Allgaier Wins Dover Xfinity Race & $100K Bonus

Justin Allgaier
Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Justin Allgaier survived a breathtaking last-gasp effort from JR Motorsports teammate Elliott Sadler to win Saturday's OneMain Financial 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Dover International Speedway.

Allgaier led Sadler by less than a car-length as the drivers entered Turn 3 on the final circuit. Ahead of Allgaier, the lapped car of Joe Nemechek entered the corner low and drifted up the track, forcing Allgair to brake and run the middle lane at the cost of considerable momentum.

Sadler saw the opening and drove underneath Allgaier's No. 7 Chevrolet as the cars negotiated Turn 4. As they came off the corner side by side, the cars touched. Sadler's No. 1 Chevy twitched loose, and Allgaier's car slapped the outside wall, but both drivers maintained control, and Allgaier got to the finish line .306 seconds ahead of his teammate.

"I thought the 15 (Nemechek) was going to run the bottom," Allgaier said. "I got on the brakes (in Turn 3) and almost spun myself out. That race—you couldn't ask for anything better.

"Obviously, we got together coming to the checkered flag, but I expected that. He had to do what he had to do, and we did what we had to do."

Justin Allgaier won the $100,00 Dash 4 Cash
Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

The victory was Allgaier's first of the season, his first at Dover and the sixth of his career. The 31-year-old was doubly rewarded, outdueling Sadler for the $100,000 Xfinity Dash 4 Cash bonus that goes to the highest finisher among four eligible drivers.

Allgaier is the 10th different winner in 10 Xfinity races this season. Dating to the 2017, the last 13 races in the series have been won by 13 different drivers, tying a series record.

Sadler was understandably disappointed with the results, given the incentives he had for winning. The veteran driver was going for his third straight Dash 4 Cash bonus, and the sponsor of his car, OneMain Financial, was also the entitlement sponsor of the race.

Problem was, Sadler couldn't find a way around his teammate without wrecking him.

"I was trying to figure out a way to pass him," Sadler said. "I knew if I tried to get under him, Justin would do a good job of holding me down, so I was trying to figure out how to create some momentum, especially on the top side, but I wanted to do it the clean way as much as possible, too.

"On the last lap, going into Turn 3, I saw him roll the middle, so I just rolled the bottom and stabbed the gas and tried to get up under him, but I got loose. If I had stayed in the gas, I would have wrecked probably both of us pretty hard…

"We've been too good all year long not to have a checkered flag. I'm heartbroken, to be honest with you. This would have been a good race to win for us, being the OneMain Financial 200. That's hard to swallow. My team gave me a car good enough to win. I've just got to do a better job of closing out these races."

Daniel Hemric pits during Satuday's Xfinity Series race at Dover
Jerry Markland/Getty Images

Daniel Hemric came home third, spending the last lap hoping to steal a victory if the JR Motorsports teammates happened to wreck each other.

"I was just trying to get myself in the best possible position in case they did run out of race track—and they tried," Hemric said.

Christopher Bell finished fourth after starting from the rear after his car failed to make it through pre-qualifying inspection in time to make a run in time trials. Tyler Reddick, who started from the back for the same reason, came home fifth, putting three JRM drivers in the top five.

Running his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race in four years, Johnny Sauter ran sixth subbing for suspended Spencer Gallagher. Noah Gragson, Matt Tifft, Austin Cindric and pole winner Brandon Jones completed the top 10.

Sadler and Allgaier won the first and second stages, respectively. Sadler leaves Dover as the series leader, 33 points ahead of Allgaier in second and 38 in front of Reddick in third.

RACE RESULTS

Finish Start # Driver Sponsor/Make laps Led Points Status
1 6 7 Justin Allgaier SiteOne Landscape Supply Chevrolet 200 104 59 Running
2 4 1 Elliott Sadler OneMain Financial Chevrolet 200 33 45 Running
3 5 21 Daniel Hemric South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet 200 0 46 Running
4 34 20 Christopher Bell Rheem Toyota 200 0 42 Running
5 33 9 Tyler Reddick Hennessey Performance Chevrolet 200 23 47 Running
6 11 23 Johnny Sauter Allegiant Airlines Chevrolet 200 0 0 Running
7 2 18 Noah Gragson Switch Toyota 200 0 0 Running
8 3 2 Matt Tifft Nexteer Chevrolet 200 1 35 Running
9 7 22 Austin Cindric Menards/Richmond Ford 200 0 41 Running
10 1 19 Brandon Jones XYO Networks Toyota 200 33 35 Running
11 8 11 Ryan Truex Bar Harbor Chevrolet 200 0 34 Running
12 10 3 Jeb Burton State Water Heaters Chevrolet 200 0 25 Running
13 36 0 Cole Custer Haas Automation Ford 200 0 24 Running
14 35 42 John H. Nemechek Fire Alarm Services Inc. Chevrolet 200 0 27 Running
15 37 5 Michael Annett Pilot Flying J Chevrolet 200 0 23 Running
16 18 4 Ross Chastain Del Office of Highway Safety 200 0 23 Running
17 13 39 Ryan Sieg Lombard Bros. Gaming Chevrolet 200 0 20 Running
18 19 51 Jeremy Clements RepairableVehicles.com Chevrolet 200 0 19 Running
19 12 16 Ryan Reed Drive Down A1C Lilly Diabetes Ford 200 0 18 Running
20 21 35 Joey Gase Sparks Chevrolet 200 0 17 Running
21 15 36 Alex Labbe Can-Am/Wholey/Cyclops Chevrolet 200 0 16 Running
22 25 1 Vinnie Miller teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet 200 0 15 Running
23 26 78 BJ McLeod JW Transport LLC Chevrolet 199 0 14 Running
24 14 28 Dylan Lupton thinQ Technology Partners Ford 199 0 13 Running
25 30 40 Chad Finchum MBM Motorsports Toyota 198 0 12 Running
26 38 52 David Starr ATS/Whataburger Chevrolet 196 0 11 Running
27 29 8 Ray Black II Powered by Zomongo Chevrolet 196 0 10 Running
28 17 90 Brandon Brown Chevrolet 195 0 9 Running
29 31 45 Josh Bilicki Prevagen Toyota 194 0 8 Running
30 27 76 Spencer Boyd Grunt Style Chevrolet 190 0 7 Running
31 39 15 Joe Nemechek Stockley Tavern Chevrolet 188 0 0 Running
32 23 0 Garrett Smithley Chevrolet 169 0 5 Suspension
33 40 55 Stephen Leicht Jani-King Toyota 149 0 4 Vibration
34 9 60 Ty Majeski Ford Ford 129 0 3 Accident
35 22 13 Timmy Hill MBM Motorsports Toyota 113 0 2 Transmission
36 20 38 JJ Yeley RSS Racing Chevrolet 111 0 1 Vibration
37 16 24 Kaz Grala NETTTS Ford 76 0 1 Accident
38 28 89 Morgan Shepherd Visone RV Chevrolet 57 0 1 Transmission
39 32 66 Carl Long Chris Kyle Memorial Dodge 29 0 1 Brakes
40 24 93 Jeff Green C2 Freight Resources Chevrolet 11 0 1 Vibration

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