What’s Happening?

On this Saturday, March 22, 2025, the stars of tomorrow of the NASCAR Xfinity Series were set to take center stage down in South Florida. That’s right! The Xfinity Series rolled into Homestead-Miami Speedway for their contribution following the Truck race last night and the Cup race tomorrow. And, as with any race, there were a lot of storylines to keep an eye on throughout the race. Last night’s Truck Series winner, Kyle Larson, was in this race, driving the number 17 HendrickCars.com Chevy. This was also the first Xfinity Dash For Cash race of the year. The four drivers to qualify were Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer, Austin Hill, and Jesse Love.

So, with that in mind, who was able to cash out and win that massive payday? Was Kyle Larson dominant or was Justin Allgaier able to keep up the momentum throughout the race? Let’s talk about it. Here are the 3 key takeaways for the Hard Rock Bet 300 from Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Thing to Note

• Qualifying on the front row were a pair of rookies: Taylor Gray in the number 54 JGR Toyota and Connor Zilisch in the number 88 WeatherTech Chevy for JR Motorsports. Gray was impressive in his qualifying attempt as was Zilisch. There were a lot of eyes on these two heading into today’s race. However, both faded as the race went on.
• Meanwhile, veterans of the sport were looking to upset the youngsters here today. Justin Allgaier was riding on a tidal wave of momentum heading into today’s race and he was looking to capitalize on it. 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Champion was also making a start in this race, driving the number 17 Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports.
• One of the key storylines here today was that of the Xfinity Dash 4 Cash. Allgaier, Mayer, Hill, and Love were all looking to maximize their payday by being the highest-finishing driver of the four. Early on, it looked as though Allgaier all but had it locked in. However, Sam Mayer in the Haas Factory number 41 Ford wasn’t going to let him have it without a fight.

Justin Allgaier Goes Back-to-Back

Despite dominating the opening stage, Allgaier nearly lost it all when he was penalized for driving through too many pit stalls on the first pit stop of the day. Though he was able to catch back up and run in the top 5, it was clear that he just didn’t have the same car he in the opening stage. But he was able to pounce after the 41 jacked Larson’s wheels off the ground on the final restart. He and Austin Hill battled hard until taking the white flag where the 7 was able to clear the 21 to secure the race win.

This is a good turn of events for Allgaier who has a history of late-race cautions spoiling his shot for victory. He was happy to be on the right side of an overtime finish for this go-around. With this win, the defending 2024 Series champion became the first repeat winner of the season. Just Allgaier went back-to-back after heartbreak in Phoenix. It’s a feel-good story.

Kyle Sieg Has His Moment in the Sun

In the last several years, RSS Racing has made some great strides. Co-owner and driver for the team Ryan Sieg nearly won in a photo finish last year at Texas. And, week in and week out, the 39 Ford has been running more and more consistently inside the top 15 and, sometimes, in the top 10. Meanwhile, his brother Kyle Sieg has also shown improvement in recent weeks. Last week at Las Vegas, the younger Sieg scored his best-ever finish on a non-drafting track. He finished the race in 11th. And he was showing some serious speed here today.

After pitting under caution, Sieg was able to take advantage of his fresh Goodyear tires and drive his unsponsored number 28 Ford up to the race lead in the closing laps of the first stage. He led a couple of laps before falling prey to Sammy Smith on a last-lap pass for the stage win. Still, he finished second in the stage, right in front of his brother. Who knows? Maybe before long, Kyle Sieg will be running as well as his brother on a near-weekly basis.

Haas Factory Team Is Still An Elite Organization

When Stewart-Haas Racing announced its plan to shut down at the end of the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, one of the big questions being asked was, “What about the Xfinity program”? While the Cup team fell off a cliff in terms of performance in the last several years, on the Xfinity side, they were easily the best team Ford had to offer. Heck, in 2023 they won the Xfinity Series title with Cole Custer. Riley Herbst also won a handful of races for the team in the last couple of years. When it became clear that Haas would remain in NASCAR, thus keeping the two Xfinity entries, many fans wondered if the 00 and 41 (formerly 98) teams would remain as competitive as they had been in years past. We’re happy to report that the answer is a resounding “yes”! In fact, maybe they’ve even improved.

Many fans saw their new driver lineup for 2025 as a step down from Custer and Herbst. Despite being a multi-race winner, Sam Mayer was still thought to be a relatively unproven driver. Meanwhile, Sheldon Creed is largely seen as a punchline, considering his abundance of runner-up finishes with a big ole goose egg in the win column. But so far in 2025, they’ve silenced their doubters. In almost every race this year, Mayer and Creed were solidly running inside the top 10. And that successful run continued today. Last week, Mayer qualified for the Dash 4 Cash and he led the four contenders for much of the day. He even led a handful of laps, finishing second to Kyle Larson in the second stage. Meanwhile, Sheldon Creed wasn’t far behind him.

Whatever happens on the cup side of things, it appears that in Xfinity at least, the Haas Factory team hasn’t missed a beat. They may even be better this year than they were in the last two years.

Kyle Larson Will Not Sweep the Weekend

Last night during the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, oddly Kyle Larson was not the dominant truck as expected. Rather, that honor went to Corey Heim. Don’t get me wrong, Larson had a fast truck but did not have race-winning speed. Nevertheless, he was able to win regardless after Heim had a bizarre mechanical issue which saw his truck shut off not once, not twice, but at least 4 times in the closing laps of the race. Side note: Heim also had power issues in today’s Xfinity Series race. Luck has not been on his side this weekend. And though it was a down weekend for Corey Heim, Larson benefitted both from the misfortunes of others. Today, though, was a different story entirely.

Kyle Larson DOMINATED the race today. He put such a smackdown on the field and was leading by 15 seconds over Sam Mayer, in the final green flag run of the race. But, as it’s often the case, a caution in the closing laps spoiled Larson’s shot at sweeping the weekend. On the last restart, Sam Mayer got Larson extremely loose and the 17 car had to check up. Austin Hill and Justin Allgaier took advantage of this. And the RCR and JRM Chevys duked it out in the closing couple of laps. In the end, Justin Allgaier won the race and $100,000 for the series Dash 4 Cash.

Larson was visibly disappointed after getting out of his number 17 machine. He virtually had the race won but it was not to be. Despite Larson’s potential weekend sweep being a huge storyline going into the weekend, it just wasn’t in the cards. Larson was once again snakebitten by his best track, Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Conclusion

The second race of the triple-header down in Miami is officially in the books! What did you make of this race, NASCAR fans? Were you cheering for Larson? What are your thoughts on Mayer’s run? How do you feel about Justin Allgaier “stealing” this one away from the dominant Kyle Larson? Let us know what you’re thinking!

Be sure to come back here tomorrow at DailyDownforce.com for the wrap-up of the race weekend from South Florida.