6:25 pm - Good Night - LVMS has crowned another first-time race winner, and this time it was Ross Chastain, an eighth-generation farmer turned race car driver who hoisted the winner's trophy.
We'll be back tomorrow for the weekend's main event, the inaugural South Point 400. Until then, good night.
5:05 pm - LVMS The Winner Maker - Ross Chastain won his first Xfinity Series race in dominating fashion as he led six times for 180 laps and stayed in front of several late race crashes to arrive in victory lane in his 132nd series start.
"I'm just a watermelon farmer from Florida," said Chastain, after climbing from the car as a first-time winner. "I'm not supposed to do that. That's a testament that anything in life is possible."
Justin Allgaier finished second, which allowed him to clinch the regular series championship.
"That's amazing," said Allgaier. "This trophy right here is the dedication and hard work of all the guys back at the shop. I mean, they put their hearts and souls into it."
Pole winner Cole Custer finished third and goes into the playoffs second in points, 44 behind Allgaier.
4:50 pm - Chastain Wins DC Solar 300 - Ross Chastain won all three stages of the DC Solar 300 to record his first Xfinity Series victory. Chastain finished 1.6 seconds ahead of Justin Allgaier, while pole winner Cole Custer came home third.
4:37 pm - DC Solar 300, Caution #8 - It's like deja vu all over again. Just like the Truck teams last night, the Xfinity drivers are having some trouble getting this race in the books.
A multi-car crash involving, Lee, Reddick, Hemric and others brings out the caution for the 8th time today.
Top five for the restart: Chastain, Allgaier, Bell, Custer, Truex, Gallagher, Cindric, Sadler, Jones, Preece
Back to racing on Lap 195
4:29 pm - DC Solar 300, Caution #7 - That was a wild restart with drivers three and four-wide for position. The thing that finally gives is the 60 car riven by Briscoe who pops out of the crowd and crashes hard into the inside wall on the backstretch.
We're back under caution on Lap 183.
Running order up front: Chastain, Allgaier, Gallagher, Bell, Custer, Reddick Cindric, Jones, Sadler
Back to green on Lap 188 with 13 laps to go.
4:21 pm - DC Solar 300, Caution #6 - Green flag pit stops begin as Hemric comes in for his stop. Custer comes in as well.
Trouble on the track as Miller bounces off the inside wall and brings out the sixth caution of the afternoon.
Custer's team opts for a 2-tire stop.
The rest of the leaders pit under caution.
Running order for the restart: Chastain, Allgaier, Reddick, Custer (2-tire stop, gained 7 positions), Bell
Back to green on Lap 181
4:07 pm - DC Solar 300 Chastain Back Up Front - Allgaier enjoyed a few laps out front but on Lap 149 Chastain retook the lead and Allgaier lost second place to Custer.
4:00 pm - DC Solar 300 New Leader - It took about five laps to make it stick but Allgaier finally gets around Chastain on Lap 134 and starts to creep away.
Behind them it's Custer, Hemric and Bell
We have 60 laps to go.
3:50 pm- DC Solar 300, Caution #5 - Preece spins out and hits the outside wall on Lap 123 to bring out the caution for the fifth time today.
The leaders hit pit road for service.
Jones is penalized for an uncontrolled tire and will restart at the rear.
Running order for the restart: Chastain, Custer, Allgaier, Bell, Hemric, Sadler, Cindric, Reddick, Gallagher
Back to green on Lap 130
3:32 - DC Solar 300 Back to Green - Custer is penalized for an uncontrolled tire. Preece is penalized for speeding on pit road
Up front it's Chastain, Hemric, Bell, Allgaier, Sadler
Green flag on Lap 97
3:24 pm - Chastain Wins DC Solar 300 Stage 2 - Chastain won the second stage of the race by finishing 1.5 seconds ahead of pole winner Cole Custer. Hemric, Allgaier and Bell rounded out the top five.
Chastain has led 86 of 90 laps so far today.
The leaders pit on Lap 93.
Justin Allgaier has clinched the regular season championship.
3:17 pm - Reed Medical Update - Ryan Reed was evaluated and released from the infield care center.
"I'm all good," said Reed "I just needed to catch my breath, so I took a seat for a second. The 2 car was spinning down the track and you're already committed at that point. It's just unfortunate."
3:05 pm- DC Solar 300, Caution #3 - Under caution on Lap 65 for a crash on the frontstretch involving Ryan Reed and Matt Tifft. There is heavy damage to both cars. Reed exits his vehicle sits down on the pavement outside his car to catch his breath.
The 2 car is up against the outside wall on the driver's side. Tifft is uninjured but it is taking the safety crew some time to separate his car enough from the wall to allow him to climb out.
Running order under caution: Chastain, Hemric, Custer, Sadler, Allgaier
Pit road is open n Lap 68 and the leaders stay out.
We go back racing on Lap 71
Chastain chooses to restart in the outside lane and that will cost him Hemric drives around and takes the lead.
One lap later, Chastain regroups, and retakes the top spot.
3:00 pm - DC Solar 300 Stage 2 Green Flag - The leaders made their first round of pit stops during that caution.
Top 5 for the restart: Chastain, Sadler, Custer, Bell, Hemric
Chastain led 2 times for 42 of the first 45 laps. Custer started on the pole and led two times for 3 laps.
Back to green on Lap 53
2:50 pm - Chastain Wins DC Solar 300 Stage 1 - Ross Chastain dominated the first stage and finished first as the field completed the first 45 laps of this race. Chastain finished 1.1 seconds ahead of Bell in 2nd. Sadler drove around Custer to take third just as the stage ended and Hemric finished 5th.
2:35 pm - DC Solar 300, Caution #1 - We're under caution on Lap 6 for a crash on the frontstretch involving Preece and Annett. Annett wiggled and made contact with Preece before ending up the infield grass.
This is a break for Tifft, who lost a lap and was running in last position after serving his penalty on the first lap. He is the beneficiary and will restart on the lead lap, essentially negating that little tech snafu.
Top 5, under caution on Lap 10: Chastain, Custer, Sadler, Bell, Reddick
Preece, Sieg make pit stops but the leaders stay out.
Green flag on Lap 13
2:18 pm - DC Solar 300 Green Flag - Today's race is scheduled for 200 laps (300 miles). The race will be run in three stages with Stage 1 ending on Lap 45 and Stage 2 ending on Lap 90.
Cole Custer will start from the pole with rookie Austin Cindric lined up to his right. Hemric, Jones, Tifft, Preece and Truex will have to race from the back after being denied the opportunity to quality on time. Rear camber issues saw those drivers stalled out in the tech line and relegated them to making the field on owner points. Custer was among those drivers but caught some Las Vegas Luck. A brief red flag extended the session just long enough for his 00 Ford to squeak by the inspectors and hit the track with less than a minute in the first round to spare.
Matt Tifft will serve a pass through penalty after the green flag falls for failing inspection four times this morning. Garrett Smithley will drop to rear for switching to a backup car. Smithley crashed during his qualifying attempt and had to make the field on owner points.
The temperature is aout 100 degrees -- so yeah, it's hot (hello, desert in the summer) but everyone repeat after me -- it's a dry heat, so the drivers aren't expecting the heat to be a particular issue today.
Jeff Carpoff, president and CEO of DC Solar, gives the command to start engines.
Green flag!
Custer gets a great start and a push from Sadler as he shoots into the lead.
Top 5 on Lap 1: Custer, Sadler, Chastain, Bell, Cindric
1:21 pm - Jones Leads Cup Final Practice - Pole winner Erik Jones continues to be the fastest Cup driver on the track this weekend. Jones posted a 181.251 mph during the final practice session. Ryan Blaney came closest to toppling Jones from the top spot with a lap of 181.238 mph. 3rd through 5th were Bowman, Keselowski, and Newman.
Joey Logano and Kyle Larson led the way in laps completed with 52 circuits apiece.
12:05 pm - Custer Wins the DC Solar 300 Pole - Cole Custer and his team went from NASCAR's dog house to the penthouse in less than 60 minutes. In fact, Custer just made it onto the track with less than a minute to spare in the first round of practice. From there he proceeded to post the fastest lap in all three rounds of qualifying and win the pole for this afternoon's race with a 179.295 mph lap.
Custer's car was part of a group that included several others that failed to pass inspection multiple times this morning. Of those drivers, only Custer and Annett made it through tech in time to qualify. Daniel Hemric, Matt Tifft, Ryan Truex never did make through and will start at the rear of the field.
Austin Cindric ran a lap at 177.866 mph and will start alongside Custer on the front. Elliott Sadler, Christopher Bell and Ross Chastain rounded out the top five qualifiers.
"That was the craziest qualifying session I've ever been a part of," Custer admitted. "Hats off to my guys for getting us out there. Hopefully we'll stay up front. I want to win every stage and race."
11:50 am - Custer Fastest in DC Solar 300 Qualifying Round 2 - Custer won the second round of qualifying with a 178.406 mph lap.
2nd-5th - Chastain, Cindric, Reddick, Bell
6th-10th - Reed, Allgaier, Sadler, Clements, Lee
11th-12th - Annett, Sieg
Those 12 drivers advance to Round 3.
11:33 am - Custer Fastest in DC Solar 300 Qualifying Round 1 - Cole Custer was the last driver to take a time and with just seconds to spare he posted the fastest speed of the session at 177.032
2nd-5th - Allgaier, Reddick, Bell, Sadler
6th-10th - Lee, Reed, Sieg, Clements, Briscoe
11th-15th - Cindric, Gallagher, Chastain, Gase, Cassill
16th-20th -Yeley, Labb, Annett, Black, Jr, Rouse, McLeod
21st-24th - Tullman, Currey, Starr
The top 12 drivers in Round 2 advance to the final round to run for the pole.
A backup at the inspection station kept several drivers from even attempting a lap during this round. Those include Tifft, Truex, Jones, and Hemric. Apparently these cars have failed tech twice already today and problem seems to be with the rear camber.
The session was halted briefly with about 6 minutes and 30 seconds to go when Garrett Smithley lost control off of Turn 4 and slapped the outside wall. Custer and Annett were stuck in the tech line with those other guys but the red flag gave their teams just enough time to get onto the track before the session ended.
11:11 am - DC Solar 300 Qualifying Green Flag - This knock-out qualifying session has just begun. The stop 24 drivers will advance to Round 2.
10:50 pm - Newman Leads Cup Practice #2 - The red flag signals the end of that practice session and Newman's early lap of 183.892 mph stood up as the quickest of the session. In fact, there was no change at the top of speed chart.
2nd-5th: Blaney, Almirola, Byron, Suarez
6th-10th: Jones, Johnson, Smith, Menard, Allmendinger
Byron completed the most laps during that session (39 laps), while Chase Elliott (17th fastest) completed 38 laps.
10:10 am - Cup Practice #2 Update - We are early into this first of two practice sessions today. Ryan Newman is currently leading with a 183.892 mph lap. Ryan Blaney is second fastest. 3rd-5th: Aric Almirola, William Byron, and Daniel Suarez.
9:00 am - Good Morning - Welcome to today's coverage from the track. We'll be bringing you the action from this afternoon's NASCAR Xfinity Series DC Solar 300 at, but before that we'll have to set the starting grid. The Cup teams will also squeeze in their final two practice sessions of the weekend.
The crash fest towards the end of last nights World of Westgate 200 apparently left an impression on the frontstretch. As I rolled into the parking lot this morning, track workers were diligently scrubbing down the track surface, as water trucks made multiple passes to help rinse away the oil and race gunk (a technical term) from last night's race.
Here's today's on-track schedule:
10 am - 10:50 am - Cup Practice #2
11:10 am - Xfinity Series Qualifying (Multi-vehicle, three rounds)
12:30 pm - 1:20 pm - Cup Final Practice
2:00 pm - Xfinity Solar 300 (200 Laps, 300 Miles)
