All Gators in Florida: Hard Rock Bet 300 Race Recap

Defending Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier seized a golden opportunity on an Overtime restart to score the victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway, his second in a row after winning last week in Las Vegas.

Race Recap

A pair of Xfinity Series rookies occupied the front row as COTA winner Connor Zilisch lined up beside pole sitter Taylor Gray to take the green flag on Saturday afternoon.

Gray pulled out to an early lead while Zilisch’s teammate Carson Kvapil dove to pit road to serve a penalty for jumping out of line on the initial start before reaching the start-finish line.

Last week’s winner Justin Allgaier caught up to Gray on lap 7 and took the point, but all eyes were looking at the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Camaro piloted by 2021 Cup Series champion Kyle Larson.

After starting the day in 17th, Larson made his way to fifth by lap 8 and looked to advance his position before the first caution of the day flew on lap 17 for Christian Eckes’ Chevy billowing smoke.

Former teammates Allgaier and Mayer assumed the front row for the restart, though it wasn’t long before Larson drove around them both as the No. 17 bolted by Allgaier for the lead on lap 26.

The Elk Grove, CA native didn’t see clean air ahead of him for long as Kris Wright lost control of his No. 5 Our Motorsports machine pounded the turn 3 wall driving by himself, bringing some cars down to pit road that hadn’t contended to that point.

The race never really got back going as Justin Bonsignore made contact with teammate Taylor Gray in turn 3, spinning himself out to bring out the yellow flag for the third time in just 37 laps.

With just four laps left in the first stage, brothers Kyle and Ryan Sieg surged through the field on fresh tires with Kyle ripping the lead away from Larson with two laps to go, but his time on point would be short-lived.

Sammy Smith weaved through the field after his pit stop and passed Kyle Sieg on the entry to turn 3, taking the lead and the stage 1 victory.

A little bit of musical chairs took place to start stage 2 as AM Racing’s Harrison Burton began the stage with the lead until Kvapil blew by him in turn 1. Within a couple circuits, Jesse Love, Larson, and Mayer all managed to get by and race for the lead.

While Mayer was the first to get by Love, the HendrickCars Camaro picked up where the HendrickCars Silverado left off the night before as Larson slipped by Love on lap 61 to take second. Over the next 20 laps, Larson chipped away at Mayer’s advantage and grabbed the point on lap 81 en route to a stage 2 victory.

Stage 3 kicked off with Larson winning the race off pit road, and it would be the last bit of adversity he would face for the remainder of the race, scooting off into the distance.

Battles for position in the final stage were mostly non-existent as the top-10 got super spread out, Larson holding a multi-second advantage over Mayer, his closest competitor.

What looked like certain victory for Larson was foiled by a Taylor Gray spin with eight laps remaining due to a flat right-rear tire, erasing Larson’s 17-second advantage over second-place Mayer.

Because Larson put on an absolute clinic over the last 100 laps, only six cars were on the lead lap for the final restart with Daytona winner Jesse Love getting the free pass, leaving only five cars truly in contention.

A long cleanup for a single-car spin pushed the race into Overtime with Larson on the inside being joined by Austin Hill while Mayer sat behind Larson and Allgaier behind Hill.

When the green flag dropped, Larson’s fresh tires failed to grip up on the track, allowing Hill to pull away a tad before Allgaier jumped to his outside to block Sheldon Creed from behind into turn 1.

The defending series champion wheeled his No. 7 Brandt Chevy to Hill’s side down the frontstretch coming to the white before ducking to the bottom and completing the pass prior to exiting turn 2.

From there, no one was catching Justin Allgaier, snaring his second win in a row in daring fashion against a series stalwart and one of the best the Cup Series has to offer.

Sam Mayer passed Austin Hill into turn 3 to steal the runner-up spot while Larson and Creed rounded out the top-5. Jesse Love was the last car on the lead lap in sixth with Brandon Jones, Nick Sanchez, Daniel Dye, and Carson Kvapil earned a hard-fought top-10.

(Top Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images)