Defending NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier decided late in Saturday’s Hard Rock Bet 300 that it was time to put all of this ‘weekend sweep’ talk to sleep, stealing the victory in Saturday’s event at Homestead-Miami Speedway in NASCAR Overtime.
For Kyle Larson, there wasn’t any panic whatsoever until a caution was displayed with eight laps remaining, erasing a 15-plus second lead over Sam Mayer and setting the lead-lap vehicles (all six of them) up for a two-lap fight for the victory on fresh tires.
That’s where things went wrong for the driver of the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet.
On the race’s final restart, Larson had Sam Mayer (his closest competitor all afternoon in terms of overall speed) on his rear bumper, and once the Hendrick Motorsports driver didn’t immediately launch in the restart zone, the No. 41 Ford Mustang hit the gas and got into the back end of the No. 17.
Larson ended up getting extremely sideways, bogging down the inside lane and letting both Austin Hill and Justin Allgaier get around the two fastest cars all race on the outside lane, putting them in the top two spots to battle amongst themselves.
RACE RESULTS: 2025 NXS Hard Rock Bet 300 at Homestead
Being screwed over so many times by late-race restarts in the past, Justin Allgaier saw his chance to seize an opportunity, darting to the outside of Austin Hill and getting the lead away. By scoring the victory on Saturday, the 27th of his NASCAR Xfinity Series career, Allgaier also claimed the $100,000 Dash4Cash bonus.
“Today was one of those days where it wasn’t our day, we got behind and we were able to persevere to get this Trademark Nitrogen / BRANDT Fresh Agriculture Chevrolet in Victory Lane, it’s special,” Allgaier said post-race. “[I said] yesterday, if there was anywhere, I could win it would be here because I just feel like this place is gotten me so many times.”
Allgaier managed to lead 21 of 201 laps in Saturday’s event, after a couple of stints closer to the beginning of the event where the JR Motorsports driver was among the fastest cars on the racetrack, before a pit road penalty at Lap 48 caused a major setback, in terms of track position.
Sam Mayer was able to rebound from a slow restart to finish in the runner-up position, collecting yet another solid finish for himself and the Haas Factory Team organization. However, with such a fast Audibel Ford Mustang, the Franklin, Wisconsin-native would definitely rather the win.
“Yeah, I mean, I just mistimed it, unfortunately. And got to his bumper a little too early,” said Mayer. “He went really, really late in the [restart] box just playing games. Like, that’s what you’ve got to do at this level to get the advantage, but he just waited really long, and I wasn’t kind of ready for him to wait that long. I was giddy to get going.”
Austin Hill had the lead for a split-second in NASCAR Overtime, but crossed the finish line in fourth, missing out on the Dash4Cash prize and $100,000. Kyle Larson, after leading a race-high 132 of 200 laps, finished in fourth place, taking a devastating loss for the Hendrick Motorsports No. 17.
Sheldon Creed keeps chugging along with a solid campaign with Haas Factory Team, rounding out the top five in fifth place. Jesse Love, Brandon Jones, Nick Sanchez, Daniel Dye, and Carson Kvapil completed the top-10 in the sixth race of the NASCAR Xfinity Series campaign.
Heading to Martinsville Speedway, Justin Allgaier holds a 29-point lead over Sam Mayer in the NASCAR Xfinity Series point standings, with Jesse Love, Austin Hill, and Sheldon Creed holding the top-five positions in the event.
The series will head to the half-mile paperclip of Martinsville Speedway next, with the event taking place on Saturday, March 29 at 4:30 PM ET on The CW, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
