Justin Allgaier used pit strategy and a fast No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet to take the lead of the Cabo Wabo 250 at Michigan International Speedway with 16 laps of regulation remaining Saturday and then held off the field in two laps of overtime — before a caution came out, ending the race for an accident mid-field.
Allgaier chose to pit for fuel seven laps later than the next six front-runners at the time, returned to the track and ultimately — methodically — picked off each car to claim the late lead. He took the white flag, signaling one lap remaining, and a few moments later, one of the late-race leaders Carson Kvapil hit the wall in what became a chain-reaction crash that involved Chandler Smith and Kyle Sieg, whose car flipped end-over-end. Sieg quickly climbed out of his car and walked to the waiting medical crew.
Meanwhile, Allgaier took the yellow and checkered flags just ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Sheldon Creed, JGR’s John Hunter Nemechek, Our Motorsports’ Anthony Alfredo and JR Motorsports’ Sammy Smith.
It’s the sixth consecutive top-10 finish for the 38-year-old Allgaier, who with the win — the 25th of his career — is now 10th on the NASCAR Xfinity Series all-time win list, moving ahead of his team owner, NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr.
A bright rainbow was in the sky as the field sat on pit road just before the overtime re-start as NASCAR track workers dried the famed two-mile Michigan track after the second brief rain shower of the day.
Asked to rally again, Allgaier proved his muster, ultimately passing his teammate Sammy Smith on the re-start and then holding off both JGR teammates Creed and defending race winner Nemechek for his second victory of the season.
“Just cannot say thank you enough to this team and all these guys standing right here,” Allgaier said. “It’s been an incredible week. We did not show up at (the last race in) Indianapolis like we wanted to, and these guys have worked tirelessly through this break.
“It’s truly special, winning at Michigan.”
It was a record 11th runner-up finish for Creed — breaking a tie with current NASCAR Cup Series driver and former Xfinity Series champion Daniel Hemric and NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett for most second-place finishes in the series without a win.
Trophy or not, it was a productive day for Creed, who started from pole position and also announced before the race that he signed a multi-year contract to drive for the new Haas Factory Team in the series next season. He was among the seven race leaders, out front for 23 laps. His rally to runner-up was even more impressive considering he spun out while leading early in the race.
“This one might have frustrated me the most out of all of them so far,” Creed said. “I had a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota GR Supra as fast as Xfinity internet today, and led the beginning, got spun there and rallied back.
“I was probably too conservative behind the 20 (Nemechek) trying to save fuel. I was a couple, few laps short on fuel there and the 7 (Allgaier) was in a little bit better spot, and once the 7 got around both of us, and the 88 (Kvapil), I know I needed to go. I probably set behind the 20 another two laps and then charged and was running the 7 down. Just had a really good car, but that caution for rain came at a bad time for us.”
NASCAR Cup Series regular Noah Gragson, Matt DiBenedetto, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship contender Taylor Gray, Caesar Bacarella and A.J. Allmendinger rounded out the top 10. It marks only the third top-10 finish of Bacarella’s career.
With five regular-season races remaining, Sammy Smith moves into 12th place in the championship standings, holding the final playoff position by a point over Ryan Sieg, who won Stage 1 and finished 13th on Saturday.
Cole Custer finished an uncharacteristic 30th place after his Ford suffered damage in a mid-race accident. The defending series champion continues to lead the regular-season championship, but his advantage has been trimmed to only 12 points over race-winner Allgaier.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series moves to Daytona International Speedway for the Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola on Friday. Allgaier is the defending race winner.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race – Cabo Wabo 250
Michigan International Speedway
1. (16) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 128.
2. (1) Sheldon Creed, Toyota, 128.
3. (10) John Hunter Nemechek(i), Toyota, 128.
4. (19) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 128.
5. (14) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 128.
6. (12) Noah Gragson(i), Ford, 128.
7. (31) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 128.
8. (3) Taylor Gray(i), Toyota, 128.
9. (25) Caesar Bacarella, Chevrolet, 128.
10. (13) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 128.
11. (22) Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 128.
12. (33) Leland Honeyman #, Chevrolet, 128.
13. (7) Ryan Sieg, Ford, 128.
14. (37) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 128.
15. (21) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 128.
16. (18) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 128.
17. (23) Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 128.
18. (20) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 128.
19. (29) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 128.
20. (26) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 128.
21. (17) Jeffrey Earnhardt(i), Toyota, 128.
22. (32) Patrick Emerling, Chevrolet, 128.
23. (30) Blaine Perkins, Ford, 128.
24. (34) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 128.
25. (35) Logan Bearden, Ford, 128.
26. (8) Carson Kvapil, Chevrolet, 128.
27. (5) Chandler Smith, Toyota, 128.
28. (27) Kyle Sieg, Ford, 127.
29. (9) Jesse Love #, Chevrolet, 127.
30. (4) Cole Custer, Ford, Suspension, 111.
31. (38) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, Fuel Pump, 101.
32. (28) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, Accident, 94.
33. (36) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, Oil Pump, 71.
34. (24) Daniel Dye(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 66.
35. (15) Lawless Alan(i), Ford, Accident, 65.
36. (6) Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, Accident, 50.
37. (11) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, Accident, 49.
38. (2) Riley Herbst, Ford, Accident, 48.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 108.743 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 21 Mins, 15 Secs. Margin of Victory: Caution Seconds.
Caution Flags: 9 for 39 laps.
Lead Changes: 10 among 7 drivers.
Lap Leaders: S. Creed 1-23;R. Herbst 24-27;J. Allgaier 28-29;R. Sieg 30-36;J. Allgaier 37-51;J. Nemechek(i) 52-61;J. Love # 62;C. Kvapil 63-64;J. Nemechek(i) 65-85;C. Kvapil 86-108;J. Allgaier 109-128.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Justin Allgaier 3 times for 37 laps; John Hunter Nemechek(i) 2 times for 31 laps; Carson Kvapil 2 times for 25 laps; Sheldon Creed 1 time for 23 laps; Ryan Sieg 1 time for 7 laps; Riley Herbst 1 time for 4 laps; Jesse Love # 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 39,9,81,7,15,21,98,28,16,48
Stage #2 Top Ten: 20,2,16,19,8,81,7,18,27,5
–By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.
