Jeremy Clements hoping for strong Las Vegas performance, more gambling money

Jeremy Clements will start near the front of the field at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He’s hoping a strong performance might also help fund a little fun off the track later in the evening.

Clements qualified 10th for the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race in Las Vegas, and he shared a lighthearted moment during The CW broadcast after his lap. The veteran driver explained that his team made several adjustments to improve the car from practice, resulting in a strong qualifying run.

“I was a little free for sure, and I wanted to use that throttle a little bit more and tug the wheel down, but couldn’t do that,” Clements said. “We were tight in practice, so we made a lot of changes to be freer for the race run.”

Clements credited crew chief Matt Weber and the rest of the team for delivering a competitive car for the weekend: “So just proud of the guys, Matt Weber and the crew, who did an amazing job bringing one fast Chevy,” he said. “I want to thank Alliance Driveaway Solutions for being here.”

But the veteran driver also had Las Vegas entertainment on his mind: “It’s an early race. I don’t know if that’s good or bad, because that means I’ll be in the casino later,” Clements joked. “So hoping I can do good enough today to make a little money to have a little bit more to spend out there.”

Broadcast play-by-play announcer Adam Alexander couldn’t resist joining the fun: “I mean, the slogan used to be ‘Win on Sunday, sell on Monday,’” Alexander said during the broadcast. “Now it’s ‘Win at the track Saturday afternoon so you have gambling money on Saturday night.’ Give it all back to the town.”

Despite the tongue-in-cheek comments, Clements enters the race with some momentum after a solid showing last week at Phoenix Raceway. While the race was ultimately won by Justin Allgaier, Clements spent much of the event running near the top five before finishing 11th.

The finish marked his best result of the young season after struggling through the opening three races. However, Clements voiced frustration after the race with Sammy Smith following contact late in the event.

“Lost some rear grip, especially off four there,” Clements stated. “Then the 8, he used me up over there and about wrecked me. So I owe him one for sure.”

Despite that frustration, Clements remains optimistic about the direction of his team. Ahead of the 2026 season, he formed a technical alliance with Haas Factory Team, and he believes the improved equipment is already showing results.

“These are way faster cars than I’ve been driving,” Clements said. “My cars were 10 years old at this point and I saw a lot of age on them. These are way newer cars and the cars are just faster.”

With a top-10 starting position in Las Vegas, Clements will look to capitalize on that speed, and perhaps leave the track with both a strong finish and some extra spending money for the night. Time will tell if he can pull it off. 

— On3’s Thomas Goldkamp contributed to this article.