The Last Great Coliseum played host for the SciAps 300 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Kyle Larson took the pole with Connor Zilisch joining him on the front row. The second row was held by two JRM cars in Justin Allgaier and Carson Kvapil. The stage lengths were 85 laps for the first and second stage,s with the final stage being 130 laps. The four “Dash 4 Cash” drivers were Justin Allgaier, Brennan Poole, Austin Hill, and Sheldon Creed.
Dominant Early
Larson got a great start and snagged the lead. Allgaier followed him and tried to take second but was unable to and settled in third. Harrison Burton got a flat right front on lap three and brought out the first caution. Mason Maggio had engine issues that forced him to go to the garage.
Larson and Zilisch brought the field back to green. Larson got the better jump, with Allgaier pushing him. Allgaier was aggressive early as he kept trying to use the outside line to find the grip. The field spread out across the track mostly using the bottom line. A few of the drivers went exploring for grip by using higher lines around the track.
Larson built his lead to over two and a half seconds by lap 50. He had lapped up to the 20th spot on track. The lapped cars did not slow him down at all.
With 10 to go in the stage, Creed got loose and turned sideways across the track. Brennan Poole could not get his car slowed down and hit the idle Creed. Fluids from Creed’s car began spilling onto the track. The red flag came out to allow NASCAR to clean up the debris.
Race to the Stage End
The yellow flag came back out with nine laps to go in the first stage. Most of the leaders used the caution to pit for four tires and fuel.
Sam Mayer and Ryan Sieg were on the front row for the restart with three laps to go. Mayer got a great jump as Sieg did not. Sieg recovered well enough to hold Larson off for second. Larson slid down in front of Allgaier for third. Mayer pulled away and got the stage one win! Sieg, Larson, Sammy Smith, and Allgaier rounded out the top five.
Domination (Cont’d)
Larson and Smith brought the field back to green. Larson reclaimed his lead, with Allgaier being aggressive early to move back into second. Zilisch used the outside line to get by Smith for third. Burton had to use an unscheduled pit stop to fix another flat right front tire. Smith got by Allgaier to get back to second. By lap 130, Larson had built his lead to almost five seconds.
As the leader caught lapped traffic, it did not seem to slow him down. He kept up his speed and his ability to grow the lead. Jeremy Clements got loose, running side by side with Larson. They both drive away with minimal damage to their cars. Clements ended up with a donut on his driver’s side door.
Jesse Love caught the back of Zilisch in fifth. He could run behind Zilisch but could not make the pass. Larson was able to lead every lap in the stage and got the win! He had built his lead to almost nine seconds and had lapped up to the 12th placed car.
Keeping him Close
Allgaier joined Larson on the front row to restart the race. Allgaier got the better launch and took the lead into turn one. He cleared Larson coming out of turn two. Larson gave Allgaier the bumper to move him out of the way. Larson was able to get underneath Allgaier and retook his lead. Allgaier did not go away and held onto the rear bumper of the leader.
With 100 laps left in the SciAps 300, Larson could not pull away from Allgaier. Allgaier held the gap at about seven-tenths of a second. As Larson caught the back of the field, that lead shrunk to half a second.
Mason Massey brought out the fifth caution after getting tagged by Allgaier. William Sawalich hit the back of Zilisch and had to retire his car.
Kyle Called Game
Larson and Allgaier restarted the race out front. Allgaier was able to keep up on the initial restart, but Larson prevailed and scampered back out front. Love used an Allgaier mistake to get side-by-side. Allgaier managed to keep his speed up and hold onto second position. Love continued to fight to stay in the JRM brigade. He battled Smith for the fourth spot and was able to keep him behind him.
Larson had built his lead to over a second with 40 laps to go. Allgaier held the second spot over Carson Kvapil by about a second and a half. The longer the green flag run went, the better Kvapil seemed to get. Kvapil slowly caught up to Allgaier, closing that big gap. Larson caught up to a big pack of cars all racing for position.
Allgaier cut the lead down to just over a second with ten laps to go in the race. Allgaier was not able to get closer as Kyle Larson got the win in the SciAPs 300! He lapped all the way to the thirteenth position in Daniel Dye. He led 276 laps of the 300! Kvapil finished the race in second. Allgaier, Smith, and Brandon Jones rounded out the top five.
Marvin’s Moment:
Kyle Larson continued his dominance in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. After finishing in fourth a couple of weeks ago at Homestead, he was able to pick up right where he left off. What a great race he ran, cutting through the traffic like butter. As a Larson fan, I enjoyed it for sure. Tune in next week as the series returns to Rockingham!
