A.J. Allmendinger celebrates in victory lane after winning Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Michigan International Speedway. Photo: Logan Riely/Getty Images
Standing in front of an enthusiastic Michigan International Speedway grandstands after his victory burnout, Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger paused and took in the cheering crowd – on its feet and chanting his name “A.J., A.J., A.J..”
It was the second time in the past week that Allmendinger earned a trip to NASCAR Victory Lane. On Saturday he prevailed in triple overtime to take the New Holland 250 win – the third of the season and the eighth NASCAR Xfinity Series win of his career.
He beat Joe Gibbs Racing driver Brandon Jones to the line by a mere .163-seconds and actually thanked Jones for the push on that last restart to let the two decided the trophy between themselves.
It was a high-action day on the Michigan high-banks, with Allmendinger answering his NASCAR Cup Series win at Indianapolis last week by leading a race best 70 of the 139 Xfinity Series laps on Saturday afternoon at Michigan.
“Whoa, I’m more tired from the celebrations than I am the driving,” the 39-year old Allmendinger joked after climbing out of his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet and telling the crowd, “Thank you so much, guys.”
“When you restart on the front row, the outside was the place to be. And you also have to just hope you got a push and Brandon Jones, thank you so much. He pushed me every time.
“I don’t want to wake up from this dream,” Allmendinger added.
And while it may have been dream-like for Allmendinger, the outcome was definitely not that for several of the series’ other normal frontrunners.
The bottom of the scoreboard read like the top normally would. Championship points leader and five-race winner Austin Cindric, Daniel Hemric, Justin Haley and Myatt Snider were all involved in a lap 36 seven-car incident. Brandon Brown, who went into the race ranked 14th, hoping to point his way into the Playoffs during the final four regular season races was also involved.
Cindric, who won the opening Stage, Hemric, Snider and Brown were unable to finish the race. And Haley, who is Allmendinger’s Kaulig Racing teammate, was able to continue and salvage a 17th-place finish.
“We just got collected in a wreck by the cars that decided to stay out,” Cindric said. “I thought we had the fastest car out there today. In some ways I feel like that is a bold statement coming from me, but our guys did an amazing job on this Ford Mustang and I wish we could have contended for the rest of the race because I think we would have had a shot.”
Ty Gibbs, a two-race winner even though he is only competing part-time in 2021, made a solid run for another trophy, but spun out while running top 10 in the second overtime. He said on Twitter following the race, “Looks like I ran out a talent.”
JR Motorsports drivers Noah Gragson and Josh Berry – who drove the No. 1 Chevrolet for injured Michael Annett – finished third and fourth with Berry leading an impressive 24 laps and keeping Allmendinger honest in the closing laps. Harrison Burton finished in fifth.
Justin Allgaier, Riley Herbst, Brett Moffitt, rookie Jade Buford and NASCAR Cup Series regular Bubba Wallace rounded out the top 10.
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Michigan International Speedway – Brooklyn, MI
New Holland 250 – August 21, 2021
1. (2) A.J. Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 139.
2. (24) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 139.
3. (4) Noah Gragson, Chevrolet, 139.
4. (17) Josh Berry #, Chevrolet, 139.
5. (6) Harrison Burton, Toyota, 139.
6. (5) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 139.
7. (8) Riley Herbst, Ford, 139.
8. (20) Brett Moffitt, Chevrolet, 139.
9. (19) Jade Buford #, Chevrolet, 139.
10. (36) Bubba Wallace(i), Toyota, 139.
11. (11) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 139.
12. (23) Ryan Sieg, Ford, 139.
13. (10) Ty Gibbs #, Toyota, 139.
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15. (31) Jordan Anderson(i), Chevrolet, 138.
16. (22) Tyler Reddick(i), Chevrolet, 138.
17. (3) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 138.
18. (14) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 138.
19. (18) Tommy Joe Martins, Chevrolet, 138.
20. (29) Colin Garrett, Toyota, 138.
21. (35) Ryan Vargas #, Chevrolet, 138.
22. (37) David Starr, Toyota, 137.
23. (30) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 137.
24. (21) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, 137.
25. (38) Colby Howard, Chevrolet, 137.
26. (15) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 137.
27. (40) Gray Gaulding, Chevrolet, 137.
28. (28) Carson Ware, Chevrolet, 136.
29. (12) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 135.
30. (26) Mason Massey, Toyota, Accident, 125.
31. (13) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 123.
32. (33) Jesse Little, Toyota, Accident, 120.
33. (16) Sam Mayer #, Chevrolet, 114.
34. (39) Bayley Currey(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 103.
35. (34) Caesar Bacarella, Chevrolet, DVP, 45.
36. (9) Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, DVP, 45.
37. (1) Austin Cindric, Ford, DVP, 41.
38. (32) Joe Graf, Jr., Chevrolet, DVP, 37.
39. (7) Daniel Hemric, Toyota, Accident, 36.
40. (25) Brandon Brown, Chevrolet, Accident, 35.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 115.619 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 24 Mins, 16 Secs. Margin of Victory: .163 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 9 for 43 laps.
Lead Changes: 13 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders: A. Allmendinger 1-20;A. Cindric 21-32;J. Burton 33-53;A. Allmendinger 54-62;T. Gibbs # 63;A. Allmendinger 64-86;J. Allgaier 87;J. Berry # 88-107;J. Allgaier 108-110;J. Burton 111-112;J. Allgaier 113-117;J. Berry # 118-121;A. Allmendinger 122-139.
Leaders Summary: (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led) A.J. Allmendinger 4 times for 70 laps; Josh Berry # 2 times for 24 laps; Jeb Burton 2 times for 23 laps; Austin Cindric 1 time for 12 laps; Justin Allgaier 3 times for 9 laps; Ty Gibbs # 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 22,54,16,2,9,18,20,19,1,11
Stage #2 Top Ten: 16,54,20,7,10,9,19,1,02,98
Playoff Standings: 1. Austin Cindric – 907 (5 Wins) (Points Leader); 2. A.J. Allmendinger – 872 (3 Wins); 3. Justin Allgaier – 757 (2 Wins); 4. Jeb Burton – 665 (1 Win); 5. Myatt Snider – 486 (1 Win); 6. Daniel Hemric – 743; 7. Harrison Burton – 726; 8. Justin Haley – 684; 9. Noah Gragson – 674; 10. Brandon Jones – 566; 11. Jeremy Clements – 545; 12. Riley Herbst – 520.
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