August 17, 2024 | By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

Justin Allgaier wins overtime Xfinity Series race at Michigan

BROOKLYN, Mich. — 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.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series moves to the famed Daytona International Speedway for Friday’s Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola (7:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Allgaier is the defending race winner.


NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 21
Race Results for the Cabo Wabo 250 - Saturday, August 17, 2024
Michigan International Speedway - Brooklyn, MI - 2. - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 128 Laps - 256. Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 8/17/2024 @ 07:12 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 16 7 Justin Allgaier Hellmann's/Meijer Chevrolet 128 4 7 51 Running 3 37 5
2 1 18 Sheldon Creed Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota 128  8 38 Running 1 23
3 10 20 John Hunter Nemechek(i) Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota 128  1 0 Running 2 31
4 19 5 Anthony Alfredo Chevy Accessories Chevrolet 128  10 34 Running  
5 14 8 Sammy Smith Allstate Peterbilt Group Chevrolet 128  5 38 Running  
6 12 30 Noah Gragson(i) Ford Performance Ford 128   0 Running  
7 31 38 Matt DiBenedetto Sci Aps Ford 128   30 Running  
8 3 19 Taylor Gray(i) Operation 300 Toyota 128  4 0 Running  
9 25 45 Caesar Bacarella Alpha Prime Brownie Bites Chevrolet 128   28 Running  
10 13 16 AJ Allmendinger Campers Inn RV Chevrolet 128 9 3 37 Running  
11 22 48 Parker Kligerman Spiked Lite Tropical Coolers Chevrolet 128 10  27 Running  
12 33 42 Leland Honeyman # RANDCO Industries Chevrolet 128   25 Running  
13 7 39 Ryan Sieg Sci Aps Ford 128 1  34 Running 1 7 1
14 37 43 Ryan Ellis ABC Warehouse/Icon LLC Chevrolet 128   23 Running  
15 21 51 Jeremy Clements Wings Etc Grill & Pub Chevrolet 128   22 Running  
16 18 27 Jeb Burton Rocky Boots Chevrolet 128  9 23 Running  
17 23 97 Shane Van Gisbergen # Safety Culture Chevrolet 128   20 Running  
18 20 21 Austin Hill United Rentals Chevrolet 128 6  24 Running  
19 29 11 Josh Williams Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet 128   18 Running  
20 26 31 Parker Retzlaff FUNKAWAY Chevrolet 128   17 Running  
21 17 26 Jeffrey Earnhardt(i) Synergy Modular Toyota 128   0 Running  
22 32 07 Patrick Emerling Legacy Sensors Chevrolet 128   15 Running  
23 30 29 Blaine Perkins AutoParkit.com Ford 128   14 Running  
24 34 92 Josh Bilicki Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet 128   13 Running  
25 35 14 Logan Bearden TRISTAR Ford 128   12 Running  
26 8 88 Carson Kvapil Clarience Technologies Chevrolet 128   11 Running 2 25
27 5 81 Chandler Smith QuickTie Toyota 128 3 6 23 Running  
28 27 28 Kyle Sieg Bailey Excavating Ford 127 8  12 Running  
29 9 2 Jesse Love # Whelen Chevrolet 127  2 17 Running 1 1
30 4 00 Cole Custer Autodesk/Haas Automation Ford 111   7 Suspension  
31 38 35 Joey Gase Bumper That Deliver Chevrolet 101   6 Fuel Pump  
32 28 91 Kyle Weatherman DriveSmartWarranty.com Chevrolet 94   5 Accident  
33 36 44 Brennan Poole Yxngxr1 Chevrolet 71   4 Oil Pump  
34 24 10 Daniel Dye(i) Race to Stop Suicide Chevrolet 66   0 Accident  
35 15 15 Lawless Alan(i) AutoChargit.com Ford 65 5  0 Accident  
36 6 9 Brandon Jones Menards/Nibco Chevrolet 50 2  10 Accident  
37 11 1 Sam Mayer 10X Health Chevrolet 49   1 Accident  
38 2 98 Riley Herbst Monster Energy Ford 48 7  5 Accident 1 4

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 21 Mins, 15 Secs. Average Speed: 108.743 MPH Margin of Victory: Under Caution

Stage 1 Top 10: 39, 9, 81, 7, 15, 21, 98, 28, 16, 48
Stage 2 Top 10: 20, 2, 16, 19, 8, 81, 7, 18, 27, 5

Caution Flags: 9 for 39 laps; Laps: 16-18 (#19 Spin Turn 2 [None]); 25-27 (#18 Spin Turn 4 [8]); 32-36 (Stage 1 Conclusion / Weather (Red Flag: 00:09:41) [None]); 38-41 (#21, 88 Incident Turn 3 [None]); 50-54 (#9, 00, 98, 1, 39 Incident Turn 3 [None]); 62-64 (Stage 2 Conclusion [None]); 67-71 (#10, 15, 27 Incident Turn 2 [None]); 117-126 (Weather (Red Flag: 00:14:10) [97]); 128-128 (#81, 28, 88 Incident Backstretch [None]).

Lead Changes: 10 among 7 drivers; 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.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: August 23, 2024 - Daytona International Speedway

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