The ‘Mayo Missile’, as it was dubbed by JR Motorsports, lived up to its name.
Justin Allgaier sweated out fuel mileage, a short red flag for rain and an overtime finish to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Cabo Wabo 250 on Aug. 17 (Saturday) at Michigan International Speedway.
Allgaier’s road to his 25th-career win and second in 2024 was a complicated one. When teammate Carson Kvapil pitted for fuel with 17 laps to go, the Illinoisan inherited the lead and looked to be in a race against John Hunter Nemechek, Sheldon Creed and the rain.
A crash for Kyle Weatherman and subsequent rain shower threatened to end the race prematurely. But the track didn’t get too damp and NASCAR was able to send the field back for overtime after a brief stoppage. On the ensuing restart Allgaier gained a huge lead over Creed, who was charging for one last challenge before a crash that saw Kyle Sieg flip on the backstretch brought out a race-ending caution on the final lap.
Nemechek finished third, Anthony Alfredo took fourth and Sammy Smith rounded-out the top-five.
The Winners
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Sheldon Creed finished runner-up.
The polesitter recovered from a spin in stage one for a record-setting 11th second-place finish without a win in the Xfinity Series.
While it’s not a win, Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) clearly had one of the best team performances of the day. On top of Nemechek in third, Taylor Gray managed an eighth-place run despite a spin on lap 15. The lone JGR finisher outside the top-10 was Chandler Smith, who finished 27th after his involvement in the race-ending accident.
Sammy Smith drove through the field after a tire problem during stage one and collected his first top-five since Iowa. It came at a critical time. Smith had exited June’s Hy-Vee Perks 250 with a 31-point lead over the cutline, but that advantage over Ryan Sieg vanished over the ensuing month.
Sieg had his own issues to overcome. After being the surprise winner of stage one, his nose was damaged during a run-in with Riley Herbst, forcing him to give up track position and fight all day to pick it back up. After the dust settled, Sieg managed a 13th-place finish and kept the cutoff line within reach.
Noah Gragson and Rette Jones Racing’s No. 30 Ford continue to deliver solid results. The team has three top-10s in as many runs after a sixth-place effort at Michigan.
Matt DiBenedetto finished seventh to match…
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