Kyle Larson was on fire at Homestead-Miami Speedway, fresh off a thrilling Truck Series win the night before. He’d battled back from a spin in the Baptist Health 200 to claim victory, proving his grit with four wins in just 16 Truck Series starts. Kyle Busch even chimed in on X, tweeting, “🍒🍒🍒 @KyleLarsonRacin,” playfully calling Larson’s victory a ‘cherry-picked’ triumph. But the Xfinity Series race on Saturday turned that sweetness sour. Larson’s shot at a back-to-back win ended in heartbreak, finishing fourth after a late-race incident with Sam Mayer, leaving him visibly livid.

The No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports driver had been the star of the day, leading laps and holding a massive lead over most of the field. The race’s intensity was such that Larson looked untouchable until the late race caution staged a dramatic restart. The HMS driver had the advantage and controlled the restart, but just as the race was about to green Sam Mayer too quick on the peddle made contact with the rear bumper of the No. 17 car. And that was enough for the likes of Justin Allgaier and Austin Hill to thread the needle and take the lead from Larson.

Apart from the P4 finish, Larson’s bid to match Kyle Busch’s sweep across all three series ended. And this was evident from the post-race interview where he didn’t hesitate to call out Mayer.

Kyle Larson points out the main culprit

Larson was in the ascendency for most of the race. In the long run, none of the cars came close to him. He led a dominant 132 of the 201 laps and had a 16-second lead over the second-place car. But, with the race going into overtime, he just couldn’t fire off like he would like on the restart. To make matters worse, Mayer nudged his back bumper which saw Larson slide across the track and almost hit the cars coming from the outside lane. Something is off with the HMS star when he sets his eyes on NASCAR records, last year the Double didn’t go as planned, and the triple treat was spoiled by a former JRM driver.

“How do you even wrap your head around the disappointment of the result after the day you had today?” CW reporter asked. Larson didn’t hold back, “I don’t know. I’ve lived through it a number of times here. But, yeah, obviously a bummer, again, to have another home series play out that way. Just, yeah, I can’t go when my rear tires drop to the ground. So, I know it looks like I chipped another one away, but I did everything I thought I could. And the 41 just lagged back and slammed the s— out of me. So, bummer, but it’s cool to have this big of a lead that we had. But I would have loved to get a win for everybody in the 17 car. They don’t get to race all the time, so it’s good. You know, we can run up front like we did today. So, I’ve got one more opportunity in this thing later on here in a few weeks. So, we’ll see if we can get it done then.”

Busch, the only driver to achieve the NASCAR triple, having done it multiple times at Bristol, made it clear he wasn’t ready to share the spotlight. “It doesn’t happen that often obviously, with him going for it that’s cool. If he gets it great, otherwise I’d still love to be the only [man to do it],” Busch added, his competitive edge shining through. Larson, meanwhile, saw the challenge as a bucket-list moment. “Sure, yeah, I guess you can consider it a bucket list sort of thing,” he told Fox Sports last week. “I think it’s just a really tough feat to do it. I think Kyle Busch is maybe the only one who’s done it and he’s done it multiple times at Bristol… But yeah, really, more than anything, I just love the opportunity to race. If it happens it happens, it is what it is.”

The man of the moment also acknowledged the whole incident. While Larson’s heartbreak stole headlines, Allgaier’s triumph was a reminder of racing’s unpredictability. He took advantage of the chaos, racing smart and clean when it mattered most. Allgaier added, “I’m bummed I maybe got the [weekend] triple from Kyle [Larson] because I think he’s going to have a great shot at [winning] it tomorrow. But we were at the right place at the right time and I’m really proud of this race team.”

Meanwhile, Mayer who’s now jumped ship to the Ford camp with Haas Factory Team shared his version of final restart.

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Sam Mayer was disappointed in himself

The spotlight also shines on Sam Mayer, who’s making Homestead his personal playground. With four top-10 finishes in four starts, including a 2023 victory, this track might just be his best on the NASCAR circuit. Now, Mayer’s got his eyes on the next big prize of the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash award at Martinsville Speedway next Saturday at 5 p.m. ET on The CW, MRN Radio, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. He’ll be battling it out with Homestead’s Dash 4 Cash winner Allgaier, plus Austin Hill and Haas Factory teammate Sheldon Creed, who rounded out the top five on Saturday.

“I haven’t mistimed a restart like that in a long time,” Mayer said. “That’s why I’m so bummed out is because I know that for one, I ruined [Larson’s] race because obviously he’s going for the sweep and I took that away from him just by a silly mistake. I was trying to get everything I could get. But it’s obviously a bummer for both of us and if I ever do get the chance to talk to him, I would.” Even though Mayer is in the wrong side of Kyle Larson we can’t help but notice how significant his performance was apart from just finishing runner-up. He led 46 laps and secured his third top-five finish of the 2025 season, proving he’s a force to be reckoned with.

“Any time that you’re finishing second, you’re super bummed out, that’s a good day. We’re gonna keep it going. We’re going to go back and hit the workbooks and the notebooks and try to get better because second really isn’t enough because we were a second-place car today. So, we want to be better.” While Larson’s three-peat might be important for him, Mayer was also fighting for his first win of the season. He’s come close at Daytona, COTA, and Las Vegas, and therefore he couldn’t control his eagerness to jump the restart. After all, he needs to prove himself after leaving the top Chevy team in the Xfinity garage.