Justin Allgaier dominates in NASCAR Xfinity Series victory at Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday night in the Tennessee Lottery 250.
Before the start of Saturday’s Tennessee Lottery 250, Justin Allgaier joked that he needed to win his second NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Nashville Superspeedway so he could earn another guitar trophy and have one for each of his two young daughters.
Justin Allgaier Dominates in Victory
Hours later, his dominant work in the race was indeed sweet music for his title hopes. For the second time in his career, the veteran Allgaier swept both in-race stages and went on to claim victory at the 1.33-mile concrete oval – his third win of the 2025 season.
The reigning series champion had to hold off his 18-year-old rookie JR Motorsports teammate, Connor Zilisch, in the closing laps, before ultimately driving his No. 7 Chevrolet to the win by a slight 1.289 seconds.
The two had been separated by less than half a second for much of the closing 20 laps before lapped traffic helped the Allgaier pull away in the longest green flag run – 48 laps. In all, he led a race-high 101 of the race’s 188 laps.
“These guys right here, they deserve this one more than anything,’’ Allgaier, 39, said, shaking hands with his JR Motorsports crew as members came up to congratulate him. “I screwed them over last week [at Charlotte] by making a pit call with an equally as good car. But this time it was Chevrolet, which was absolutely unreal. [His wife] Ashley and the kids are here, and it’s so cool to get a win here at Nashville. The fans here are incredible. This place is special to me.
“I said before the race I really wanted to get a second guitar so both kids would have a guitar. So they can fight over them. I’m really proud of JR Motorsports.”
Connor Zilisch Impressive
You’d be hard-pressed to tell it was Zilisch’s first-ever race at the concrete Nashville oval. He earned points in both stages, had good pit stops, and moved up through the field and into the top five by lap 70. He led 18 laps, but his run out front was interrupted by a caution with 53 laps remaining. Allgaier took the lead in a three-wide battle up front on the ensuing restart with 48 to go and never looked back.
“I thought I might be able to get back by him, but clean air is everything, and the first 20 laps of a run if you had clean air, you’d prevail on a long run, just keeping your stuff cooler and not having to run as hard,’’ Zilisch said. “Congrats to Justin. He did a really good job executing on that restart. It’s the second week in a row I’ve finished second because of a restart. It’s frustrating.
“I’m really happy with the progress we’re making, and being frustrated with second [place] is a good thing,’’ he added with a smile.
The Tennessee Lottery 250 Results
Haas Factory Team’s Sam Mayer’s No. 41 Ford finished third, just in front of his teammate Sheldon Creed in the No. 00 Ford and a third JR Motorsports Chevy, driven by last week’s NASCAR Cup Series race winner, Ross Chastain.
Aric Almirola, Austin Hill, Jesse Love, and rookie Carson Kvapil and Sammy Smith rounded out the top ten.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series Point Standings
It marks the first win for a full-time Xfinity Series driver in the last three races. Justin Allgaier extends his points lead over Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill to 92 points. Sam Mayer, Jesse Love, and Connor Zilisch complete the top five.
Up Next
The NASCAR Xfinity Series has a rare off-week. The series returns to competition on Saturday, June 14 at 4:30 p.m. ET. The CW, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide coverage in the Chilango 150 at Mexico City’s famed Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez.