XFINITY Series Michigan International Speedway

NASCAR XFINITY Series

Qualifying Results

Cabo Wabo 250

Saturday, August 17th, 2024

Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, MI

  • 25 Chevrolet
  • 9 Ford
  • 5 Toyota

  • Wednesday, August 14th, 2024
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to action after three-week break

After an extra off-week, the NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to competition this weekend at Michigan in Saturday’s Cabo Wabo 250 (3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

It’s been a good stretch for the Stewart-Haas Racing duo of championship points leader Cole Custer, who won at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway and his teammate Riley Herbst, who won at Indianapolis – the last two races before the break.

Custer’s victory and a season of solid finishes has separated him among the top four in regular season championship contention. He holds a 56-point edge over JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier, an 87-point advantage over Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill and a 100-point gap over Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chandler Smith – the top of the standings offering a diverse representation of teams.

Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger is the only current Xfinity Series championship contender with a win at the two-mile Michigan track – claiming the 2021 trophy by a slight .163-second over Brandon Jones – then with JGR now with JR Motorsports. Allmendinger has that victory and a seventh-place finish in his two Xfinity Series starts at the track. He’s yet to win a race in 2024 but is the highest-ranked driver (ninth) without a victory.

Eight drivers have earned race victories to clinch a position in the 12-driver Playoffs with six races still remaining in the regular season. New Zealander Shane Van Gisbergen leads the Playoff standings – the Kaulig Racing driver boasting a series best three wins. Hill, Chandler Smith and JR Motorsports Sam Mayer have a pair of wins. Custer, Allgaier, Herbst and rookie Jesse Love round out the list of winners.

Allmendinger, Sheldon Creed, Parker Kligerman and Ryan Sieg currently hold the final Playoff positions based on points. Sieg is only three-points up on Sammy Smith, however, for that final transfer position with Brandon Jones next, 69 points below the cutoff.

Defending race winner John Hunter Nemechek is entered this week, driving the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. Daniel Dye, who just qualified for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs last weekend, will drive the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet. And young standout Carson Kvapil will be in the JR Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet.

  • Cabo Wabo 250
  • Pole Winner: Sheldon Creed
  • Age: 26
  • Team : No 18 - Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota
  • Owner: Joe Gibbs
  • Crew Chief: Samuel McAulay
  • Sheldon Creed won the Pole Award for the Cabo Wabo 250 with a lap of 41947 seconds, 171645 mph
  • This is his third pole in 91 NASCAR Xfinity Series races
  • This is his second pole and 15th top-10 start in 2024
  • This is his first pole in three races at Michigan International Speedway
  • Riley Herbst (second) posted his 11th top-10 start of 2024 and his third in five races at Michigan International Speedway
  • Taylor Gray (third) posted his first top-10 start at Michigan International Speedway It is his fourth in nine races this season
  • Jesse Love (ninth) was the fastest qualifying rookie

  • Saturday, August 17th, 2024
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
Justin Allgaier wins overtime Xfinity Series race at Michigan

Justin Allgaier used pit strategy and a fast No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet to take the lead of Saturday’s Cabo Wabo 250 at Michigan International Speedway with 16 laps of regulation remaining and then held off the field in two laps of overtime – before a caution came out ending the race for an accident mid-field.

Allgaier pit for fuel seven laps later than the next six front-runners at the time, returned to the track and ultimately – methodically – picked each car off to claim the late lead. He took the white flag signaling one lap remaining and a few moments later one of the late-race leaders Carson Kvapil hit the wall in what became a chain reaction melee involving Chandler Smith and Kyle Sieg, whose car flipped end-over-end. Sieg was able to quickly climb out of his car and walked to the waiting medical crew.

Meanwhile Allgaier took the yellow and checkered flags just ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Sheldon Creed, JGR’s John Hunter Nemechek, Our Motorsports’ Anthony Alfredo and JR Motorsports’ Sammy Smith.

It’s the sixth consecutive top-10 finish in as many races for the 38-year-old Allgaier, who with the win – the 25th of his career – is now 10th on the NASCAR Xfinity Series all-time win list moving ahead of his team owner, NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr.

A bright rainbow hung in the sky as the field sat on pit road just before the overtime re-start as NASCAR track workers dried the famed two-mile Michigan track after the second brief rain shower of the day.

Asked to rally again, Allgaier proved his muster, ultimately passing his teammate Sammy Smith on the re-start and then holding off both JGR teammates Creed and defending race winner Nemechek for his second victory of the season.

“Just cannot say thank you enough to this team and all these guys standing right here,” Allgaier said. “It’s been an incredible week. We did not show up at [the last race in] Indianapolis like we wanted to and these guys have worked tirelessly through this break.

“It’s truly special, winning at Michigan.”

It was a record 11th runner-up finish for Creed – breaking a tie with current NASCAR Cup Series driver and former Xfinity Series champion Daniel Hemric and NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett for most second-place finishes in the series without a win.

Trophy or not, it was a productive day for Creed, who started from pole position and also announced before the race that he signed a multi-year contract to drive for the new Haas Factory Team in the series next season. He was among the seven race leaders, out front for 23 laps and his rally to runner-up that more impressive considering he spun out while leading early in the race.

“This one might have frustrated me the most out of all of them so far,” Creed said. “I had a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota GR Supra as fast as Xfinity internet today, and led the beginning, got spun there and rallied back.

“I was probably too conservative behind the 20 (John Hunter Nemechek) trying to save fuel. I was a couple, few laps short on fuel there and the 7 (Justin Allgaier) was in a little bit better spot, and once the 7 got around both of us, and the 88 (Carson Kvapil), I know I needed to go. I probably set behind the 20 another two laps and then charged and was running the 7 down. Just had a really good car, but that caution for rain came at a bad time for us.”

NASCAR Cup Series regular Noah Gragson, Matt DiBenedetto, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship contender Taylor Gray, Caesar Bacarella and A.J. Allmendinger rounded out the top-10. It marks only the third top-10 of Bacarella’s career.

With five regular season races remaining, Sammy Smith moves into the 12th place in the championship standings holding the final Playoff position by a single point over Ryan Sieg, who won Stage 1 and finished 13th on Saturday.

Cole Custer finished an uncharacteristic 30th-place after his Ford suffered damage in a mid-race accident. The defending series champion continues to lead the regular season championship, but his advantage has been trimmed now to only 12 points over race winner Allgaier.

  • Drivers Entered: 39 (1 drivers will not make the race)
  • Laps Scheduled: 125
  • Laps Actual: 128 - NASCAR OVERTIME!
  • Margin of Victory: Under Caution Seconds
  • Time of Race: 2 Hours 21 Minutes 15 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 108.743
  • Cautions: 9 for 39 laps
  • Lead Changes: 10
  • Green Flag Passes: 2,121 (23.8 passes per green flag lap)

  • Cabo Wabo 250
  • Race Winner: Justin Allgaier
  • Age: 38
  • Team : No 7 - Hellmann's/Meijer Chevrolet
  • Owner: Kelley Earnhardt-Miller
  • Crew Chief: James Pohlman
  • Justin Allgaier won the Cabo Wabo 250, his 25th victory in 459 Xfinity Series races
  • This is his second victory and 13th top-10 finish in 2024
  • This is his first victory and eighth top-10 finish in 13 races at Michigan International Speedway
  • Sheldon Creed (second) posted his first top-10 finish in three races at Michigan International Speedway It is his 13th top-10 finish in 2024
  • John Hunter Nemechek (third) posted his third top-10 finish in five races at Michigan International Speedway
  • Leland Honeyman (12th) was the highest finishing rookie
  • Cole Custer leads the point standings by 12 points over Justin Allgaier
Cole Custer celebrates in victory lane
Avondale, Arizona - November 4, 2023 : Cole Custer, driver of the #00 Haas Automation Ford, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway.
Jared C TiltonGetty Images
Cabo Wabo 250 at Michigan International Speedway Qualifying results
GRP RNK # DRIVER TEAM MAKE TME SPD LAP # # LAPS BHND
1 1 18 Sheldon Creed Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 41.947 171.645 1 1 0.000
1 2 98 Riley Herbst Stewart Haas Racing Ford 42.048 171.233 1 1 0.101
1 3 19 Taylor Gray Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 42.067 171.156 1 1 0.120
1 4 00 Cole Custer Stewart Haas Racing Ford 42.076 171.119 1 1 0.129
1 5 81 Chandler Smith Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 42.230 170.495 1 1 0.283
1 6 9 Brandon Jones JR Motorsports Chevrolet 42.251 170.410 1 1 0.304
1 7 39 Ryan Sieg RSS Racing Ford 42.324 170.116 1 1 0.377
1 8 88 Carson Kvapil JR Motorsports Chevrolet 42.336 170.068 1 1 0.389
1 9 2 Jesse Love Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 42.355 169.992 1 1 0.408
1 10 20 John Hunter Nemechek Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 42.359 169.976 1 1 0.412
1 11 1 Sam Mayer JR Motorsports Chevrolet 42.406 169.787 1 1 0.459
1 12 30 Noah Gragson Rette Jones Racing Ford 42.451 169.607 1 1 0.504
1 13 16 AJ Allmendinger Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 42.501 169.408 1 1 0.554
1 14 8 Sammy Smith JR Motorsports Chevrolet 42.530 169.292 1 1 0.583
1 15 15 Lawless Alan AM Racing Ford 42.532 169.284 1 1 0.585
1 16 7 Justin Allgaier JR Motorsports Chevrolet 42.537 169.264 1 1 0.590
1 17 26 Jeffrey Earnhardt Sam Hunt Racing Toyota 42.545 169.233 1 1 0.598
1 18 27 Jeb Burton Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet 42.564 169.157 1 1 0.617
1 19 5 Anthony Alfredo Our Motorsports Chevrolet 42.580 169.093 1 1 0.633
1 20 21 Austin Hill Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 42.586 169.070 1 1 0.639
1 21 51 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet 42.665 168.757 1 1 0.718
1 22 48 Parker Kligerman Big Machine Racing Chevrolet 42.668 168.745 1 1 0.721
1 23 97 Shane van Gisbergen Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 42.672 168.729 1 1 0.725
1 24 10 Daniel Dye Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 42.706 168.595 1 1 0.759
1 25 45 Caesar Bacarella Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet 42.818 168.154 1 1 0.871
1 26 31 Parker Retzlaff Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet 42.866 167.965 1 1 0.919
1 27 28 Kyle Sieg RSS Racing Ford 42.938 167.684 1 1 0.991
1 28 91 Kyle Weatherman DGM Racing Chevrolet 42.939 167.680 1 1 0.992
1 29 11 Josh Williams Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 42.993 167.469 1 1 1.046
1 30 29 Blaine Perkins RSS Racing Ford 42.997 167.454 1 1 1.050
1 31 38 Matt DiBenedetto RSS Racing Ford 43.112 167.007 1 1 1.165
1 32 07 Patrick Emerling SS-Green Light Racing Chevrolet 43.156 166.837 1 1 1.209
1 33 42 Leland Honeyman Jr Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 43.164 166.806 1 1 1.217
1 34 92 Josh Bilicki DGM Racing Chevrolet 43.217 166.601 1 1 1.270
1 35 14 Logan Bearden SS-Green Light Racing Ford 43.250 166.474 1 1 1.303
1 36 44 Brennan Poole Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet 43.274 166.382 1 1 1.327
1 37 43 Ryan Ellis Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet 43.335 166.147 1 1 1.388
1 38 35 Joey Gase Joey Gase Motorsports Chevrolet 43.349 166.094 1 1 1.402
1 39 53 Morgen Baird Joey Gase Motorsports Chevrolet 43.288 166.328 1 1 1.341