July 20, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Xfinity Series driver Justin Allgaier (7) during the Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Mandatory credit: Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports Justin Allgaier used his pit strategy and JR Motorsports Chevrolet No. out, ending the race for a crash in the middle of the 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 every car to claim the final lead. He took the white flag, signaling one lap to go, and moments later, one of the late race leaders Carson Kvapil hit the wall which became a chain reaction accident involving Chandler Smith and Kyle Sieg, whose car stopped – over-end. Sieg quickly got out of the car and walked over to the waiting medical crew.
Allgaier, meanwhile, took the yellow and checkered flags ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Sheldon Creed, JGR’s John Hunter Nemechek, Our Motorsports’ Anthony Alfredo and JR Motorsports’ Sammy Smith.
It was the sixth straight top 10 for the 38-year-old Allgaier, whose win — the 25th of his career — is now 10th on the NASCAR Xfinity Series victory list, ahead of the team owner. , NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr.
A bright rainbow was in the sky as the field sat on pit road before overtime restarted as NASCAR track workers dried out Michigan’s famous two-mile track after a second brief rain shower of the day.
Asked to regroup, Allgaier proved his mettle, eventually passing teammate Sammy Smith on the restart and then holding off two JGR teammates Creed and defending race champion Nemechek for his second win of the season.
“I just can’t thank you enough for this team and everyone that’s standing here,” Allgaier said. “It’s been an incredible week. We didn’t show up in (the last race at) Indianapolis like we wanted, and these guys have been working hard this break.
“It was really special, winning in 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 the second-most finishes in the series without a win.
Cup or not, it was a productive day for Creed, who started from pole position and also announced before the race that he had 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, at the front for 23 laps. The rally for the runner-up is even more impressive considering he spun out while leading at the beginning of the race.
“That’s probably been the most frustrating thing of all,” Creed said. “I had a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota GR Supra as fast as the Xfinity internet today, and led at the start, spun there and rallied again.
“I was probably conservative behind 20 (Nemechek) trying to save fuel. I was a couple, a few laps less fuel there and 7 (Allgaier) was in a better place, and if 7 had gone around both sides. us, and 88 (Kvapil), I know I have to go I probably set behind 20 more two laps and then power and walk 7 down, but be careful for the rain comes at a bad time for us.”
NASCAR Cup Series regulars Noah Gragson, Matt DiBenedetto, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship contender Taylor Gray, Caesar Bacarella and AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top 10. It marked only the third top-10 finish of Bacarella’s career.
With five races remaining in the regular season, Sammy Smith moved into 12th in the championship standings, holding the final playoff position by points 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 crash. The defending series champion continued to lead the regular season championship, but his advantage was cut to just 12 points over race champion Allgaier.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series moves to Daytona International Speedway for the Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola on Saturday. Allgaier is the defending race champion.
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 Race Champion Speed: 108.743 mph.
Race Time: 2 Hours, 21 Minutes, 15 Seconds. Margin of Victory: Beware of Seconds.
Caution Flag: 9 to 39 laps.
Lead Changes: 10 among 7 drivers.
Lap Leader: S. Creed 1-23;R. Herbs 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.
Summary Leaders (Drivers, 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. Specially for Field Level Media.
