After showing amazing pace in practice and qualifying on Friday, Joe Gibbs Racing appears to be the organization to beat in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Michigan International Speedway.
Sheldon Creed, piloting the No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota GR Supra, will lead the field to green in the Cabo Wabo 250 after posting a stunning qualifying lap of 41.917 seconds (171.645mph).
“A different package than we are used to. We ran it in Indy, and we also run it at Atlanta. It is our intermediate car, with our restrictor plate engine package. There was a lot to learn at Indy,” said Creed. “I feel like we did a really good job over our three-week break of taking what we learned in Indy to make our car better. I felt really good about practice. The car – it’s not like it takes a bunch of talent to drive it here – taped-up, qualifying run. Hats off to my guys for bringing an extremely fast race car.”
It’s the third career Xfinity Series pole for Creed, and the second of the season, the first coming on another large speedway-like racetrack of Pocono Raceway. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver will start next to Riley Herbst, winner last time out at Indianapolis.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series regular Taylor Gray will start from third, marking his third top-five start in his ninth NASCAR Xfinity Series start of the year, while also matching a career-best from earlier this season at Texas.
Defending NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Cole Custer will start fourth, and depending on the leader’s lane choice, could start directly behind teammate Herbst on the initial start,
Chandler Smith rounded out the top five, swept by a pair of NASCAR Cup Series teams in Joe Gibbs Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing.
STARTING LINEUP: 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Cabo Wabo 250
Brandon Jones, in need of a victory to lock himself into the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs, will start from sixth place, while Ryan Sieg, Carson Kvapil, Xfinity rookie Jesse Love, and NASCAR Cup Series full-timer John Hunter Nemechek completed the top-10.
Several strong Xfinity Series regulars qualified outside the top-10 for Saturday’s 250-mile contest, including Sam Mayer (11th), AJ Allmendinger (13th) Sammy Smith (14th), Justin Allgaier (16th), Austin Hill (20th), and Parker Kligerman (22nd), and Shane Van Gisbergen (23rd).
With 39 drivers entered for Saturday’s Xfinity Series event at Michigan International Speedway, one team was forced to pack up and head for home earlier, that being Morgen Baird, who was attempting to make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut in the No. 53 Ford Mustang for Joey Gase Motorsports.
