Overtime Surge Propels Alfredo To Fourth At Michigan

Anthony Alfredo (7) battles eventual winner Justin Allgaier Saturday at Michigan Int'l Speedway. (Matthew Thacker/NKP photo)

BROOKLYN, Mich. – With a surge during an overtime restart, Anthony Alfredo raced to a strong fourth-place finish for Our Motorsports in Saturday’s Cabo Wabo 250 at Michigan Int’l Speedway.

After choosing the outside lane, Alfredo lined up 10th for the deciding two-lap shootout at the two-mile oval, and immediately powered up into the third lane on the far outside to begin making passes.

Following NASCAR Cup Series regular John Hunter Nemechek through the hole that opened up when Noah Gragson’s Ford wiggled and lost momentum in the middle of turns one and two, Alfredo pushed Nemechek clear on the other end of the racetrack and found himself inside the top five at the white flag.

From there, Alfredo kept his momentum up and held serve until the race-ending caution waved as the field entered turn three, when Carson Kvapil was turned into the outside wall on the backstretch and Kyle Sieg’s car subsequently caught air and went flipping on the apron.

That froze the field, giving Alfredo his best NASCAR Xfinity Series finish since his season-best mark of third from Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in April.

“Relatively speaking, you always want to be celebrating in victory lane, but for our team … we beat probably 10 cars that are spending a lot more than us. And I don’t mean a few hundred grand, I mean millions of dollars. So, [a finish like this] is a big deal for us,” noted Alfredo after the race. “Our Chevrolet Camaro was almost as fast as Xfinity internet during that race, and the team … they just do a lot with a little. They give me better race cars than they probably should be able to, and I like to think I can always finish a few spots better than I should be able to as well, so it’s always a statement to run up front.

“We had a fast car all day. We really didn’t walk into this one,” he added. “We ran in the top 10 and had a top … maybe five or six car all day. We finally got the track position on that last restart and took it home.”

Alfredo now has two top-five and six top-10 finishes in 21 races this year.

With five races remaining in the regular season, Alfredo remains 15th in the Xfinity Series playoff picture, 114 points behind 12th-place Ryan Sieg for the final berth into the postseason.

While pointing his way into championship contention is likely a long shot, Alfredo knows he has several strong opportunities to win his way into the playoffs, starting at Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway Friday night.

“We were so strong at Talladega that we know we should have a bullet coming back to Daytona, and from there it’s just a matter of staying out of trouble and being there when it counts,” Alfredo said. “A win for this team … it would be unbelievable, and we know we have all the fight necessary to do that.

“If the circumstances fall right, we feel we can still get into the playoffs, and that’s still our goal.”

Alfredo and the Xfinity Series field will return to action Friday night, Aug. 23 at Daytona Int’l Speedway with the running of the Wawa 250 powered by Coca-Cola.

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