Josh Berry wins NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas

Josh Berry gained strength over the last half of the race and won Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

One of four JR Motorsports drivers in the Xfinity playoffs, Berry advanced to the Championship Four for the season finale next month at Phoenix Raceway.

Following in the top five were Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier, Ty Gibbs and Trevor Bayne.

The top three drivers all race for JR Motorsports.

Allgaier hit the Turn 4 wall on the next-to-last lap. Both he and Gragson appeared to have cars fast enough to challenge Berry, but neither was able to move into position to race for the lead.

Much of Saturday’s race was fairly calm, but business picked up considerably in the final 35 laps.

Berry bounced off the outside wall with 32 laps to go while racing Allgaier and AJ Allmendinger for the lead. Despite the contact, Berry stayed in front.

Allmendinger, the series’ regular season champion, pitted while running fourth with 25 laps to go because the right-side wheels on his car were loose.

Allmendinger entered the race with two straight wins but left Las Vegas below the playoff cutline.

Gibbs won the first stage with ease, building a four-second lead by the stage finish. He led 22 laps in the stage. Gragson led 17.

Stage 1 winner: Ty Gibbs

Stage 2 winner: Noah Gragson

Next: The Xfinity Series playoffs move on to Homestead-Miami Speedway Oct. 22 for a 4:30 p.m. ET (USA Network) race.

LAS VEGAS — Once known as the Outlaw, Kurt Busch morphed into a mentor and statesman in as dramatic a change by an individual in NASCAR over the past 20 years. 

Busch, the last active Cup competitor to race against Dale Earnhardt, announced Saturday that he will not compete the rest of this season and will cede his