As promised, the Focused Health 250 was more of a triple-threat match between the Kaulig Racing duo and Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson. The #16 and #97 Chevys of A.J. Allmendinger and Shane van Gisbergen were going toe to toe towards the end, and it looked like the Kaulig Chevys were going to seal the race with a perfect 1-2 finish until the last few laps.

Late cautions in the final laps shook up things so much that the Kiwi finished the race 27th while Larson took the win in his first-ever Xfinity Series of the 2024 season. Amidst the anti-climatic finish and late theatrics, what caught the fandom’s eye was the late tangle between Allmendinger and Cup Series regular Ty Gibbs, which spun out the Cup Series regular. Reflecting on the tussle, veteran road racer A.J. Allmendinger, following the race, detailed the scene, cleaning his hands and stating what went down.

A.J. Allmendinger comes out clean, dissecting his late tangle with Ty Gibbs

With nine laps to go in Austin, Texas, it certainly was a back-and-forth battle for the lead between Allmendinger and his Kaulig Racing teammate, SVG. Both the Chevys were going at it, leaving the others well behind to settle the scores. The 3-time Supercars champion got the upper hand when the #16 driver ran wide and capitalized on this to pass him.

Allmendinger, being a consummate expert in road racing, did not give up; he went at it with all his might, and for a brief moment, it looked like a perfect 1-2 finish by the Kaulig Racing drivers. Even Allmendinger said, “I thought SVG and I had the dominant cars. He was a little bit better on that last run there. I got too free, so we were probably going to come home one-two, and that was the way it was going to go.”

However, fate had other plans. The race completely changed when Ed Jones spun, leaking oil on the track with four laps to go and sending the race into the second overtime finish of the day. Following the restart, the #16 driver found himself in the middle at P6 and was hit again after a multi-car pileup brought out another caution. Under caution, Allmendinger and Ty Gibbs ran into each other in what looked to be a disagreement on track, which got Gibbs a P24 finish at the end while Allmendinger managed to salvage and get a top 10 finish.

After the race, the veteran shared what happened between him and Gibbs. Speaking to Pockrass, he said, “He just needs to watch the replay, I got no chance in getting into turn 1 there and got sent, unfortunately. I get why he is mad but he needs to watch the replay because we were 3 wide and I got sent and he’s on the outside of me so, from his perspective, it looks like I drilled him but he knocked the steering wheel out when I got hit.” 

Larson wins at COTA while SVG gets a stiff penalty, dropping him to P27

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The HMS driver’s win was a result of a brilliant pit strategy. Kyle Larson charged to the front with new tires to win the Focused Health 250 on Saturday at COTA. He started the overtime restart at the 7th spot and charged up to 3rd by the final lap as Shane van Gisbergen and RCR‘s Austin Hill wrestled for the lead. The COTA winner then passed both cars as the leaders passed through the stadium portion of the track.

However, SVG was called for a track limits violation on the final lap and was decked with a 30-second penalty, giving Hill the runner-up spot while van Gisbergen was credited with a 27th-place finish. This was a shocker for the Kiwi and his fans, who were anticipating the driver’s first win on the big stage, but all they got was an anti-climatic finish, with Larson taking the win and SVG dropping to the bottom.

On the bright side, Shane van Gisbergen will get another shot on Sunday, where he will have to put in double the effort to fight against the Cup Series regulars and redeem himself with a win.

Kyle Larson Outplays Charging SVG & Austin Hill as He Claims HMS’ First Xfinity win at COTA