Justin Allgaier Triumphs in Thrilling Victory at NASCAR Xfinity Series Wawa 250 after Epic Overtime Battle

Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images

After two overtimes and ten additional unscheduled laps, Justin Allgaier emerged as the winner of Friday night’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Wawa 250 at the world-famous Daytona International Speedway defeating Sheldon Creed by just 0.005 seconds which is tied for the fourth closest margin of victory in Xfinity Series history. 

The 37-year-old driver from Riverton, Illinois had to start from the rear of the field and serve a pass-through penalty as his No. 7 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Camaro failed inspection multiple times prior to  Thursday’s qualifying session. As a consequence of failing inspection, Allgaier’s team also loses their ability to select their pit stall for next week’s race at Darlington. 

After serving the pass-through penalty, Allgaier went a lap down for a time and finished stage one in the 33rd position but would work his way through the field following the stage and Allgaier finished stage two in 12th before taking the lead for the first time in the race on lap 85. 

Allgaier briefly lost the lead to Trevor Bayne but regained it after multiple drivers, including Bayne, were involved in a late-race accident. Allgaier then had to survive two more overtime restarts to take the checkered flag. In total, Allgaier led just 14 of the 110 laps on the path to his second victory of the 2023 NASCAR season and the 21st victory of his thirteen-year Xfinity Series career. 

Photographer:Lesley Ann Miller / Motorsport Images

This was Allgaier’s first victory of his career at a superspeedway or “drafting track” in 46 career starts including 26 at Daytona. 

In 24 races this season, Allgaier has 11 top-five finishes and heads into the final two races before the start of the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs ranked third in the standings with 18 playoff points. 

Justin Allgaier’s post-race interview with NBC following his victory.

After Daytona, the NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Darlington Raceway for the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 on Saturday, September 2nd at 3:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. CT which you can watch on USA Network and if you’re in the Darlington area or want to take a road trip you can also purchase tickets to experience the race in person here.