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The NASCAR Xfinity Series fired their engines today at the Michigan International Speedway for round 21 of 33 in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season. After today, we have just 5 races left until the start of the Playoffs at Kansas Speedway later on in the fall. Heading into today’s race, Sheldon Creed scored the pole with teammates Taylor Gray (No. 19) and Chandler Smith (No. 81) behind him in third and fourth. Also packing speed during qualifying were the two Stewart-Haas cars with Riley Herbst scoring the outside pole position and Xfinity Series points leader Cole Custer rolling off in fourth. Struggling in qualifying was Austin Hill who started back in the 20th position.
As for the race, who had the most speed? Who had a slow car to start but finished strong? Who had misfortunes in the Motor City? Let’s talk about all of that and more. Here’s everything that went down in the Xfinity Series race at Michigan International Speedway!
Prior to the start of the final stage, the majority of the field came down pit road with only three drivers staying out. Among the drivers who stayed out was Carson Kvapil, who assumed the lead. As the race restarted, John Hunter Nemechek retook the lead. With a lot of activity out front, the second caution for a major incident came out on Lap-67. Lawless Alan in the number 15 got loose and washed up the track. As a result, he collected Daniel Dye in the Kaulig Racing number 10 car as well as Jeb Burton. The incident ultimately ended Alan’s day.
The race restarted on Lap-72. John Hunter Nemechek rocketed out front with Carson Kvapil close behind. Nemechek led the next several laps before the 88 got a run and took the lead with 40 laps to go. As the pack calmed down for a stretch, the story started to focus on Justin Allgaier who, according to his crew chief, was one lap to the good on fuel. Meanwhile, most of the rest of the field pitted 7 laps prior, meaning that they were slated to be roughly 8 laps short of the finish. Allgaier was instructed to go full-throttle while the others entered fuel conservation mode.
Meanwhile, leader Carson Kvapil was focusing primarily on the weather in the area. He was hoping it would hit and he could sneak away with a win. At 30-laps-to-go, the rain was said to be six miles away from the track. Using lapped cars, Kvapil was able to separate himself almost three seconds from Nemechek back in 2nd.
Justin Allgaier managed to catch Nemechek and Creed with 22 laps-to-go. The 7 with his teammate Sammy Smith made several attempts to pass the JGR duo and he was finally able to overtake Creed coming to 17-laps-to-go. On the backstretch, he was able to get by the 20 to file into 2nd. Coming to 16-laps-to-go, Carson Kvapil came down pit road and Allgaier inherited the lead. Meanwhile, Sheldon Creed slipped into second and started to chase the number 7 down.
As the field took 9-laps-to-go, the caution came out as the 91 of Kyle Weatherman blew a right front tire and suffered a breath-takingly hard hit into the outside SAFER barrier. As the safety crew started to clean up the incident, reports of sprinkles started to sound off over NASCAR radio. As the field rode under caution and took 4-laps-go, the rain picked up in turned 3 and 4 and on the frontstretch.
As the field came back around, it was announced that NASCAR had decided to restart under overtime rules. Meanwhile, the fuel situation started to become very questionable as laps continued to wind down. NASCAR then made the decision to display the red flag. The cars were subsequently brought down pit road as the rain started to pick up. Jet dryers were then sent out on the track. Shortly thereafter, the sun came out, and the track was dried. Engines refired at 6:38 PM, EST. We were set for NASCAR Overtime!
When the race restarted, the outside line stalled somewhat. But Allgaier was able to power back from the outside lane, clearing the 8 of Sammy Smith and taking the lead. Allgaier put a huge distance between himself and second place Sheldon Creed. On the backstretch, there was a huge wreck forcing an immediate caution. Officially, Justin Allgaier won this race at Michigan under the yellow flag.
The caution which ended the race saw Carson Kvapil, Chandler Smith, and Kyle Sieg get together. The 28 of Sieg flipped upside down but landed on his wheels. He was able to lower the window net, indicating to safety crews that he was okay.
With this win, Justin Allgaier breaks his tie on the all-time NASCAR Xfinity Series winner’s list with Tommy Houston and JR Motorsports team owner, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Congratulations to him and the entire number 7 JRM team.
As reported by Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, the stages for today’s Cabo Wabo 250 were laid out as follows:
Teams were given 4 sets of tires and the expected fuel run was between 45 and 50 laps. With the threat of rain, we needed to get to Lap 60 for the race to be official. Drivers forced to go to the rear were Joey Gase and Ryan Ellis.
Rain plagued the racing weekend in Michigan thus far. After Cup Series qualifying was cancelled, rain continued into the scheduled start time of the race. Covered-up Xfinity cars were pushed out to the grid as blue skies broke through the clouds, providing us with hope that the race would at least get started.
FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass continued to keep us up to date as track and NASCAR officials dealt with pop-up showers.
As of 3:45 PM, weather was still in the area. As Bob Pockrass pointed out, it was impossible to predict whether or not it would hit. The start of the race was ultimately pushed back to 4 PM EST.
After the initial juking for position, the drivers of the NASCAR Xfinity Series fell into a rhythm with Sheldon Creed leading the first half of the stage. The first caution of the race occurred half-way through the stage on Lap-15. The caution saw the number 19 of Taylor Gray spin around in a single-car incident. After the caution, a handful of teams pitted, topping off on fuel.
Polesitter Sheldon Creed opted to stay out, maintaining his lead. When the race restarted, he continued to lead the line around the high side with Riley Herbst following him. Unfortunately for Creed, it was his number 18 JGR Toyota which brought out the second caution. Riley Herbst got a run with six laps to go in the stage. The 98 Ford rushed up on the 18’s bumper and it took away just enough air to send the 18 spending. Like the first caution, this was a single-car incident and Creed made no contact with the wall. As he pitted, he complained about his very loose racecar.
The race restarted with 3-laps-to-go in the stage. Riley Herbst was good on the restart but was unable to clear the number 7 of Justin Allgaier. Despite getting out of line, Herbst was able to force his way back up into the top line. After taking the white flag, Ryan Sieg dropped low and surged up to the lead, bringing Brandon Jones with him. Sieg went on to win the stage, scoring 10 points and 1 playoff point. Truck Series regular, Lawless Alan, was able to sneak his way into the top-5 by the end of the stage. Ripping through the field, coming from 20th all the way up to 6th was superspeedway ace Austin Hill.
Following the end of the stage, rain started misting at the track. NASCAR elected to bring the field down pit road to wait out the drizzle. Subsequently, NASCAR stated that in the event of a rain delay, the pre-determined time by which the race must end would be 8:20 EST.
The caution flag was once again displayed at 4:45 EST. As pit road opened, a handful of drivers elected to come down pit road. The leaders, however, all stayed out. The race restarted on Lap-37. Justin Allgaier was able to overtake Ryan Sieg for the race lead on the bottom. However, they were unable to complete a lap before Austin Hill abruptly switched lanes and got turned off the front bumper of the number 88 of Carson Kvapil. Hill spun down into the grass but was able to keep his number 21 Chevy off the wall. Minimal damage was received by the 21 of Hill.
After the race restarted, there was more juking for position. Things up front seemed to calm down as Justin Allgaier led with teammate Carson Kvapil in second. The first big one of the race happened at Lap-48 as Riley Herbst dipped out of line and suddenly shot back up without being clear of the number 39 of Sieg. Herbst went hard in a head-on impact into the wall. This incident collected the likes of Brandon Jones, Same Mayer, and Cole Custer. The two SHR cars certainly got the worst of it with the number 98 exiting the race. The other drivers, save for Sam Mayer, were able to continue.
Following the restart, John Hunter Nemechek was able to work his way up to the lead with Jesse Love and A. J. Allmendinger in tow. Nemechek was able to hold off the Dinger and Love to win the second stage.
The first big multi-car incident occurred on Lap-48 when Riley Herbst dipped out of line in an attempt to pass Ryan Sieg. After falsely being cleared by his spotter, Herbst turned hard right and went head-on into the wall in a brutal impact. Trying to avoid the carnage, Brandon Jones spun and got into his teammate Sam Mayer, which spoiled his day. Cole Custer was also collected at the tail-end of the wreck as he tagged Herbst from behind as the 98 came to rest. You can check out the big(ish) one in the clip below.
That does it for our coverage of the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Michigan International Speedway. What did you make of this crazy race, Daily Downforce readers? Let us know in the comments on all of our socials! And be sure to tune back in here tomorrow for our coverage of the Cup Series race at Michigan. You won’t want to miss it!
