Justin Allgaier pulls off a dramatic overtime victory at Darlington in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Steakhouse Elite 200 on Saturday afternoon.

In a dramatic two-lap overtime shootout, Justin Allgaier squeezed past JR Motorsports teammate Josh Berry and held on to win Saturday’s Steakhouse Elite 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Darlington Raceway.

Justin Allgaier Pulls Off a Dramatic Overtime Victory at Darlington

Allgaier chose the outside lane for the final restart and had to fend off Berry, who edged ahead entering the first turn. But Allgaier shot the gap to the outside off the second turn and pulled away to win by 0.422 seconds over his teammate.

Allgaier had wrestled the lead from Berry from the bottom lane on the previous restart on lap 138 and appeared a likely winner before Ryan Vargas’ spin on lap 142 forced the final restart and sent the race to overtime.

“Our car wasn’t as good as we wanted all day, but the guys down in the pits, they just kept fighting,” said Allgaier, who added his first Darlington win to his maiden win this season at Atlanta. “To check off Atlanta and Darlington, I couldn’t be more appreciative of this race team … We’re going to celebrate this one for a while.”

The victory was the 16th of Allgaier’s career.

Josh Berry Looking for More

Berry will cede his part-time ride in the No. 8 JRM Chevrolet to Sam Mayer in the second half of the season.

“I’m mad,” Berry said. “I want to win. I’m racing for my life out here, man. We need to find a sponsor or something so I can run this thing full-time. But it’s hard to be mad, coming here, running second, no practice, first time with these guys — that’s pretty incredible.”

Post-Race Disqualification is a Big Loss for Gragson

Brandon Jones ran third, one spot ahead of Noah Gragson, who would have pocketed his third straight $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus for finishing highest among four eligible drivers, had his No. 9 Chevrolet not been disqualified in post-race inspection for an infraction involving the suspension mounts.

Instead, the bonus went to 12th-place finisher AJ Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing, who finished ahead of the other two eligible drivers, Jeb Burton and Austin Cindric.

The Rest of the Best

Daniel Hemric, who led 38 laps, inherited fourth place after the Gragson disqualification. Jeremy Clements was fifth, followed by Michael Annett, Brett Moffitt, Ryan Sieg and Alex Labbe and Harrison Burton.

Cindric, the series leader, was out front for 34 laps and won the first stage but crashed on the frontstretch coming to the checkered flag. He finished 30th and saw his points advantage over second-place Hemric shrink from 59 to 39.

Harrison Burton won Stage 2, but the decision to pit for tires before the final two-lap shootout proved unproductive. Burton, who led 12 laps, finished tenth. 

The race featured nine cautions for 43 laps.

UPDATE: #9 – Disqualified – Failed Post-Race Inspection

  1. (16)  Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 148.

  2. (24)  Josh Berry #, Chevrolet, 148.

  3. (22)  Brandon Jones, Toyota, 148.

  4. (7)  Daniel Hemric, Toyota, 148.

  5. (12)  Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 148.

  6. (20)  Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 148.

  7. (13)  Brett Moffitt, Chevrolet, 148.

  8. (11)  Ryan Sieg, Ford, 148.

  9. (23)  Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 148.

  10. (8)  Harrison Burton, Toyota, 148.

  11. (19)  Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 148.

  12. (1)  AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 148.

  13. (4)  Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 148.

  14. (14)  Tommy Joe Martins, Chevrolet, 148.

  15. (33)  Ryan Ellis, Toyota, 148.

  16. (17)  David Starr, Toyota, 148.

  17. (29)  Ty Gibbs #, Toyota, 148.

  18. (10)  Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, 148.

  19. (3)  Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 148.

  20. (36)  Tanner Berryhill, Chevrolet, 148.

  21. (35)  JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, 148.

  22. (15)  Timmy Hill(i), Ford, 148.

  23. (9)  Brandon Brown, Chevrolet, 148.

  24. (39)  Bayley Currey(i), Chevrolet, 148.

  25. (38)  BJ McLeod(i), Chevrolet, 148.

  26. (34)  Ryan Vargas #, Chevrolet, 148.

  27. (6)  Riley Herbst, Ford, 148.

  28. (25)  Colby Howard, Chevrolet, Accident, 147.

  29. (2)  Austin Cindric, Ford, Accident, 147.

  30. (28)  Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 146.

  31. (31)  Jesse Little, Chevrolet, 146.

  32. (26)  Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, 142.

  33. (40)  Matt Jaskol, Toyota, 142.

  34. (18)  Jade Buford, Chevrolet, 140.

  35. (27)  Brandon Gdovic, Toyota, 140.

  36. (30)  Joe Graf Jr., Chevrolet, Accident, 132.

  37. (37)  Gray Gaulding, Chevrolet, Accident, 107.

  38. (21)  Josh Williams, Chevrolet, Suspension, 48.

  39. (32)  Matt Mills, Chevrolet, Accident, 44.

  40. (5)  Noah Gragson, Chevrolet, 148.

The Steakhouse Elite 200 Stats

Average Speed of Race Winner:  98.739 mph.

Time of Race:  Two Hrs, two Mins, 51 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.422 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  Nine for 43 laps.

Lead Changes:  13 among seven drivers.

Lap Leaders:   A. Allmendinger 1-3;A. Cindric 4-15;N. Gragson 16-25;A. Cindric 26-47;N. Gragson 48;D. Hemric 49-86;A. Allmendinger 87-89;H. Burton 90-99;N. Gragson 100-128;H. Burton 129-130;J. Berry # 131-137;J. Allgaier 138-145;J. Berry # 146;J. Allgaier 147-148.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Noah Gragson three times for 40 laps; Daniel Hemric one time for 38 laps; Austin Cindric two times for 34 laps; Harrison Burton two times for 12 laps; Justin Allgaier two times for ten laps; Josh Berry # two times for eight laps; AJ Allmendinger two times for six laps.

Stage 1 Top-Ten: 22,20,18,44,16,2,7,54,1,19

Stage 2 Top-Ten: 20,16,8,39,10,1,7,22,02,98