After sweeping the stages, William Byron overcame a pit road speeding penalty and reclaimed the lead late to win the BetMGM 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday (May 24). This marks fifth career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory and his first since 2017.
A series of late cautions allowed Byron to progress through the field on restarts before he ultimately swept around Justin Allgaier coming to the white flag and held on to score the win.
What a finish at @CLTMotorSpdwy! 🏁 pic.twitter.com/W5RdR81OdA
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) May 24, 2025
Connor Zilisch and Nick Sanchez, both of whom held a tire advantage over Allgaier, passed him up to come home second and third, respectively. Allgaier finished fourth after leading a race-high 103 laps.
Sammy Smith crossed the line in fifth, but he was later disqualified in postrace inspection because his No. 8 Chevrolet failed to meet minimum weight requirements. Smith got credited with a 38th-place finish.
NEWS: The No. 8 car has been disqualified following post-race inspection at @CLTMotorSpdwy for failing to meet the minimum weight requirement.
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) May 25, 2025
Sammy Smith is credited with a 38th-place finish. pic.twitter.com/2mYHOzs2gQ
Smith’s disqualification pushed Dean Thompson up to fifth to round out the top five, followed by Josh Williams, who also had a nice day in sixth. Austin Hill finished seventh ahead of Ryan Ellis, who claimed his first-career NXS top 10 in eighth. Christian Eckes finished ninth, while Sheldon Creed completed the top 10.
After starting fourth, Byron gained the lead from polesitter Taylor Gray following the race’s first restart at lap 19. Byron did not look back in the opening segment, and he would take it easily over Zilisch, Allgaier, Sam Mayer, and Jeb Burton.
Opening stage two out front, Byron was once again untouchable as he claimed stage two from Allgaier, Zilisch, Gray, and Brandon Jones.
While Byron was never challenged, it became clear throughout the second stage that Allgaier also had a very strong car. This made the outlook bleak for Byron’s No. 17 team when he was penalized for speeding on exit of pit road after the end of stage two and relegated to the rear of the field.
With Byron temporarily out of the picture, it was Allgaier’s turn to set the pace. Allgaier was set on cruise control through most of stage three and appeared to be on track for another victory.
However, a caution with 22 to go for a Carson Kvapil spin presented Allgaier’s crew a challenging decision. Ultimately, Allgaier’s team opted to stay out and hold onto their track position.
Creed, Jesse Love, Jeb Burton, and Blaine Perkins also stayed out on the racetrack, but from sixth on back, several drivers charged to the front on fresher tires.
Included in this group of drivers on fresher tires were Zilisch, Byron, and Sanchez, who emerged as the supreme threats to Allgaier’s lead as they inched their way towards the front on a series of restarts prompted by several cautions down the stretch.
It appeared that the race would be decided on a restart with six to go when Allgaier once again got away with the lead while Zilisch, Byron, and Sanchez gave chase. Yet another caution slowed the pace and setup an overtime finish.
Surrounded by drivers on fresher tires, Allgaier still managed to escape the opening corners following the restart with the lead. Meanwhile, Byron cleared for second and set his sights on Allgaier’s lead.
Rounding turns 3 and 4, Byron swept around Allgaier on the outside coming to the white flag as his fresher tires proved too much for Allgaier to defend against.
Xfinity Series Charlotte Results
Byron sailed off to the checkered flag, officially under caution for yet another incident, and claimed his first-ever victory at his home track of Charlotte Motor Speedway.
