William Byron rallied from a late pit road speeding penalty that sent him to the rear of the field to execute a thrilling NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in overtime in the BetMGM 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 24.
The two-time Daytona 500 champion from Charlotte, North Carolina, led four times for 71 of 205 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started in fourth place and assumed the lead for the first time on Lap 24. Byron would proceed to sweep the event’s first two stages before he encountered a roadblock prior to the final stage period that involved speeding while exiting pit road with the lead. Forced to drop to the rear of the field, Byron would methodically carve his way back to the front.
Then amid late carnages and ensuing cautions that occurred within the final 50 laps, Byron’s key strategy to victory occurred during a caution period that started with 23 laps remaining when he was among several who opted to pit for fresh tires while Justin Allgaier, who dominated the event, opted to remain on the track. Three restarts later and as the event was sent into overtime, Byron used his fresher tires to overtake Allgaier prior to the final lap and proceed to cruise to both his first Xfinity victory in eight years and his first at his home track.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, rookie Taylor Gray notched his second Xfinity career pole position with a pole-winning lap at 176.482 mph in 30.598 seconds. Joining Gray on the front row was rookie Connor Zilisch, the latter of whom posted his best qualifying lap at 176.315 mph in 30.627 seconds.
Prior to the event, the following names that included Parker Retzlaff, Katherine Legge and Ryan Ellis dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.
Green Flag
When the green flag waved and the race started, pole-sitter Taylor Gray rocketed ahead from the inside lane while the outside lane led by rookie Connor Zilisch jumbled up as the latter struggled to launch through the frontstretch. This caused multiple competitors racing on the outside lane, including Justin Allgaier and William Byron, struggling to regain momentum as Gray led through the first two turns. As the field fanned out through the backstretch, Gray proceeded to lead the first lap.
Within the mid-pack region, Matt DiBenedetto fell off the pace due to his No. 99 Sci Aps Chevrolet Camaro entry generating smoke. Despite his early issues, he pitted without drawing a caution. As the race remained under green flag conditions, Gray maintained the lead through the first five laps. Gray continued to lead by the 10th lap, where he was out in front by four-tenths of a second over Austin Hill while Zilisch, Byron and Sam Mayer were in the top five. By then, Sheldon Creed, Ryan Sieg, Brandon Jones, rookie Christian Eckes and Allgaier were mired in the top 10 while Jesse Love, Chase Briscoe, rookie Nick Sanchez, rookie Carson Kvapil, Sammy Smith, rookie William Sawalich, Jeb Burton, Anthony Alfredo, Jeremy Clements and Blaine Perkins trailed in the top 20, respectively.
At the Lap 15 mark, Gray continued to lead by more than a second over Zilisch while Byron, Mayer and Creed followed suit in the top five. Two laps later, the event’s first caution flew when Kris Wright spun in Turn 2. During the event’s first caution period, some including Jeb Burton, Kyle Sieg, Garrett Smithley, Nick Leitz and CJ McLaughlin pitted while the rest led by Gray remained on the track.
The start of the next restart on Lap 23 featured the field fanning out through the frontstretch while Gray rocketed ahead and maintained the lead through the first two turns. Byron then drew even and dueled with Gray through Turns 3 and 4. During the following lap, Byron used the outside lane to muscle ahead with the lead. Meanwhile, Zilisch got beneath Gray through the first two turns and assumed the runner-up spot. With Gray settling in third ahead of Mayer and Creed, Byron led to the Lap 25 mark.
Following the event’s second caution period that flew by Lap 27 due to Brad Perez stalling his entry in Turn 4, the next restart on Lap 31 featured Byron muscling ahead of Zilisch from the inside lane through the first two turns. Byron proceeded to lead the next lap over Zilisch while Allgaier navigated up to third place ahead of Mayer, Ryan Sieg and Gray. With the event surpassing the Lap 35 mark, Byron led by nearly a second over Zilisch.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Byron cruised to his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2025 season. Zilisch settled in second ahead of Allgaier, Mayer and Jeb Burton while Ryan Sieg, Gray, Sanchez, Brandon Jones and Jesse Love were scored in the top 10, respectively.
Under the first stage break, the lead lap field led by Byron pitted their respective entries. Following the pit stops, Byron exited first ahead of Allgaier and Gray while Zilisch, Jones, Sanchez, Ryan Sieg, Mayer, Love and Creed followed suit in the top 10. Amid the pit stops, Sawalich was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.
Stage 2
The second stage period started on Lap 52 as Byron and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, Byron utilized a strong launch from the inside lane to muscle ahead of Allgaier and the field through the first two turns and the backstretch. As Byron led, Retzlaff encountered a mechanical issue with smoke coming out from his car, but he managed to pit without drawing a caution. Back at the front, Byron fended off Allgaier to lead by the Laps 55 and 60 marks. Behind Byron and Allgaier, Zilisch, Gray and Sanchez trailed in the top five while Mayer, Ryan Sieg, Love, Jones and Eckes wer scored in the top 10.
Through the Lap 70 makr, Byron’s advantage stood to a second over Allgaier while Zilisch, Gray and Mayer continued to pursue in the top five. Byron proceeded to lead by more than two seconds over Allgaier at the Lap 80 mark while Zilisch, Gray and Mayer continued to trail in the top five. Meanwhile, Ryan Sieg, Love, Jones, Creed and Kvapil were racing in the top 10 while Sammy Smith, Sanchez, Austin Dillon, Hill and Eckes pursued in the top 15, respectively.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Byron notched his second consecutive Xfinity stage victory of the event. Allgaier, who trailed Byron by more than three seconds, followed suit in second ahead of Zilisch, Gray and Jones while Mayer, Ryan Sieg, Love, Creed and Sammy Smith were scored in the top 10, respectively.
During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Byron returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Byron exited pit road ahead of Allgaier, Gray, Jones and Mayer while Love, Zilisch, Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith and Creed exited in the top 10. Following the pit stops, however, Bryon was penalized for speeding while exiting pit road. Byron’s late misfortune allowed Allgaier to cycle into the lead.
Final Stage
With 102 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Allgaier and Gray occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out through the first two turns as both Gray and Allgaier dueled for the lead. Allgaier then muscled ahead through Turns 3 and 4 and he would lead the next lap over Gray while Mayer trailed in third place. With Zilisch and Ryan Sieg following suit in the top five, Allgaier would lead with 100 laps remaining.
Down to the final 90 laps of the event, Allgaier’s advantage stood to two seconds over teammate Zilisch, the latter of whom assumed the runner-up spot from Gray four laps earlier, while Mayer, Gray and Ryan Sieg pursued in the top five. Meanwhile, Byron, who restarted at the tail end of the lead lap field since the previous restart, was up to 15th place while Kvapil, Sammy Smith, Creed, Jones and Hill were racing in the top 10.
Fifteen laps later, Allgaier stabilized his advantage to two seconds over teammate Zilisch as Mayer, Gray and Ryan Sieg continued to trail in the top five. By then, Creed, who made an unscheduled pit stops earlier due to making contact with the wall, was mired in 26th place and scored a lap down.
Another 10 laps later, Allgaier extended his advantage to more than four seconds over teammate Zilisch. Meanwhile, Byron, who had methodically carved his way back into the top-10 mark, was racing in eighth place behind Kvapil while Mayer, Gray and Sammy Smith were in the top five. With Byron mired behind Kvapil in eighth place, Allgaier added another two seconds to his advantage as he led by six seconds over Zilisch with 60 laps remaining while the rest led the lead lap field trailed by double digits.
Shortly after, a cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Austin Dillon, Byron, Hill, and Briscoe pitted their respective entries. Gray, Sammy Smith, Alfredo and Eckes would pit a lap after most of the Cup regulars before top-five competitors Mayer and Ryan Sieg along with Kvapil pitted with 56 laps remaining. Allgaier would then surrender the lead to pit with 55 laps remaining before teammate Zilisch pitted a lap later.
Then amid the pit stops, the caution flew with 53 laps remaining due to debris detected on the frontstretch. The debris had come out of Gray’s car as the latter had a flat left-rear tire. By then, Jones, who was among several names who have yet to pit, was leading ahead of Poole, Thompson, Harrison Burton and Ryan Ellis while Allgaier was scored in eighth place.
During the caution period, some led by Jones, including those who have yet to pit, pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track. In addition, multiple competitors took the wave around to cycle back on the lead lap, among which included Sammy smith, Byron, Sanchez, Ryan Sieg, Hill, Kvapil, Austin Dillon, Briscoe and Eckes.
The start of the next restart with 46 laps remaining featured Allgaier muscling ahead from the inside lane and retaining the lead while teammate Zilisch and Thompson battled for second. As Allgaier led the following lap, Zilisch and Thompson fiercely battled for second place before the latter assumed the spot. Soon after, Harrison Burton, who was in fourth place, moved into third place and battled Thompson for the runner-up spot as both Zilisch and Jones joined the battle.
As the battle towards the front ensued, the caution then flew with 43 laps remaining when Mayer, who was racing within the top-15 mark, scraped the outside wall exiting the backstretch and dropped off the pace in the middle of Turn 3. Mayer’s late-race misfortune caused the field to scatter to avoid hitting him before Nick Leitz barely clipped his rear end while trying to enter pit road.
With the event restarting with 38 laps remaining, Allgaier muscled ahead of the field with the lead through the first two turns while Thompson, Creed and Burton battled for the runner-up spot. As Allgaier led the next lap, Creed moved up into second place while Thompson, Zilisch and Burton followed suit. Zilisch would move into third place and Love overtook Burton for fifth place while Allgaier proceeded to lead by a second with 30 laps remaining. Meanwhile, Ryan Ellis, who was in the top-20 mark, made contact with the Turn 4 wall and collided into Briscoe. Despite both racing straight, Briscoe pitted under green and dropped out of the lead lap category.
Down to the final 22 laps of the event, the caution flew when Carson Kvapil, who was racing in the top-five mark, spun off of Turn 4. At the moment of caution, Allgaier was leading by two seconds over Creed. During the caution period, some led by Allgaier remained on the track while the rest of the lead lap field pitted.
The start of the ensuing restart with 18 laps remaining did not last long after a tight-squeeze play within the top-10 mark triggered a multi-car wreck in Turn 1. Among those involved included Love, Jones, Harrison Burton, Blaine Perkins, Ryan Sieg and Sanchez.
The start of the next restart with 12 laps remaining also did not last long due to Katherine Lege and JJ Yeley spinning and wrecking in Turn 1. Amid the on-track carnages between the two previous restarts, Allgaier maintained the lead over the field.
Down to the final six laps of the event, the event restarted under green as Allgaier retained the lead over the field that had fanned out through the frontstretch and the first two turns. Behind, Zilisch, who had a left-rear tire rub, battled Sanchez for the runner-up spot while Byron made his way into fourth place over Creed.
A lap later, the caution returned and the event was sent into overtime when Jones, Kyle Sieg and Leland Honeyman wrecked in the backstretch. At the moment of caution, Allgaier was ruled the leader over a hard-charging Zilisch.
The start of overtime featured Allgaier receiving a push from Byron from the inside lane to rocket ahead of Zilisch through the first two turns. Allgaier would continue to maintain a slight advantage over Byron through the backstretch before the latter used the outside lane to rocket past the former. Despite both making contact, Byron muscled ahead and had both lanes to his control through the frontstretch.
Byron Wins
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Byron remained in the lead over Allgaier and Zilisch. As Byron led, Zilisch used the outside lane to overtake Allgaier from the outside lane as Allgaier started to lose ground due to having a tire deficit. While Sanchez proceeded to overtake Allgaier for third place and Zilisch maintained second place, none would have any last-lap charges for Byron as Byron cycled back to the frontstretch victorious and claimed the checkered flag under caution
With the victory, Byron notched his fifth career win in the Xfinity Series division, his first since winning at Phoenix Raceway in November 2017 and his first driving for his Cup Series team, Hendrick Motorsports. The victory was also Byron’s first ever at his home track, Charlotte Motor Speedway, and the second consecutive season where the No. 17 HendrickCars.com/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet entry was piloted to an Xfinity victory at Charlotte.
“I was somewhat confident [of getting back upfront],” Byron said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. He continued, saying, “I felt like if we got some yellows, it would be good, but man, it didn’t work out the way we thought it [would]. [I] Just had a lot of green-flag running and couldn’t really get back to the front. Man, it feels awesome to win. It’s my home track. Restart merchant there at the end. So, it’s fun to be back in Victory Lane. I feel like I haven’t won in a while, so just appreciate all these [No. 17] guys. It was a lot of fun.”
“Justin [Allgaier] got a good restart and I was able to push him and get clear of the [Zilisch] and had some clean air on the nose,” Byron added. “Just kind of a crazy end of the race. It was a fun race for me.”
Allgaier, who led a race-high 103 laps compared to Byron’s 71, fell back to fourth place amid the overtime shootout and his tire deficit. Amid his result and strong performance, Allgaier was left devastated over the final outcome and decision in not pitting earlier for fresher tires.
“I should have just come down pit road,” Allgaier said. “I thought there would be a lot of games played on pit road, and if [those on fresh tires] had to travel though a lot of traffic, we were going to maybe net OK. And all those cautions, one after the other, it was great because we were able to hold those guys off, but they really just hurt us because [the front-runners] were able to get a spot or two every restart. I’m heartbroken… My daughter, all she wanted for her birthday was a trophy, and I feel like I gave that away. That’s the hardest part.”
Zilisch, who returned from a one-race absence earlier this month due to recovering from a lower back injury sustained from a final-lap accident at Talladega Superspeedway in late April, settled in second place while Nick Sanchez came home in third place.
Meanwhile, Sammy Smith was initially scored in fifth place behind Allgaier. Smith, however, was demoted to 38th place, the tail end of the final running order, due to his entry failing to meet he minimum weight requirement. As a result of Smith’s disqualification, Dean Thompson was promoted to fifth place.
Josh Williams, Austin Hill, Ryan Ellis, Christian Eckes, and Sheldon Creed completed the top 10 in the final running order.
There were 10 lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured 11 cautions for 53 laps. In addition, 22 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 13th event of the 2025 Xfinity Series season, Justin Allgaier leads the regular-season standings by 72 points over Austin Hill, 93 over Sam Mayer, and 119 over Jesse Love.
Results:
1. William Byron, 71 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner
2. Connor Zilisch, three laps led
3. Nick Sanchez
4. Justin Allgaier, 103 laps led
5. Sammy Smith
6. Dean Thompson
7. Josh Williams
8. Austin Hill
9. Ryan Ellis
10. Christian Eckes
11. Sheldon Creed
12. Sam Mayer
13. Jesse Love
14. Austin Dillon
15. Ryan Sieg
16. William Sawalich
17. Jeremy Clements
18. Carson Kvapil
19. Kris Wright
20. Brandon Jones, five laps led
21. Jeb Burton
22. Harrison Burton
23. Brennan Poole – OUT, Accident
24. Chase Briscoe, one lap down
25. Blaine Perkins, one lap down
26. Anthony Alfredo, two laps down
27. Garrett Smithley, two laps down
28. Nick Leitz, two laps down
29. JJ Yeley, two laps down
30. CJ McLaughlin, two laps down
31. Taylor Gray, three laps down, 23 laps led
32. Daniel Dye – OUT, Accident
33. Leland Honeyman – OUT, Accident
34. Kyle Sieg – OUT, Accident
35. Katherine Legge – OUT, Accident
36. Brad Perez, 23 laps down
37. Matt DiBenedetto – OUT, Suspension
38. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Engine
Next on the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee, for the Tennessee Lottery 250. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, May 31, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
