Aric Almirola holds off Connor Zilisch, wins NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas

You certainly can't say that Aric Almirola didn't earn the victory in Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. 

Almirola, who swept the stages in Saturday's race and led 107 of 201 laps, passed Connor Zilisch with nine laps to go and held off the 19-year-old phenom to score his third win of 2025 and the 10th victory of his Xfinity Series career. 

The win puts the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in the Championship 4 in the Xfinity Series owners standings. 

The 41-year-old Almirola, a part-time driver in the Xfinity Series, celebrated with his team and his children on the frontstretch as the smoke from his celebratory burnout surrounded him. 

"First, thank you God," Almirola told CW Sports. "Thank you, Coach (Joe Gibbs). Such an honor to go race for an owners championship with JD Gibbs' name on the car. I'm having so much fun. This is the time of my life."

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Zilisch, defending Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier, Corey Day and Nick Sanchez rounded out the top five, with Jesse Love, Ryan Sieg, Taylor Gray, Sam Mayer and Austin Hill completing the top 10. 

Other notable finishers include Sheldon Creed in 11th, Brandon Jones in 13th, Carson Kvapil in 15th, Sammy Smith in 20th and 2011 Daytona 500 champion Trevor Bayne in 22nd. 

The second race of the Xfinity Series Round of 8 will take place at Talladega Superspeedway on Oct. 18. The United Rentals 250 will go green shortly after 4 p.m. ET, with coverage on the CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.