaier, Blaney, Sadler
3:30 pm - Boyd Gaming 300 Update - Lap 190 - Larson takes the lead on the restart and before we really get going, Chastain gets sideways on the backstretch after contact from Grala.
We're back under caution
Busch gets the free pass back onto the lead lap.
Running order for the restart: Larson, Bell, Allgaier, Blaney, Reddick, Custer, Sadler, Hemric, Jones, Gallagher
Back to green with 7 laps to go
3:24 pm - Boyd Gaming 300 Race Update - The leaders pit on Lap 187. Reddick wins the battle off pit road. He's got four fresh tires and is seeking his first career victory.
Running order under caution: Reddick, Larson, Bell, Blaney, Allgaier, Sadler, Custer, Hemric, Dillon, Tifft
Sieg blows an engine as the field gets the one to go sign.
We go back to green with 11 laps to decide it.
3:20 pm - Boyd Gaming 300 Race Update - Ryan Truex, who is running 15th right now, topped off the fuel tank after during the last caution and he's the only one who did so.
Allgaier's crew tells him he's two laps short. Sadler is one lap short according to his crew.
Reddick is telling his crew that he thinks his engine is about to blow, as he runs 5th in the order. His crew tells him to go as fast as he go and not to worry about it.
With 18 laps to go: Larson has a 1.4-second lead over Blaney. Behind them it's Bell, Allgaier, Reddick, Sadler
We're under caution with 16 laps to go. Reed make contact with the outside wall. The leaders will have a chance to pit under caution here.
3:15 pm - Boyd Gaming 300 Race Update - With 40 laps to go, chatter up and down pit road indicates that most of the leaders are feeling pretty iffy on having enough fuel to go the distance if we remain under green.
Running order on Lap 161: Larson, Blaney, Allgaier, Bell, Custer, Sadler, Reddick, Busch, Hemric, Jones
Lap 166 - Busch gives up 10th place to make a scheduled pit stop. Busch is still complaining about a loose race car. And Busch receives a penalty for improper fueling. He'll have to serve a pass-through penalty. The replay shows the gas man caught a tire as it was rolling by and NASCAR rules strictly prohibit the gas man from doing anything other than fueling the car. That will cost Busch 2 laps and most likely any hope he had of winning this race.
Lap 174 – Larson continues to lead. He is 1.1 seconds ahead of Blaney with just 25 laps to go.
3:00 pm - Boyd Gaming 300 Race Update - Allgaier clears Custer for the lead on Lap 140. One lap later Bell starts to rally as he gets by Blaney for 3rd.
Lap 142 – Busch is back in the top 10 but he's 1.7 seconds behind the leaders.
Medical Update – Cindric was evaluated and released from the infield care center.
Lap 149 - Larson has raced his way back up to 2nd and it looks to be just a matter of laps before he's challenging Allgaier for the lead.
Running order on Lap 151: Allgaier, Larson, Blaney, Custer, Bell, Sadler, Reddick, Busch, Hemric, Jones
Lap 152: Larson catches Allgaier and makes the pass for the lead.
2:55 pm - Boyd Gaming 300 Race Update - We're under caution for the 4th time today after Austin Cindric loses control and crashes in Turn 2.
Running order under caution: Larson, Blaney, Custer, Allgaier, Bell
Labbe gets the free pass back onto the lead lap.
Leaders pit on Lap 135
Custer is the first driver off pit road. Behind him it’s Blaney, Allgaier, Bell, Reddick, Jones, Sadler, Larson (trouble with a rear tire = slow stop), Hemric, Dillon
Busch restarts 11th.
Spencer Gallagher is penalized for speeding on pit road.
Green flag flies on Lap 139.
2:45 pm - Boyd Gaming 300 Race Update - Lap 121, Blaney continues to lead with Larson running about 0.6-second back in the runner-up spot. Custer is holding down 3rd and is followed by Allgaier, Bell, Sadler, Hemric, Jones, Busch, Reddick
We have 76 laps to go and there are 21 drivers on the lead lap. The teams will need to make at least one more pit stop before this race ends.
Lap 125 - Larson is right up on Blaney's back bumper and starts looking for a way to pass.
On Lap 126, 42 sweeps underneath Blaney for the lead. Blaney tried to get him back with a cross-over move but a lapped car and Larson’s determination deny him the opportunity to regain the lead.
Put Larson back on top. Behind him it’s Blaney, Custer, Allgaier, Bell, Sadler, Hemric, Jones, Reddick, Busch
2:40 pm - Boyd Gaming 300 Race Update - Lap 100 marks the halfway point of this event and Blaney is the leader after the day's second round of pit stops.
Lap 101 – Bell is flying back up through the top 10 after that pit stop. By Lap 102, he’s already back up to 3rd and has his sights set on Larson in the runner-up spot.
Lap 103 – Busch is also regaining some momentum as he starts to make up some positions. He’s up to 8th and looking for more.
Running order on Lap 106: Blaney, Larson, Custer, Sadler, Allgaier, Bell, Hemric, Jones, Busch, Annett, Reddick
Lap 107 – Busch runs up on the inside of Jones and the two drivers trade some paint as Busch takes the position.
2:30 pm - Boyd Gaming 300 Race Update - The leaders come to pit road on Lap 95. Blaney wins the race on pit road.
Running order for the upcoming restart: Blaney, Larson, Custer, Jones, Sadler, Bell, Reddick, Allgaier, Hemric, Annett
This time Bell was able to maintain his position through that round of pit stops but Kyle Busch slides back another spot to 11th.
Chastain is penalized for speeding on pit road and starts at the tail end of the field.
We go back to green on Lap 99.
2:17 pm - Larson Wins Boyd Gaming 300 Stage 2 - Larson continues his domination and wins Stage 2. He beats Blaney to the start/finish line by more than 4 seconds and has led all but six of the first 90 laps.
We're under caution for the third time today and the pit crews will have another chance to adjust their cars.
Top 10 under caution: Larson, Blaney, Allgaier, Custer, Reddick, Sadler, Jones, Hemric, Bell, Busch
2:10 pm - Boyd Gaming 300 Race Update - Lap 65, Larson has led the most laps so far today and he currently runs a little less than a second ahead of Blaney. Bell and Busch continue to fall behind the leaders after their trouble on pit road. Bell is running 6th, while Busch has fallen back to 10th. Busch is reporting that his car is loose. It's the same problem he was having towards the end of Stage, so the adjustments made during the pit stop have not helped.
Top 10 on Lap 73: Larson, Blaney, Allgaier, Reddick, Custer, Bell, Sadler, Hemric, Jones, Busch
2:00 pm - Boyd Gaming 300 Race Update - The leaders come to pit road for the first time today as we're still under caution on Lap 49 following the conclusion of the first stage.
Larson takes the lead off pit road. Behind him it's Reddick, Blaney, Custer, Bell, Allgaier, Sadler, Busch, Hemric, Austin Dillon
Bell falls from the lead to 5th. The jackman fell down as he ran around to the left side of the car and that cost the team some time.
Busch's team has a slow stop and he'll lose a handful of positions back to 8th. Looks like a lug nut hung up on the front right.
Matt Tifft is penalized for having a crew member over the wall too soon. He'll have to restart at the tail end of the field.
Back to green on Lap 53.
1:50 pm - Wins Boyd Gaming 300 Stage 1 - Bell makes another run on Larson and takes the lead on Lap 43. Larson battles back and the two run side-by-side through Turn 1 on Lap 45. Give the lap and the stage to Bell.
Top 10 under caution on Lap 45: Bell, Larson, Reddick, Busch, Blaney, Jones, Hemric, Custer, Sadler Allgaier
1:40 pm - Boyd Gaming 300 Race Update - Lap 26 - Christopher Bell makes a run at Larson for the lead and makes a spectacular save as he fishtails briefly, somehow stays off the wall and storms into the lead.
And one lap later, Larson rallies back and retakes the top spot.
Running order on Lap 29: Larson, Bell, Busch, Blaney, Reddick, Hemric, Sadler, Custer, Jones, Allgaier
Lap 30: Larson has a 0.650-second lead over Bell. Busch is 1.777 seconds behind the leader, running 3rd.
1:35 pm - Boyd Gaming 300 Race Update - Still under caution, pit road is open on Lap 9, but the leaders stay on the track.
Bell scraped the outside wall during that first run. But other than pushing in the rear fender a bit, he seems to be fine.
Back to green on Lap 12. Larson and Bell battle for the lead and Larson takes it as the field comes around to complete Lap 12
Lap 12 - Reddick scrapes the outside wall but keeps on going.
Medical Update - Lupton was evaluated released from the infield care center.
Top 5 on Lap 20: Larson, Bell, Busch, Hemric and Blaney
1:25 pm - Boyd Gaming 300 Race Update - Under caution for the first time on Lap 6. Dylan Lupton crashes hard at the start/finish line after contact from Ryan Sieg.
Top 10, under caution: Larons, Bell, Hemric, Busch and Blaney, Sadler, Reddick, Dillon, Allgaier
1:20 pm - Boyd Gaming 300, Green Flag - Today's Xfinity Series event will be 200 laps (300 miles) with Stage 1 ending on Lap 45 and Stage 2 concluding on Lap 90.
Top 10 for the start are Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Daniel Hmric, Cole Custer, Kyle Busch, Elliott Sadler, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, Matt Tifft and Austin Dillon.
Christopher Bell lines up on the outside lane and the Boyd Gaming 300 is underway.
The leaders go almost three-wide into Turn 1 and give the lead to Larson on the backstretch
Top 5 on Lap 1: Larson, Bell, Hemric, Sadler, Busch
12:25 pm - Ryan Blaney Fastest in Cup Final Practice - The pole winner for tomorrow's Pennzoil 400 proved to be the fastest in today's Cup Series final practice session. Blaney's fastest lap of the session was 186.445 mph, while Kyle Larson was second fastest with a lap of 186.136 mph. Rounding out the top five are Martin Truex, Jr., Chase Elliott, and William Byron. Brad Keselowski, who ranked 7th fastest, logged the most miles with 55 laps completed.
11:30 am - Cup Cars Back on Track - The Cup teams have one final practice session to prepare their cars for tomorrow's Pennzoil 400. They'll have the track until 12:20 pm.
11:05 am - Christopher Bell Wins the Pole for the Boyd Gaming 300 - Christopher Bell saved his best lap weekend for the closing minutes of the qualifying session to steal the pole from Kyle Larson with a 183.686 mph lap. Larson settled for 2nd after posting a lap of 183.411 mph.
Starting today's race in the second row are Daniel Hemric, who is representing for the South Point Casino this weekend, and Cole Custer. Kyle Busch rounds out the top-five as he goes for his second victory of the weekend.
This is Bell's second consecutive pole of the season and his third career
series pole award.
"That was a lot of fun, man," said Bell. "The red Camry got better and better each run and I got my confidence up, and, yeah, it was a lot of fun."
Bell's pole is the third consecutive at LVMS in this series for Joe Gibbs Racing. Kyle Busch won the 2016 event from the pole.
10:45 am - Larson Wins NXS Qualifying Round #2 - Kyle Larson wasted no time laying down the lap to beat during this second round of qualifying and no one was able to beat his 183.256 mph effort. Kyle Busch came the closest with a 182.648 mph lap. Also advancing to the third round to run for the pole are Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Elliott Sadler, Tyler Reddick, Cole Custer, Daniel Hemric, Justin Allgaier, Matt Tifft, Austin Dillon and Spencer Gallagher.
10:30 am - Larson Wins NXS Qualifying Round #1 - Kyle Larson won the first round of qualifying with a 182.328 mph lap turned about halfway through the session. Ryan Blaney held the top spot with a 181.287 mph lap for about two minutes until Larson put his effort in the books.
Joining Larson and Blaney in the second round are Kyle Bush, Daniel Hemric, Tyler Reddick, Ross Chastain, Spencer Gallagher, Austin Cindric, Cole Custer, Austin Dillon, Matt Tifft, Ryan Sieg, Ryan Reed, Alex Labbe, Jeremy Clements, Christopher Bell, Joey Gase, Justin Allagaier, Ryan Truex, Elliott Sadler, Brandon Jones, Michael Annett, Kaz Grala and Dylan Lupton.
10:10 am - NXS Qualifying Underway - This will be a multi-vehicle session run in three rounds. The top 24 from the first round advance to Round 2 and the top 12 after that run for the pole. There are 40 cars entered for this week's event. Kyle Larson led both practice sessions yesterday. Track conditions compared to yesterday are cloudier, cooler but a little less windy.
10:10 am - NXS Qualifying Underway - This will be a multi-vehicle session run in three rounds. The top 24 from the first round advance to Round 2 and the top 12 after that run for the pole. There are 40 cars entered for this week's event. Kyle Larson led both practice sessions yesterday. Track conditions compared to yesterday are cloudier, cooler but a little less windy.
10:00 am - Larson Fastest in MENCS Practice #2 - Kyle Larson picked up where he left off yesterday, shooting right to the head of the class with a 187.559 mph lap. Ryan Newman is second fastest this morning at 187.454 mph. Rounding out the top five are Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick and Alex Bowman.
Denny Hamlin ran into some trouble midway through the session when he ran over something on the track and suffered a flat right front tire. The team changed the tired, checked their Toyota for any further damage and got Hamlin back on track. Hamlin finished the session 22nd fastest on the speed chart.
Darrell Wallace, Jr's team found a hairline crack in the radiator of their Chevrolet and spent the last few minutes of the session making repairs.
9:05 am - Cup Cars on the Track - The Cup Series second practice session has just begun. High winds are as much an issue today as they were yesterday, so the drivers will have to stay on their toes this morning. Ryan Newman, who failed to advance past the first round of qualifying, is the early leader at 187.454 mph. Behind him it's Jimmie Johnson, Alex Bowman, pole winner Ryan Blaney and Darrell Wallace, Jr.
8:10 am - Donny Osmond Digs First NASCAR Experience - Pretty sure we can count legendary entertainer Donny Osmond among NASCAR's newest fans. Osmond and his son attended last evening's race as guests of Truck Series driver Cody Coughlin. Osmond is a family friend and his son Don, Jr. is the vice president of marketing for Flying Eyes Optics, a company that recently named Coughlin as its exclusive NASCAR brand Ambassador.
Donny and Cody took a spin through the media center before the race for a chat with reporters. What you may not know about Osmond is that he won the 1991 Toyota Celebrity Grand Prix in Long Beach in 1991. So he's no stranger to racing and he obviously has skills. But while his sister Marie has sung the National Anthem at LVMS before, this was Donny's first visit to the speedway.
"This is my first NASCAR experience, so it's really fun," said Osmond. "I'm
absolutely loving it."
And that wasn't just lip service. Unlike many celebs who rock star in and split sometime around the drop of the green flag, Donny took a seat atop the JEGs team's pit box and soaked in the entire scene. The last time I saw him, he was recording pit stops on his cell phone and enthusiastically cheering his friend to an eighth-place finish.
Donny and Marie are currently headlining at the Flamingo with a show that started as a six-month residency but it still going strong after 10 years due to its popularity.
7:30 am - Saturday Good Morning - Welcome to today's live coverage from the track. It's race day for the Xfinity Series, but before we get to that we have a couple qualifying sessions for the Cup drivers and we need to set the starting grid for this afternoon's Boyd Gaming 300.
9:00 am - 9:55 am - Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Practice #2
10:10 am - NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying (Multi-vehicle/Three Rounds)
11:30 am - 12:20 pm - MENCS Final Practice
1:00 pm - NXS Boyd Gaming 300 (200 laps, 300 miles)
If you can't join us in person (and you should) please check back here throughout the day for all the action as it happens.
