WATCH: Justin Allgaier causes a massive wreck as rookie Connor Zilisch goes airborne in Daytona Xfinity race

The NASCAR Xfinity Series race saw a chaotic end as Jessee Lovev secured the race win while Connor Zilisch wrecked behind him.

WATCH: Justin Allgaier causes a massive wreck as rookie Connor Zilisch goes airborne in Daytona Xfinity race

Conor Zilisch and Justin Allgaier (Via IMAGO and Screenshot via CW)

The 2025 NASCAR season had the chaotic start it is infamous for at Daytona International Speedway, with massive wrecks ending the Truck, Xfinity and ARCA Mendes Series races. On Saturday night, it was the reigning Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier that caused the big one that marked the end of the race.

Richard Childress Racing secured it’s fourth race win in a raw at Daytona Xfinity event, this time with Jesse Love taking the white flag just before the caution was called for the wreck and securing his spot in the playoffs. Former RCR driver Sheldon Creed, who was replaced by Love, played a significant role in the crash.

As the leading pack was closing in on the final corner before the white flag, Connor Zilisch got into the back of the No:18 and slowed down, that’s when Justin Allgaier gave the No:88 car a push. This push was a little too hard and this resulted in an accordion effort that collected multiple cars, while the JR Motorsports Chevy went airborne.

The incident ruined what otherwise would have been strong race for the Trackhouse Racing development driver. He was strong the whole day and worked well with his JRM teammates, proving his prowess. But his performance till the crash was enough to prove he isn’t just a capable road course racer, and has already started mastering oval racing.

Justin Allgaier takes blame for the incident

The 2024 Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier took the blame for the incident, that resulted in his rookie teammate ending up on the wall. He asserted that it wasn’t the way they wanted to end his day and asserted that he failed pull left earlier, making the night frustrating.

Justin Allgaier and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Justin Allgaier and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Causing that last wreck was not how I wanted our night to end. You know, that outside row we were in kind of stacked up and I don’t know, I run in the back of Jeb and to kind of keep from crashing him I head to the middle and unfortunately, I think the 32 was coming with a big run, and just too late. I should have pulled left a little earlier but at the end of the day just a really frustrating night.

Justin Allgaier said.

Though the veteran took the blame, he isn’t completely to blame as there wasn’t much he could have done amidst the chaos. What’s more disappointing is the fact that JRM had strong cars and if things had gone right, they would been in the fight for race wins towards the end.