Late race heroics for one and disappointment for another, the NASCAR Xfinity Series always keeps you guessing. The Hard Rock Bet 300 was no different. Taylor Gray and Connor Zilisch led the field to the green flag. Nicholas Sanchez, Justin Allgaier, and Christian Eckes rounded out the top five. Kyle Larson, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series winner who was going for the weekend sweep, started the race in 15th. Allgaier, Sam Mayer, Austin Hill, and Jesse Love were in the running for the “Dash 4 Cash.”

Battling at the Front

Gray got a great jump to take the lead. Allgaier was aggressive early, passing Zilisch for second on coming out of Turn 4. Larson cracked the top 10 after three laps were completed. Allgaier challenged Gray for the lead and completed the pass after using a great run on the front stretch. Mayer was able to get by Gray for third. After 13 laps, Larson was able to get to the top three. Christian Eckes brought out the first caution after having engine issues. He was told to bring it to the garage.

Allgaier and Mayer brought the field back to the green. Allgaier got the better jump and retook the lead. Mayer fell to third with Larson taking the second spot. Larson found the lead after passing Allgaier on the inside of turn 1 and 2. The second caution came out when Kris Wright spun around on the front stretch.

Getting Dicey

Larson and Mayer brought the field back to green. Mayer spun his tires so Allgaier got by him. Mayer closed the gap as the top two battled hard. The next caution came out when Justin Bonsignore got turned around. He was able to save it from the wall but did pit for new tires. Several drivers pitted for tires and an attempt to get stage points.

With four to go, Larson and Mayer took the green flag. Larson got the jump to retake the lead. Leland Honeyman got to third on fresher tires. Kyle Sieg, on the newest tires, passed his way to third. He made the pass for the lead on the inside of turns 1 and 2. Sammy Smith looked to join the fray. He and Mayer made contact but they kept it straight. Smith caught and passed Sieg easily to take the stage win! Kyle Sieg and Ryan Sieg finish the stage in second and third.

Under the yellow, Allgaier was penalized for driving through too many boxes on pit road.

Stage 2

Carson Kvapil and Harrison Burton restarted the race out front. Burton got a good jump but Kvapil strong-armed his way to the lead. Larson used new tires to get to third behind Love and Mayer. Mayer took the lead after diving into the turn and washing up to the high side. Larson used the top side to pass Love. Allgaier, after the penalty, began dicing through the field.

Mayer caught lapped traffic and it slowed him up, which allowed Larson to make up ground and fight for the lead. Larson got the edge when Mayer tried to pass a lapped car. Mayer got loose and that opened the door for Larson. Larson was able to use the clean air to pull away from second. He checked out to win the stage!

HE GONE

Larson and Austin Hill took the green flag to begin the stage. Larson got the better restart and took his lead back. Mayer found his way back to second. Bonsignore tagged the wall but was able to keep it going forward. Mayer and Love battled for second place which allowed Larson to scamper away by almost a second. All four of the “Dash 4 Cash” drivers resided in the top five behind Larson.

Larson began opening up his gap. With 80 laps to go, his gap over Mayer was almost two and a half seconds. Bonsignore, after hitting the wall a few times, had to pit because of a flat right front. Sammy Smith began the scheduled green flag pit stop cycle with 60 laps to go in the race.

Pit Stops

As the pit stop cycle began, Larson was almost half a track away from third-placed Hill. Love was the first Dash driver to pit for tires and fuel. Hill and Mayer followed. Larson wanted to go one lap more than Mayer and did. There were clean pit stops for the top five cars. Zilisch was issued a penalty for a crew member over the wall too soon.

Mayer began to cut down on Larson’s lead. What was around a five-second lead was cut to just over three and a half. Larson then began to get his lead back slowly. With 35 laps to go, the lead was back to over five seconds. That was when he began to set sail and continued to gain on the field.

Just when Larson was about to close the door on the Hard Rock Bet 300, Taylor Gray got turned around on the front stretch to bring out the caution. That erased a 17-second lead for Larson. He had lapped all but four cars. The field pitted for tires to take them to the end.

Overtime in Miami

Larson and Hill began overtime on the front row. Larson got a horrible restart as Mayer was pushing and lifted the rear tires off of the ground. Hill and Allgaier jumped out front. They took the white flag side by side. Allgaier took the advantage in Turn 1, and Mayer used the side draft to pass Hill into second place. Allgaier took the checkered flag to win the Hard Rock Bet 300! Jeb Burton got into the outside and inside wall coming to the finish line. Mayer, Hill, and Larson round out the top four. Allgaier was also awarded the fastest lap, as well as the “Dash 4 Cash.”

Marvin’s Moment:

A good win for Allgaier, and a bad loss for Larson. After dominating the entire race and losing like that, Larson was not happy with Mayer. He has every right to be upset but that is how the rulebook is written. NASCAR wants these clutch moments. NASCAR does not care about long runs and the racing that brings. They want to artificially create these crazy highlights.

To me, it ruins the meaning of the other 197 laps of the race. It is exactly how the entire season goes. The first 35 races of the season mean nothing for the last race of the season. It devalues an entire season’s worth of work. But, I do not make the rules. I just operate inside of them.

Martinsville is on the slate for next week in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.