Allgaier Outlasts Xfinity Field For Michigan Score

BROOKLYN, Mich. – He had to wait through a late rain delay and survive a frantic overtime restart, but Justin Allgaier finally captured a long-awaited NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Michigan Int’l Speedway Saturday evening.

Driving a No. 7 Hellmann’s/Meijer Chevrolet Camaro that his team affectionately nicknamed the “Mayo Missile,” Allgaier led early, often, and when it counted at the two-mile oval in the Irish Hills.

The Riverton, Ill., native was out front three times for a race-high 37 laps en route to victory lane, including the final 20 laps after then-leader Carson Kvapil peeled off the racetrack for fuel late in the going.

From there Allgaier held off two furious attacks by Sheldon Creed, including a final-lap surge before a race-ending caution flag, to capture his 25th Xfinity Series victory and second of the season.

In his 17-year career, dating back to 2008, Michigan marks the 18th different track Allgaier has won at in the Xfinity Series. He’d finished in the top nine seven times at MIS, including a runner-up effort in 2022, prior to Saturday’s breakthrough.

“Just cannot say thank you enough to this team and all these guys standing right here,” said Allgaier, who broke a tie with his boss – Dale Earnhardt Jr. – and Tommy Houston for 10th on the all-time win list.

“It’s been an incredible week. We did not show up at [the last race in] Indianapolis like we wanted to, and these guys worked tirelessly through this break to make us better,” he added. “It’s truly special, winning at Michigan.”

Despite a brief 10-minute weather delay after the end of stage one, the differing strategies didn’t truly form until the second half of the race, with most cars pitting at lap 62 during the second stage break.

Allgaier, however, made his last stop for fuel on lap 70 during the seventh of nine yellow flags – after Lawless Alan got loose in turn two and washed up the track, collecting Jeb Burton and Daniel Dye.

The eight extra laps of fuel Allgaier had onboard allowed him to be aggressive during the final long run of the day, slowly and methodically picking off one car after another in his march to the front.

Ahead of Allgaier, Kvapil – who had no chance of reaching the finish on an economy run – passed John Hunter Nemechek for the race lead with 40 to go in regulation, hoping a rain shower that was bearing down on the Brooklyn area would reach the racetrack before his gas tank ran dry.

Unfortunately, that plan didn’t pan out for the second-generation driver, and Kvapil pitted on lap 109.

That put Allgaier out front to stay, though a hard hit to the outside wall by Kyle Weatherman after a cut right-front tire generated a late slowdown and nervous moments inside of 10 to go.

The rain Kvapil had been hoping for finally arrived under that yellow, forcing a second red flag with two laps left in regulation, but a quick drying effort by NASCAR officials meant that cars were rolling again for an overtime attempt after just 14 minutes of down time.

Allgaier and Creed lined up nose-to-tail in the outside lane for the final green flag, with Noah Gragson pushing Sammy Smith down low in a mad scramble to turn one.

The top groove ultimately prevailed, with Allgaier and Creed shooting out into the top two positions and Creed’s teammate – John Hunter Nemechek – working his way to third at the white flag.

Allgaier had a half-second gap over Creed at that point, with the latter hoping to use a big push from behind by Nemechek to run up on Allgaier and slingshot past in turns three and four for the win.

A three-car crash down the backstretch, however, that resulted in Kyle Sieg’s car flipping toward the entrance of turn three forced a caution-flag conclusion on the final lap.

It froze the field and left Creed with the dubious distinction of a record-setting 11th career runner-up finish without a victory, breaking the tie he’d shared with Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett and Daniel Hemric.

“This one might have frustrated me the most out of all of them so far," Creed said afterward.

Nemechek crossed third ahead of Our Motorsports’ Anthony Alfredo, who deftly charged through traffic in overtime for a strong fourth-place finish.

Smith completed the top five, followed by NASCAR Cup Series regular Noah Gragson, Matt DiBenedetto, Taylor Gray, Caesar Bacarella, and A.J. Allmendinger.

It marked just the third career top-10 finish for Bacarella, one of the co-owners of Alpha Prime Racing.

Smith’s effort helped him hang onto a slim one-point margin over Ryan Sieg, the stage-one winner Saturday, in the battle for the 12th and final playoff berth. Five races remain in the regular season.

Defending series champion Cole Custer finished 30th, with significant damage aboard his No. 00 Ford Mustang, after being involved in a lap-49 accident that ended the day for both Riley Herbst and Sam Mayer.

Herbst was going for position down the backstretch and cut to the top lane across Sieg’s front bumper, turning himself into the outside wall and sparking a multi-car crash entering turn three.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series season continues Friday night, Aug. 23 with the Wawa 250 powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway.

Broadcast coverage of the event is slated for 7:30 p.m. ET, live on USA, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.