Justin Allgaier dominates for redemptive Xfinity victory at Nashville

Justin Allgaier redeemed himself from a late loss at Charlotte Motor Speedway a week ago to score a dominant victory in the Tennessee Lottery 250 at Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday, May 31.

The reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion from Riverton, Illinois, led three times for a race-high 101 of 188 scheduled laps. He started in fourth place, raced up front in the early stages and assumed the lead on Lap 42. Allgaier claimed the first stage victory under caution and dominated the second stage period under green flag conditions. But he lost the lead to Sheldon Creed during a late-race restart with 80 laps remaining.

Following a four-tire pit service during a caution period with nearly 50 laps remaining, Allgaier executed a bold three-wide move on Brandon Jones and teammate Connor Zilisch during the final restart with 48 laps remaining to reassume the top spot. From there, Allgaier weaved through lapped traffic and fended off Zilisch to cruise to his second victory at Music City and third of the 2025 Xfinity campaign.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, rookie William Sawalich notched his second Xfinity career pole position and the first of the 2025 season with a pole-winning lap at 155.152 mph in 30.860 seconds. Joining Sawalich on the front row was Austin Hill, the latter of whom clocked in his best qualifying lap at 154.731 mph in 30.944 seconds.

When the green flag waved and the event commenced, pole-sitter William Sawalich fended off Austin Hill through the frontstretch to muscle ahead and lead the field through the first two turns. Hill, who was locked in a brief side-by-side battle with Sam Mayer through the first two turns, would then muscle ahead through the backstretch and get close to Sawalich’s rear bumper through Turns 3 and 4. Sawalich, however, managed to fend off Hill’s challenge to lead the first lap.

Over the next four laps, Sawalich maintained a steady advantage over Hill while Justin Allgaier tracked down Hill for the runner-up spot. Meanwhile, Mayer retained fourth place ahead of rookie Carson Kvapil while Aric Almirola, Ross Chastain, rookie Nick Sanchez, Sheldon Creed and Ryan Sieg were racing in the top-10 mark ahead of Jesse Love, rookie Christian Eckes, rookie Connor Zilisch, Sammy Smith and Brandon Jones. As Sawalich continued to lead through to the Lap 10 mark, Hill also continued to fend off both Allgaier and Mayer for the runner-up spot.

Through the first 20 scheduled laps, Sawalich extended his lead to more than a second over Allgaier while Hill, who dropped to third place, trailed by one-and-a-half seconds. By then, Mayer and Chastain were racing in the top five while Almirola, Kvapil, Creed, Sanchez and Ryan Sieg pursued in the top 10.

Ten laps later, Sawalich stabilized his early advantage to more than one-and-half seconds over Allgaier while third-place Hill and fourth-place Mayer both trailed by three seconds. Behind, fifth-place Chastain pursued by five seconds while top-10 racers Almirola, Kvapil, Creed, Sanchez and Jesse Love all trailed by as far back as 11 seconds.

Another five laps later, the event’s first caution flew when both Parker Retzlaff and Kyle Sieg wrecked through Turns 3 and 4. The incident, which started when Sieg got loose and made contact with Retzlaff that sent the latter spinning sideways entering Turn 3, left Retzlaff’s No. 4 Dove MenCare Chevrolet Camaro entry with significant damage as he slapped the outside wall while Sieg, who slid through the turns, managed to continue without sustaining significant damage to his No. 28 Shannon Speck’s Electric Ford Mustang entry.

During the event’s first caution period, nearly the entire field led by Sawalich pitted while the rest that included rookie Daniel Dye, Brandon Jones, Jeremy Clements, Jeb Burton, Matt DiBenedetto and Myatt Snider remained on the track.

With four laps remaining in the first stage period, the event restarted under green. At the start, Dye tried to muscle his No. 10 Race to Stop Suicide Chevrolet Camaro entry ahead of Jones from the inside lane through the frontstretch. Dye then got sideways and went wide in front of Jones entering Turn 1, which allowed Jeremy Clements to capitalize and take the lead entering the backstretch. With Matt DiBenedetto also moving up into second place, the field fanned out through the backstretch as Clements led the following lap over DiBenedetto and a hard-charging Allgaier. Allgaier would then use his four fresh tires to zip past DiBenedetto for the lead through the backstretch for the following lap.

Then on the final lap of the first stage period (Lap 44), the caution returned when Corey Day spun his No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry in Turn 2. Day’s incident concluded the first stage period that was initially scheduled to conclude on Lap 45 as Allgaier was awarded his fifth Xfinity stage victory of the 2025 season. Clements followed suit in second ahead of DiBenedetto, Hill and Dye while Creed, Mayer, Kvapil, Brandon Jones and Connor Zilisch were scored in the top 10, respectively.

Under the stage break, some led by Clements and including DiBenedetto, Dye, Ryan Sieg and Jones, all of whom did not pit prior to the first stage’s conclusion, pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track. Sanchez, Myatt Snider, Blaine Perkins, Jeb Burton, Thomas Annunziata, Kris Wright, Nick Leitz, Logan Bearden, Mason Maggio and Mason Massey would also pit their respective entries.

The second stage period started on Lap 53 as Allgaier and Hill occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier and Hill dueled for the lead through the frontstretch before Allgaier used the inside lane to power his No. 7 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Camaro entry ahead of Hill through the first two turns. Allgaier would proceed to lead from the backstretch and back to the frontstretch, where he led the following lap while Hill, Creed and Kvapil pursued in single-line formation. Behind, Almirola and Mayer were engaged in a side-by-side battle for fifth place in front of Zilisch and Sammy Smith.

Over the next five laps, Almirola would muscle ahead with fifth place and Zilisch would move into sixth place. Meanwhile, Josh Williams carved his way up to seventh place while Sammy Smith, Chastain and Mayer all fiercely battled for eighth place. Amid the battles, Allgaier stretched his lead to nearly two seconds by Lap 60.

Following another caution period that occurred on Lap 61 due to Blaine Perkins spinning through the frontstretch’s grass due to contact with Thomas Annunziata, the start of the next restart on Lap 65 featured Allgaier using the inside lane to muscle ahead of Hill entering the first two turns for a second consecutive time. As the field fanned out through the backstretch, Creed challenged Hill for the runner-up spot while Taylor Gray, Mayer, Sammy Smith and Chastain nearly battled through four laps within the top 10 entering Turns 3 and 4. Amid the tight racing, every competitor kept their respective entries racing straight as Allgaier led the following lap.

At the Lap 70 mark, Allgaier extended his lead to more than a second over Creed while Hill, Zilisch and Almirola pursued in the top five ahead of Chastain, Kvapil, Mayer, Eckes and Gray, respectively. Behind, Sammy Smith, Dye, Jesse Love, Harrison Burton, Josh Williams, Sawalich, Dean Thompson, Nick Sanchez, DiBenedetto and Ryan Sieg trailed in the top 20 ahead of Brandon Jones, Brennan Poole, Ryan Ellis, Kyle Sieg and Corey Day while Allgaier continued to lead by more than a second over Creed by Lap 75.

By Lap 80, Allgaier added another second to his advantage as he led by two seconds over Creed. Meanwhile, Almirola marched up to third place despite trailing the lead by four seconds and Zilisch was up into fourth place as he trailed the lead by five seconds. Behind, Hill dropped to fifth place despite trailing the lead by five seconds. Hill would then lose fifth place to Chastain during the following lap while Allgaier extended his lead to three seconds at the Lap 85 mark.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Allgaier captured his second consecutive Xfinity stage victory of the event and his sixth of the 2025 season. Creed pursued in second place by two-and-a-half seconds while Almirola, Zilisch, Chastain, Mayer, Hill, Kvapil, Eckes and Daniel Dye were scored in the top 10, respectively.

During the stage break, the entire lead lap field led by Allgaier peeled off the track to pit for service. Following the pit stops, Creed beat Allgaier off of pit road first while Zilisch, Mayer, Almirola, Hill, Kvapil, Gray, Dye and Love followed suit, respectively.

With 90 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Creed and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, however, the caution quickly returned when a stack-up at the front of the field triggered both a chain reaction and a multi-car wreck through the frontstretch. The accident occurred as Eckes T-boned into the rear of Harrison Burton, which left Eckes with a crumbled front nose to his No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet Camaro entry, while Brandon Jones got bumped by both Corey Day and Ryan Sieg that sent Jones’ No. 20 Menards Toyota Supra spinning. Kyle Sieg, Josh Williams, Ryan Ellis, Anthony Alfredo would also sustain damage to their respective entries as all spun through the frontstretch. At the moment of caution, Creed had maintained the lead over Allgaier while Zilisch, Mayer, Almirola and Hill were in the top six.

The start of the following restart with 80 laps remaining featured Creed using the inside lane to muscle his No. 00 Ollie’s Ford Mustang entry ahead of Allgaier through the first two turns while Zilisch pursued in third place. Behind, Mayer pursued in fourth place ahead of Almirola, Hill and Gray while Kvapil was mixed in a tight battle with Love, Chastain and Daniel Dye for eighth place. Amid the battles within the field, Creed led the following lap and he would continue to lead by a tenth of a second over Zilisch with 70 laps remaining before Zilisch stormed to the top spot a lap later.

With 60 laps remaining, Zilisch retained the lead in his No. 88 Blues Hog Chevrolet Camaro entry by six-tenths of a second over teammate Allgaier while Creed fell back to third place in front of teammate Mayer and Almirola. Six laps later, the caution returned when Sawalich, who was battling teammate Taylor Gray and Sammy Smith for 11th place, ran into the side of Smith in the backstretch and spun his No. 18 Starkey Toyota Supra entry through the backstretch’s infield grass.

Down to the final 48 laps, the event restarted under green as Brandon Jones, who opted for a fuel-only pit service during the previous caution period, shared the front row with Zilisch, the latter of whom was among many who pitted for fresh tires. At the start, Allgaier used his four fresh tires to throw a big three-wide move beneath both Jones and teammate Zilisch through the frontstretch. With Jones quickly slipping back, Allgaier then used the inside lane to muscle ahead of Zilisch and clear him for the lead entering the backstretch. Behind, Creed, Almirola and Mayer all overtook Jones to move into the top five as Allgaier led the following lap.

With 40 laps remaining, Allgaier was leading by a tenth of a second over teammate Zilisch while Creed, Mayer and Almirola pursued in the top five ahead of Chastain, Hill, Dye, Gray and Sammy Smith. Allgaier would proceed to slight stretch his advantage to two-tenths of a second over Zilisch 10 laps later.

Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Allgaier maintained the lead by three-tenths of a second over teammate Zilisch. Behind, Creed trailed in third place by nearly two seconds while Mayer and Almirola trailed in the top five ahead of Chastain, Hill, Dye, Love and Gray, respectively.

With 10 laps remaining, Allgaier stretched his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Zilisch. By then, Mayer was racing in third place ahead of teammate Creed and Chastain as Allgaier proceeded to further extend his lead to more than a second with five laps remaining.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Allgaier remained in the lead by over Zilisch. Despite being mired in traffic, Allgaier was able to smoothly navigate his way around Nashville Superspeedway smoothly for a final time before he cycled back to the frontstretch and claimed his third checkered flag of the 2025 season.

With the victory, Allgaier notched his 38th career win in the Xfinity Series division, his second at Nashville Superspeedway and his first since he won back-to-back races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway, respectively, in March. Allgaier’s Nashville victory marked the 12th of the year for the Chevrolet nameplate, the sixth in a row for the manufacturer in recent weeks and the sixth of the 2025 campaign for JR Motorsports, with the organization also six victories away from reaching 100 Xfinity victories overall.

“These [No. 7] guys right here, they deserve this one more than anything,” Allgaier said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. “I screwed them over last week by making a pit call that had equally as good of a car. This Hellmann’s Chevrolet was just absolutely on rails. There’s no cooler feeling than to win at a place like this, Nashville. The fans here are incredible. This race is special to me and I said before the race that I really wanted to get a second [Gibson] guitar for both [of my daughters] to have a guitar. They can fight over both of them or one of them, whatever.”

“I didn’t know what to do [prior to the final restart] and [crew chief] Jim Pohlman standing right over there was the guy,” Allgaier added. “He’s always the one that pushes me to be my best. Eddie D’Hondt, spotter, same [at] just pushing me to be my best. On that restart, I knew that [Brandon Jones] had old tires. I wasn’t sure how good [the race] was going to launch, but I knew at the start/finish line, we had to be able to get to his inside and then just obviously having clean air, being out front, race a lot of fun with Connor [Zilisch] there. I knew whoever of the two of us got out front was going to be the difference maker and ultimately, [it] was us. So, it was a great day.”

Teammate Connor Zilisch notched his second consecutive runner-up result in recent weeks and since returning from a one-race absence due to a lower back injury from a final-lap accident at Talladega Superspeedway in late April. Amid the disappointment of being one position shy of winning for a second consecutive race, Zilisch was still left pleased with his performance and result.

“I thought I might be able to get back by [Allgaier], but clean air was everything,” Zilisch said. “The first 20 laps of a run, if you had the clean air, you were going to prevail on the long run, keeping your stuff cooler and not having to run as hard. Congrats to Justin. He did a really good job executing on that restart. It’s the second week in a row I finished second because of a restart. It’s frustrating. Really happy with the progress we’ve been making. Being frustrated with second’s a good thing.”

Haas Factory Team’s Sam Mayer and Sheldon Creed finished third and fourth, respectively, while Ross Chastain secured his second top-five result in his third Xfinity start of the year with JR Motorsports in fifth place.

Aric Almirola, Austin Hill, Jesse Love, rookie Daniel Dye and rookie Carson Kvapil completed the top 10 in the final running order.

Notably, Sammy Smith, Corey Day, Harrison Burton, Brandon Jones and rookie Nick Sanchez finished in the top 15 while rookie Taylor Gray, who was initially poised for a top-20 result, dropped to 26th place in the final running order after he had light smoke billowing out of his No. 54 Operation 300 Toyota Supra entry in the closing laps.

There were eight lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 39 laps. In addition, 20 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the 14th event of the 2025 Xfinity Series season, Justin Allgaier leads the regular-season standings by 92 points over Austin Hill, 111 over Sam Mayer, 151 over Jesse Love and 189 over Connor Zilisch.

Results:

1. Justin Allgaier, 101 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner

2. Connor Zilisch, 18 laps led

3. Sam Mayer

4. Sheldon Creed, 25 laps led

5. Ross Chastain

6. Aric Almirola

7. Austin Hill

8. Jesse Love

9. Daniel Dye, three laps led

10. Carson Kvapil

11. Sammy Smith

12. Corey Day

13. Harrison Burton

14. Brandon Jones, three laps led

15. Nick Sanchez

16. Jeb Burton

17. Brennan Poole

18. Josh Williams

19. Jeremy Clements, one lap led

20. Jeffrey Earnhardt

21. Thomas Annunziata, one lap down

22. Ryan Sieg, one lap down

23. Myatt Snider, one lap down

24. Logan Bearden, one lap down

25. Mason Massey, one lap down

26. Taylor Gray, one lap down

27. Kyle Sieg, one lap down

28. Nick Leitz, one lap down

29. Mason Maggio, one lap down

30. Anthony Alfredo, one lap down

31. Blaine Perkins, one lap down

32. Kris Wright, one lap down

33. Matt DiBenedetto, two laps down

34. Dean Thompson, four laps down

35. William Sawalich – OUT, Engine, 37 laps led

36. Christian Eckes – OUT, Accident

37. Ryan Ellis – OUT, Accident

38. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident

Next on the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ return to Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City, Mexico, for The Chilango 150. The event is scheduled to occur on June 14 and air at 4:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.