Josh Berry bested JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier to pick up his first Xfinity Series win of the season at Dover Motor Speedway on Saturday.
Allgaier led a race-high 67 of 200 laps, but Berry tracked down Allgaier on the penultimate green-flag run. The two carved through lapped traffic, swapping positions and lanes multiple times, but Berry eventually got the better of Allgaier with 55 laps to go.
The final caution flew at Lap 159, when Bayley Currey‘s No. 4 Chevrolet suffered a mechanical failure. During pit stops, Allgaier fell from second to fifth. The No. 7 Chevrolet rallied to second but lost by 0.604 seconds. Berry led each of the final 55 laps en route to the win.
JRM drivers took up four of the top five positions with Noah Gragson finishing fourth and Sam Mayer fifth. Ty Gibbs broke up the JRM party with a third-place finish.
In fourth, Gragson took home the Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus, the final of four bonuses offered by Xfinity this season. This is Gragson’s fifth Dash 4 Cash win. Other eligible contenders this week were AJ Allmendinger, Landon Cassill and Ryan Sieg. Allmendinger finished sixth, Sieg 10th and Cassill 12th.
Polesitter Brandon Jones finished seventh after leading 59 laps, while Sheldon Creed was eighth and Riley Herbst ninth.
There were no issues in post-race inspection. Allmendinger’s No. 16 Chevrolet had one lug nut not safe and secure which will result in a monetary fine. Mayer had a left-rear wheel detach from the car following pit stops at the conclusion of Stage 1, which will result in a four-week suspension for crew chief Taylor Moyer and two pit crew members.
Stage 1 winner: Sam Mayer
Stage 2 winner: Justin Allgaier
Who had a good race: In the five prior races, Justin Allgaier hadn’t finished higher than 14th, a stretch featuring two DNFs and four finishes outside the top 20. Those issues were largely wiped away Saturday with a second-place finish after leading the most laps. Allgaier is winless in each of the last 34 races. His last was at Darlington, where the series heads next. … In fifth, Sam Mayer picked up his fourth top-five finish in the last five races. Mayer had to rally to the front twice following issues on pit road. After charging back through the field following his lost wheel in Stage 1, Mayer also sped on pit road at Lap 94, sending him to the rear to begin Stage 3. Mayer proved fast enough to come home with a top five.
Who had a bad race: John Hunter Nemechek qualified ninth in the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing and was fighting on the fringe of the top five before suffering a brake failure, relegating Nemechek to the garage area at Lap 83 and ending his day. Nemechek scored two top fives in his three prior Xfinity starts this season, including a runner-up performance last time out at Richmond. Saturday marked a career-worst finish for Nemechek.
Notable: By finishing 10th, Ryan Sieg notched his fourth consecutive top-10 finish, a career-long streak.
Next race: The series races May 7 at Darlington Raceway at (1:30 p.m. ET, FS1).
