NASCAR Xfinity Series at Chicagoland 2017 Results: Justin Allgaier Takes 1st

Justin Allgaier took the checkered flag Saturday to pick up his second win of the season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race TheHouse.com 300 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois.

Allgaier led the final 15 laps and held off Cup Series star Kyle Larson in the latter stages to secure the victory at his home track.

Here is a rundown of the top 10 finishers from the final race of the 2017 Xfinity Series regular season, courtesy of NASCAR.com:

1. Justin Allgaier

2. Kyle Larson

3. Elliott Sadler

4. Daniel Hemric

5. Austin Dillon

6. Matt Tifft

7. Cole Custer

8. Ty Dillon

9. Blake Koch

10. Darrell Wallace Jr.

Allgaier had already clinched a playoff spot prior to Saturday's win, but the victory ensures he will begin the playoffs in second place, just two points behind William Byron.

Elliott Sadler clinched the regular-season title with a third-place finish, but with no wins to his credit, he will begin the playoffs in third place among the field of 12:

1. William Byron: 2,025 points

2. Justin Allgaier: -2

3. Elliott Sadler: -5

4. Daniel Hemric: -16

5. Brennan Poole: -19

6. Cole Custer: -20

7. Blake Koch: -20

8. Ryan Reed: -20

9. Jeremy Clements: -20

10. Matt Tifft: -21

11. Michael Annett: -23

12. Brendan Gaughan: -23

Byron was unable to add to his playoff lead in Saturday's race, as he finished 33rd due to mechanical issues, as seen in the following GIF from NASCAR Xfinity:

Cup Series regular and 2016 Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year Erik Jones dominated the early portion of the race.

After starting on the pole, Jones led each of the first 45 laps to take the first stage.

Jones also won the second stage, but both he and Ryan Blaney were hit with pit-road speeding penalties, which opened things up early in the final stage.

That resulted in a three-way battle for the lead between Larson, Cole Custer and Daniel Suarez.

As evidenced by this video, Custer and Larson jockeyed for position, with the Xfinity Series rookie giving the Cup Series championship contender a run for his money:

Suarez was soon shuffled out of the equation when the 2016 Xfinity Series champion spun out, leading to a 19th-place finish:

A caution came out with 21 laps to go, and that set the stage for the biggest round of pit stops in the race.

Jones battled all the way back from a pit-road penalty earlier in the race to take the lead with just 18 laps remaining, per NASCAR on NBC:

Chaos ensued on the restart, however, and Allgaier quickly shot himself from fourth place into the lead:

He was then able to stretch his advantage when Jones and Blaney got into each other and hit the wall:

Although Jones didn't suffer much damage, Blaney was knocked out of contention and forced to settle for a 26th-place result.

Allgaier's first-place run was quickly interrupted when Ryan Reed spun out, necessitating the final yellow flag of the race:

The race restarted with seven laps remaining, but Jones was called for a restart infraction, so he had to go to pit road and ended up finishing 18th.

Allgaier had no shortage of hungry competitors in pursuit of his lead down the stretch, with Larson looking to pick up momentum for Sunday's Cup Series race and Sadler still in search of his first win of the year.

The Riverton, Illinois, native was able to seal the deal, though, and he may have established himself as the championship favorite in the process.