Justin Allgaier snaps 34-race winless Xfinity drought with Darlington win

DARLINGTON, S.C. – One day short of a full year since he last won in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Justin Allgaier returned to Victory Lane on Saturday at Darlington Raceway.

His last series win came at this track on May 8, 2021.

Allgaier passed AJ Allmendinger for the lead with two laps to go on a green-white-checkered restart and went on to his 17th career series start. It is Allgaier’s second Xfinity win at Darlington.

It made for a remarkable recovery for Allgaier, who had to start at the rear when his team had to replace the battery after the engines were fired.

JR Motorsports teammate Noah Gragson finished second. Riley Herbst placed a season-best third. John Hunter Nemechek was fourth for Sam Hunt Racing, which was seeking its first series win. Sam Mayer finished fifth, giving JR Motorsports three of the top-five finishers.

STAGE 1 WINNER: Noah Gragson

STAGE 2 WINNER: Noah Gragson

WHO HAD A GOOD RACE: Winner Justin Allgaier has scored back-to-back top-two finishes. … Riley Herbst’s third-place finish is his fifth consecutive top 10. … AJ Allmendinger placed eighth. He’s the only driver to place in the top 10 in every Xfinity race this season. … Kyle Weatherman finished a career-best 12th for Jesse Iwuji Motorsports.

WHO HAD A BAD RACE: Jeb Burton had a flat and spun to bring out the caution early in the race. NASCAR held him a lap for intentionally bringing out the caution with his spin. He finished 14th. … Myatt Snider crashed just past halfway and slammed the SAFER barrier with the front of the car. He placed 37th in the 38-car field. … Josh Berry finished 18th after he was penalized for jumping the restart and taking the lead from Allgaier with about 20 laps to go.

NOTABLE: JR Motorsports has won the last three