BRISTOL, Tenn. – As Kyle Larson thumped the Xfinity Series field in Saturday’s SciAps 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Justin Allgaier chased just behind the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driver to bank a third-place result and his second $100,000 Dash 4 Cash prize during the 2025 program.
Leading a whopping 277 laps of the 300-circuit affair, Larson had little competition on long green-flag runs despite Allgaier’s best attempts to challenge for the lead a few laps into restarts.
RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Bristol
“I’m disappointed in the day, I’m disappointed in the finish but at the same time, it’s still a great day,” Allgaier said shortly after exiting his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. “To come out of here third and be upset about it, that’s a good thing, right?”
Making contact with lapped cars and his own teammates around the hotly-contested bullring, elbows were out all race long for Allgaier as he navigated through traffic despite racing just Austin Hill for the penultimate Dash 4 Cash award after Stage 1.
Half of the four-driver group going for the six-figure prize had their days end in dramatic fashion as Sheldon Creed and Brennan Poole had a major impact coming off Turn 4 that brought out the red flag in the closing laps of Stage 1.
Contact with Dean Thompson sent the No. 00 Haas Factory Team Ford around and skidding to a stop before hitting the outside barrier, but with little time to react as Creed’s car began the descent down the steep banking, Poole’s No. 44 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet collided heavy into the left-front of the No. 00, scattering debris and door foam across the concrete frontstretch.
Both Creed and Poole were checked and released from the infield care center shortly after.
RELATED: Creed, Poole collide late in Stage 1
“It happens so quickly here,” Creed said of the hit from Poole. “That first car missed me so I thought if the first one missed me, maybe they’ll all miss me, and obviously Brennan just didn’t see me. It happens every year here, right? Things happen so quickly and you’re going so fast, and not a lot of time to avoid a car sitting in the middle of the track. I haven’t had that air knocked out of me in a long time.”
“It did knock the breath out of me,” Poole said. “I was talking to Sheldon when we got in the trailer. He said it knocked the breath out of him, too. I was back to the gas coming off the corner. I couldn’t see the 00. My spotter said ‘check up.’ I started checking up immediately as soon as I saw him in frame before I could see out of my windshield, he was in the middle of track. I just didn’t expect him to even be there.”
With Hill falling a lap down during the race, the $100,000 bonus was all Allgaier’s as he battled his young teammates Carson Kvapil and Sammy Smith in the top five.
MORE: Dash 4 Cash hub page | History of Dash 4 Cash winners
Kvapil ended up squeaking by Allgaier for second in the final five laps, giving the Xfinity rookie another runner-up on a high-banked, concrete oval.
“He’s done a great job and we talked a lot before the race,” Allgaier said of Kvapil. “Him and [crew chief] Andrew [Overstreet], they’re working really well together and that whole 1 team, and really just proud of the effort as our whole shop. We’ve put a lot of effort into being good at this place and it shows. They’re [Kvapil and Smith] both great race car drivers. They’re young and they’re going to be threats when we come back here in the fall, and they’re going to be threats for the rest of the year going down to the end of the year for a championship. I’m proud of the effort that they’re putting in.”
No third victory sticker to go on the No. 7 but Allgaier remains appreciative for the opportunity to run for another bonus.
“Getting the Dash 4 Cash and what Xfinity does for this series is really a big deal,” Allgaier said. “To be able to get the Dash 4 Cash was important. We’ll go back to the drawing board — figure out what we can do better when we come back here in the fall and hopefully win ourselves one.”