The NASCAR Xfinity Series’ annual trip to South Florida delivered plenty of excitement, and Hard Rock Bet 300 upped the stakes with a hefty payout incentive for four drivers—awarded to the one who outperformed the others based on their finishes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The worn-out surface of Homestead-Miami Speedway proved to be a challenge for the field, which always makes for an exciting race.
When the Green Flag flew, Polesitter Taylor Gray got huge launch on Connor Zilisch, due to Zilisch spinning his tires, but was able to maintain his position. Rookie Nick Sanchez faded back, as Justin Allgaier kept his momentum up to take the lead on Lap 7. Also charging to the front where the Haas Factory Team duo of Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer took over the Top-5, with Creed coming up to fifth on Lap 12 and Mayer passed Gray for second.
The first caution of the day came out on Lap 16, when Christian Eckes’ #16 Campers Inn RV Mobile Medic Chevrolet blew an engine, ending his day immediately. The race resumed on Lap 24, but with the outside lane struggling to get going, this allowed Kyle Larson to grab second position and Allgaier to continue to lead. Larson stole the lead from Allgaier not long after, as Mayer was able to move up to second. On Lap 29, Kris Wright’s #5 Chevrolet spun coming out of Turn 4, and on Lap 38, Justin Bosignore’s #19 Toyota spun in Turns 3 and 4. Both incidents brought out the caution, indicating how hard it would be for drivers to hang onto their vehicles all afternoon.
With two-to-go in Stage 1, Sammy Smith took the lead from Kyle Sieg, who benefitted from taking the lead on fresh tires under caution. However, Smith was able to prevail, collecting those valuable points towards the Championship.
Multiple cars stayed out under caution, allowing Carson Kvapil to lead the field to green on Lap 54, prior to Jesse Love charging to the front. However, Love eventually faded and was out-driven by Mayer, as he took the lead. On Lap 81, Larson charged past Mayer and would end up winning Stage 2, but would not receive the points since he’s a NASCAR Cup Series driver. Mayer and Creed rounded out the Top-3, proving HFT would be Playoff Contenders come September.
The final stage saw Kyle Larson remain in the lead, looking to dominate the rest of the Hard Rock Bet 300. Larson seemed to be unstoppable, until Taylor Gray spun on Lap 192 coming out of Turn 4, prompting a caution with eight-to-go. Larson’s task at hand would be to hold off the field on a Green-White-Checkered finish. Majority of the field went laps down prior to the caution, as several went into the pits to take tires before the final dash to the finish.
On the last restart, Larson was slammed into by Mayer, causing him to get a terrible launch and this cut Allgaier’s work out for him. Allgaier surged ahead of Austin Hill on the last lap after holding him off, collecting the Dash4Cash bonus, winning his second race in a row and collecting the $100,000 with the trophy.
Heading into Martinsville Speedway Saturday, Allgaier is +29 to his former teammate, Sam Mayer and Allgaier has been very successful at the Virginia short track. He looks to make it three-in-a-row on Saturday for the U.S. Marine Corps 300, which takes place at 5:00PM EST/2:00PM CST on the CW and the NASCAR Xfinity Series looks to showcase short track racing at it’s finest.
Every Man on Every Crew, LLC. 
Leave a comment