Justin Allgaier had seven extra laps of fuel on board his No. 7 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Camaro to finish Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Michigan International Speedway.
Even though nobody ran out of fuel behind him, that extra confidence in his fuel number allowed the long-time JR Motorsports driver to drive through the pack, putting him in position to take advantage of a NASCAR Overtime restart.
Allgaier led a race-high 37 of 128 laps on Saturday, including the final 20 circuits around the two-mile speedway located in Brooklyn, Michigan, where he was able to hold off Joe Gibbs Racing driver Sheldon Creed.
The victory marks the 25th win of Allgaier’s NASCAR Xfinity Series career, two of which have come this season.
In NASCAR Overtime, the Riverton, Illinois native was able to hold the outside lane and keep JR Motorsports teammate Sammy Smith and Noah Gragson from clearing him off the second corner, giving himself and Creed a clear racetrack ahead.
The driver of the No. 18 Toyota GR Supra began to close the gap on the race leader when the caution was displayed, as Kyle Sieg went for a wild tumble on the backstretch, after contact with Chandler Smith. Several other vehicles were collected in the wreck.
Creed was credited with the 11th second-place finish of his NASCAR Xfinity Series career, allowing him to officially break the record (previously held by Dale Jarrett and Daniel Hemric) for most runner-up finishes before a driver’s first victory.
RESULTS: 2024 Cabo Wabo 250 at Michigan
Last year’s winner at Michigan, John Hunter Nemechek, came home in third place, while Our Motorsports and Anthony Alfredo had their second top-five result of the season, finishing in fourth. Sammy Smith rounded out the top five.
Noah Gragson collected a sixth-place result for Rette Jones Racing, providing the newest NASCAR Xfinity Series team with their third top-10 finish in three starts.
In seventh, Matt DiBenedetto collected his third top-10 of the season for RSS Racing and Viking Motorsports, followed by Taylor Gray in eighth, and Caesar Bacarella, a part-time driver for Alpha Prime Racing, in ninth.
AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top-10 for Kaulig Racing.
The race featured a total of nine cautions for 39 laps, with Saturday’s 250-miler taking on a superspeedway-like feel. The event also included a pair of stoppages mid-race for weather, after the event itself started late for the same reason.
Leaving Michigan, Cole Custer, despite a 30th-place finish, maintains the regular-season points lead in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, holding a 12-point advantage over Justin Allgaier. Austin Hill, Chandler Smith, and AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top five.
Next up for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is the second annual trip to Daytona International Speedway, where Austin Hill will look to defend his crown from earlier this season.
