With just 16 laps until the checkered flag was set to be displayed, Justin Allgaier drove to the front of the pack, using a bit of fuel strategy and a fast No. 7 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Camaro to put himself in contention for the victory.

Pitting for the final time on the 68th lap of Saturday’s Cabo Wabo 250 at Michigan International Speedway, seven laps later than the race leaders, the Riverton, Illinois-native was able to avoid saving fuel to slice through the pack and compete for the victory.

While the NASCAR-dictated finish of Saturday’s event was after Lap 125, nobody actually knew when the event would conclude, with precipitation headed directly for the two-mile speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. With eight laps remaining, that rain reached Michigan International Speedway.

Not only did the sanctioning body get the complete 125-lap distance in, but the event went into NASCAR Overtime, after a 14-minute red flag to get the racetrack properly prepared for a two-lap shootout to the finish.

On the final restart, Allgaier had the benefit of a teammate starting on the inside lane, quickly getting his Hellmann’s-sponsored machine clear of the inside lane by the exit of the second corner, allowing himself to scoot away from the pack.

Polesitter Sheldon Creed attempted to make a charge on Allgaier during the race’s final lap, but was unable to get within striking distance, with his opportunities further cut short by a dramatic last-lap crash which saw Kyle Sieg go upside-down on the backstretch.

Creed, driving the No. 18 Toyota GR Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing, had a strong race car on Saturday, leading the opening 23 laps from the pole, before getting spun around by Riley Herbst. The Alpine, California-native would drive through the pack to finish runner-up.

It’s the 11th runner-up finish for Creed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, which sets a new record for the most second-place finishes for a driver before scoring their first career victory. It’s his fourth of the season, with others coming at Daytona, Loudon, and Sonoma.

NASCAR Cup Series regular John Hunter Nemechek brought home a third-place finish, after leading 31 laps early in the going. Nemechek was contesting his final of 10 Xfinity Series starts for Joe Gibbs Racing this season in the No. 20 Toyota GR Supra.

In fourth, Anthony Alfredo brought home a second top-five result this season for low-budget team Our Motorsports. JR Motorsports driver Sammy Smith rounded out the top five, which propelled him inside the post-season cutline by a single point over Ryan Sieg.

Noah Gragson, also a NASCAR Cup Series regular, brought Rette Jones Racing home in sixth-place, collecting the organization’s third top-10 finish in three NASCAR Xfinity Series starts. Matt DiBenedetto, in seventh-place, matched a career-best finish in the second-tier series.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series regular Taylor Gray was eighth, with Alpha Prime Racing co-owner Caesar Bacarella recording his third top-10 result in his last four starts with a ninth-place run. AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top-10 for Kaulig Racing.

Leaving Michigan, the NASCAR Xfinity Series has its defending champion Cole Custer leading the regular-season point standings by 12 markers over Saturday’s winner Justin Allgaier. Austin Hill, Chandler Smith, and AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top-five.

The series will travel to Daytona Beach, Florida for its 22nd event of the season at the 2.5-mile superspeedway of Daytona International Speedway. Coverage of the event will take place on Friday, August 23, 2024 on USA Network.

BROOKLYN, Mich. — BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) — Austin Dillon has no regrets over his aggressive actions that triggered last-lap wrecks for Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin before Dillon went on to win at Richmond Raceway and had NASCAR later revoke his automatic spot in the playoffs.

“You don’t hate the player,” Dillon said Saturday, a day before the Firekeepers 400 was scheduled to run at Michigan International Speedway. “You hate the game.”

The game — or the system as many Cup Series drivers call it — creates high-stakes, risk-reward racing for competitors needing to win to secure a spot in the 16-car playoffs.

Dillon was, and still is, one of those desperate drivers, and NASCAR determined he “crossed a line” and went too far.

The checkered flag seemed out of reach last weekend for Dillon, who started Richmond No. 32 in the standings, until the final seconds when he spun Logano out of the way and sent Hamlin into the wall.

Three days later, NASCAR announced Dillon committed “ actions detrimental to stock car auto racing ” in its decision to take him out of a spot in the 16-driver field.

Dillon and the Richard Childress Racing No. 3 team were docked points in both the drivers’ and owners’ standings, dropping him from 26th to 31st in the driver standings.

Brandon Benesch, Dillon’s spotter, was suspended for three races for yelling “wreck him!” over the radio as the driver raced with Hamlin down the stretch.

RCR is appealing NASCAR’s decision.

NASCAR, meanwhile, was wired $50,000 from Logano to settle a fine for smoking his tires on pit road as he drove by Dillon and his team.

Logano suggested what Dillon did to him at Richmond was akin to someone breaking in his house, stealing his stuff and dancing with the ill-gotten possessions on the front lawn.

“What would you do?” Logano said. “I was not going to do anything to hurt anybody, but I’m not a robot. I was emotional about it, rightfully so.”

Hamlin wished the ruling was made in real time Sunday night, but added that he was satisfied with NASCAR’s decision.

“I saw something that I’ve never seen before last week, and we saw an unprecedented penalty for it,” Hamlin said.

Hamlin will start on the pole Sunday after rain washed out qualifying.

There are 12 drivers with a spot secured in the playoffs, leaving four spots open with three races remaining.

NASCAR’s decision to revoke Dillon’s spot in the postseason gave a dose of hope for drivers such as Bubba Wallace, who currently holds a position in the playoff picture that would give him a spot based on points even if he doesn’t win.

“There are still four spots left instead of the three,” Wallace said. “Definitely a relief there, but it is still going to be a dogfight.

“We are still not safe but there is an extra spot open now.”

Erik Jones, who drives the No. 43 Toyota, signed a multiyear contract extension this week with Legacy Motor Club to make his homecoming even sweeter.

“Looking at the landscape and where everything was at, what was possibly available and what other opportunities were out there, none of them were enticing enough for me that made me want to make a move,” said Jones, who is from Byron, Michigan, a town with about 500 residents. “Unless it was going to be a huge leap to a currently a race-winning, championship-contending team, I just wasn’t interested.”

Defending race champion Chris Buescher, who is at No. 16 in the playoff picture, extended Ford’s winning streak to nine at Michigan last year.

The manufacturer has the longest streak of success, dating to Clint Bowyer’s victory in 2018, at a track that has hosted 106 Cup races since 1969.

Top-ranked driver Kyle Larson is the BetMGM Sportsbook favorite to win Sunday, or Monday if rain pushes the race past the weekend for a second straight year.

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AP NASCAR: https://apnews.com/hub/nascar-racing

The transfer portal arguably impacted Michigan State’s football program more than any other team in college football.

Coach Jonathan Smith lost over 15 scholarship players to the transfer portal earlier this offseason. While Michigan State eventually secured one of the best transfer portal classes in the country, it still lost multiple starters and players expected to be significant contributors for the Spartans this upcoming season. 

One of those players was defensive lineman Derrick Harmon, who many believe will play in the National Football League after college. Last season, Harmon played in all 12 games for Michigan State, starting in ten of those games. He recorded a career-high 40 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss. His 40 tackles and nearly 500 defensive snaps for Michigan State were the most among Michigan State’s defensive linemen last season. 

Although Michigan State recovered with a respectable transfer portal class, it will undoubtedly be challenging to replace a player expected to play on the professional level one day.

Harmon, who transferred to Oregon this offseason, recently explained how the Ducks’ defensive line differs from what he experienced on the defensive line while at Michigan State. 

“It’s been good,” Harmon recently told reporters. “This is my fourth fall camp, but it’s different up here. We do a lot of two-spot, not what I’m really used to at [Michigan] State, but we have more bodies here, so it makes sense. But it’s going good so far.

“I was probably taking 75, 78 [plays per game] at [Michigan] State. I was basically on the field the whole defense because we had probably three D-tackles that were rotating in the room. So that sounds good to me: 40 snaps. I’m not complaining. I don’t want to get off the field, but we got guys that can rotate. It’s no falloff once the guys come in, so that’s what I like about it.”

Michigan State is in the middle of its fall camp and still figuring out who will start on the defensive line this upcoming season. As of now, it seems both Harmon and Michigan State are in better situations after parting ways. Time will tell if Harmon’s decision to leave was the best for both sides.

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