Justin Allgaier Strikes Late for Homestead Win

Justin Allgaier celebrating in Victory Lane after winning the Hard Rock Bet 300 and Dash 4 Cash at Homestead-Miami Speedway. (Photo: John Arndt | The Podium Finish)

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — After a crazy turn of events, Justin Allgaier took the checkered flag in the Hard Rock Bet 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway for his second win of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.

With just seven laps to go, Kyle Larson, who dominated the race, had a lead of over 14 seconds over the rest of the field when Taylor Gray spun out, bringing out a caution. This set up an overtime restart for the win with Larson on the bottom and Austin Hill in the top lane.

On the overtime restart, Larson did not get a good launch after contact from Sam Mayer, who was lined up in the bottom row behind him, allowing Hill to take the lead and Allgaier to move into second. Racing into Turn 3, Allgaier cleared Hill for the lead and cruised to the start/finish line to pick up the win.

“Just a testament to this team,” Allgaier said post-race. “Today’s one of those days where it wasn’t our day. We got behind and we were able to preserve.”

Justin Allgaier on the front stretch following his second win of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season. (Photo: John Arndt | The Podium Finish)

The victory is the second straight win of the season for Allgaier, who also won last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Much like winning at Las Vegas for the first time, this was Allgaier’s first career win at Homestead-Miami Speedway, something he has been chasing for a long time.

“If there’s anywhere I could win, it would be here because I just feel like this place has gotten me so many times,” he said. “I was actually bummed to see the (Lap 193) caution come out and it worked out in our favor. We were in the right place at the right time and I’m really proud of this race team.”

Allgaier also won the first Dash 4 Cash event of the season, earning a $100,000 bonus. He will also compete for the prize next week against Mayer, Hill and Sheldon Creed.

“It feels great because I forgot that (Dash 4 Cash) was even a thing today after the way the race went,” said Allgaier. “Just so much fun today and I love being a part of this sport and it’s really cool when you have a day like today.”

Justin Allgaier celebrating in Victory Lane with his No. 7 team. (Photo: John Arndt | The Podium Finish)

After the chaotic final restart, Larson finished in the fourth position after leading 132 laps. Even though it was just a race in a series in which Larson does not run full-time, the defeat is still disappointing as he was going for the weekend sweep at Homestead.

“(I’m) disappointed, probably like I have been here probably seven, eight times or more,” Larson said. “I wish it would have stayed green. For some reason, nobody can keep it straight at the end of the races that I’m leading.”

When asked about the final restart, Larson cited Mayer getting into the back of him in the restart zone and killing his launch as the leaders took the green.

“(I) lagged back and (Mayer) just slammed the (expletive) out of me and had my rear tires off the ground,” said Larson. “I think had I gotten a normal launch on the front stretch, I would have been fine. But yeah, he just ran right into the back of me.”

Justin Allgaier climbing the front stretch catchfence after winning the Hard Rock Bet 300. (Photo: John Arndt | The Podium Finish)

Even with the bad launch on the final restart, Mayer still came home in second place. When asked about the overtime restart, Mayer took full responsibility for getting into the back of Larson before he decided to launch.

“I mistimed it, unfortunately, and got to his (Larson) bumper a little too early,” said Mayer. “He went really, really late in the (restart) box, just playing games, that’s what you have to do at this level to get an advantage. He just waited really long and I wasn’t kind of ready for him to wait that long, I was giddy to get going.”

The second-place run continues Mayer’s strong start to the 2025 season, scoring his fourth top five and fifth top 10 in just six races thus far. Similar to his reaction after finishing second in the season-opening race at Daytona, Mayer acknowledged that even though coming up one spot short of a win stung, it was still a great run for his No. 41 team.

“Anytime that you’re finishing second and you’re super bummed out, that’s a good day,” he said. “We’re going to go back and hit the notebooks and try to get better because second isn’t enough because we were a second-place car today, so we want to be better.”

Stage 1 Top 10 Results

1. Sammy Smith
2. Kyle Sieg
3. Ryan Sieg
4. Kyle Larson
5. Sam Mayer
6. Justin Allgaier
7. Leland Honeyman
8. Sheldon Creed
9. Jesse Love
10. Austin Hill

Stage 2 Top Results

1. Kyle Larson
2. Sam Mayer
3. Sheldon Creed
4. Austin Hill
5. Connor Zilisch
6. Nick Sanchez
7. Jesse Love
8. Justin Allgaier
9. Sammy Smith
10. Brandon Jones

Hard Rock Bet 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway Finishing Results