UPDATE: Sammy Smith, fifth-place finisher in Saturday’s BetMGM 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, has been disqualified for failing to meet minimum weights post-race. William Byron is still the race-winner, but the top-10 finishers for the event have changed.
Connor Zilisch, Nick Sanchez, Justin Allgaier, and Dean Thompson are the new top-five finishers. It’s Thompson’s first top-five finish in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Josh Williams is promoted to sixth, matching a career-best, with Austin Hill, Ryan Ellis, Christian Eckes, and Sheldon Creed rounding out the top-10.
It wasn’t, by any means, a flawless afternoon for William Byron at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but when it was all said and done, the NASCAR Cup Series driver found himself celebrating in Victory Lane.
Making his second of two scheduled Xfinity Series starts in the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, Byron was able to use fresher tires to bolt around Justin Allgaier in NASCAR Overtime, capturing the victory at his home racetrack.
It’s the fifth victory in the second-tier series for the 27-year-old driver, who last captured an Xfinity Series victory in the penultimate event of his championship season in 2017, while driving for JR Motorsports.
Throughout the opening half of the 300-mile contest, Byron appeared to be the quickest car in the NASCAR Xfinity Series field, winning the race’s first two stages after starting in fourth place, and leading 71 laps.
For Byron, things were going fantastically until Lap 93, when the Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was busted for speeding on pit road, sending him to the rear of the field at the halfway point of the race.
With an extremely fast HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, Byron was able to make up a lot of time on the racetrack under green, but the last little bit of the rebound came from Adam Wall, who made the strategy call on Lap 180 to come down pit road, when race-leader Justin Allgaier stayed on the racetrack.
RACE RESULTS: 2025 NXS BetMGM 300 at Charlotte
After several caution flags were displayed, Byron, and those on newer tires, continued to inch closer and closer to the front of the pack, until the race got into NASCAR Overtime, when Byron was able to line up right behind the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.
“I was somewhat confident, I felt like if we got some yellows we would be good, but man it didn’t work out the way we thought it did, so just had a lot of green-flag running and really couldn’t get back to the front, but man, it feels awesome to win, it’s my home track, it feels really good. Restart merchant there at the end.”
Connor Zilisch overcame a dramatic left-rear tire rub during the final 20 laps of the event to finish in the runner-up spot, in what was his first race back since his lower back injury sustained at Talladega Superspeedway.
Nick Sanchez, a rookie in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, collected a career-best third-place finish for Big Machine Racing — and his second top-five result of the year. Justin Allgaier, by the completion of Lap 205, had faded to fourth.
After a quiet afternoon, Sammy Smith brought home a fifth-place finish.
Dean Thompson matched his career-best in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with a sixth-place finish, equal to his result at Martinsville Speedway earlier in the season. It’s the fourth top-10 finish of the season for the Sam Hunt Racing driver.
Josh Williams brought the No. 11 Kaulig Racing machine home in seventh, while Austin Hill tucked in right behind him in eighth. Ryan Ellis finished ninth, earning his first top-10 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in his 144th career start.
Christian Eckes rounded out the top-10 for Kaulig Racing.
The race finished under the caution this afternoon, after a brutal last-lap crash that involved Brennan Poole, William Sawalich, and Jeb Burton, that started when the right-front went down on the No. 27.
Leaving Charlotte, Justin Allgaier holds the NASCAR Xfinity Series points lead by 72 markers over Austin Hill. Sam Mayer, Jesse Love, and Connor Zilisch are the new top five in points.
Next up for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is Nashville Superspeedway, which will take place next Saturday, on May 31, at 4:30 PM on The CW, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
