Pit Stops : Michigan International Speedway

• Wednesday, August 14th, 2024
• NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain

NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to action after three-week break

After an extra off-week, the NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to competition this weekend at Michigan in Saturday’s Cabo Wabo 250 (3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

It’s been a good stretch for the Stewart-Haas Racing duo of championship points leader Cole Custer, who won at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway and his teammate Riley Herbst, who won at Indianapolis – the last two races before the break.

Custer’s victory and a season of solid finishes has separated him among the top four in regular season championship contention. He holds a 56-point edge over JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier, an 87-point advantage over Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill and a 100-point gap over Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chandler Smith – the top of the standings offering a diverse representation of teams.

Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger is the only current Xfinity Series championship contender with a win at the two-mile Michigan track – claiming the 2021 trophy by a slight .163-second over Brandon Jones – then with JGR now with JR Motorsports. Allmendinger has that victory and a seventh-place finish in his two Xfinity Series starts at the track. He’s yet to win a race in 2024 but is the highest-ranked driver (ninth) without a victory.

Eight drivers have earned race victories to clinch a position in the 12-driver Playoffs with six races still remaining in the regular season. New Zealander Shane Van Gisbergen leads the Playoff standings – the Kaulig Racing driver boasting a series best three wins. Hill, Chandler Smith and JR Motorsports Sam Mayer have a pair of wins. Custer, Allgaier, Herbst and rookie Jesse Love round out the list of winners.

Allmendinger, Sheldon Creed, Parker Kligerman and Ryan Sieg currently hold the final Playoff positions based on points. Sieg is only three-points up on Sammy Smith, however, for that final transfer position with Brandon Jones next, 69 points below the cutoff.

Defending race winner John Hunter Nemechek is entered this week, driving the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. Daniel Dye, who just qualified for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs last weekend, will drive the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet. And young standout Carson Kvapil will be in the JR Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet.

• Cabo Wabo 250
• Pole Winner: Sheldon Creed
• Age: 26
• Team : No 18 - Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota
• Owner: Joe Gibbs
• Crew Chief: Samuel McAulay
• Sheldon Creed won the Pole Award for the Cabo Wabo 250 with a lap of 41947 seconds, 171645 mph
• This is his third pole in 91 NASCAR Xfinity Series races
• This is his second pole and 15th top-10 start in 2024
• This is his first pole in three races at Michigan International Speedway
• Riley Herbst (second) posted his 11th top-10 start of 2024 and his third in five races at Michigan International Speedway
• Taylor Gray (third) posted his first top-10 start at Michigan International Speedway It is his fourth in nine races this season
• Jesse Love (ninth) was the fastest qualifying rookie

• Saturday, August 17th, 2024
• NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain

Justin Allgaier wins overtime Xfinity Series race at Michigan

Justin Allgaier used pit strategy and a fast No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet to take the lead of Saturday’s Cabo Wabo 250 at Michigan International Speedway with 16 laps of regulation remaining 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 pit for fuel seven laps later than the next six front-runners at the time, returned to the track and ultimately – methodically – picked each car off 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 melee involving Chandler Smith and Kyle Sieg, whose car flipped end-over-end. Sieg was able to quickly climb 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 in as many races 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 hung 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 and his rally to runner-up that 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 (John Hunter Nemechek) trying to save fuel. I was a couple, few laps short on fuel there and the 7 (Justin Allgaier) was in a little bit better spot, and once the 7 got around both of us, and the 88 (Carson 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 of Bacarella’s career.

With five regular season races remaining, Sammy Smith moves into the 12th place in the championship standings holding the final Playoff position by a single 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 now to only 12 points over race winner Allgaier.

• Drivers Entered: 39 (1 drivers will not make the race)
• Laps Scheduled: 125
• Laps Actual: 128 - NASCAR OVERTIME!
• Margin of Victory: Under Caution Seconds
• Time of Race: 2 Hours 21 Minutes 15 Seconds
• Average Speed: 108.743
• Cautions: 9 for 39 laps
• Lead Changes: 10
• Green Flag Passes: 2,121 (23.8 passes per green flag lap)

• Cabo Wabo 250
• Race Winner: Justin Allgaier
• Age: 38
• Team : No 7 - Hellmann's/Meijer Chevrolet
• Owner: Kelley Earnhardt-Miller
• Crew Chief: James Pohlman
• Justin Allgaier won the Cabo Wabo 250, his 25th victory in 459 Xfinity Series races
• This is his second victory and 13th top-10 finish in 2024
• This is his first victory and eighth top-10 finish in 13 races at Michigan International Speedway
• Sheldon Creed (second) posted his first top-10 finish in three races at Michigan International Speedway It is his 13th top-10 finish in 2024
• John Hunter Nemechek (third) posted his third top-10 finish in five races at Michigan International Speedway
• Leland Honeyman (12th) was the highest finishing rookie
• Cole Custer leads the point standings by 12 points over Justin Allgaier