Photo Credit: Sean Gardner/Getty Images |
The final laps of the New Holland 250 at Michigan International Speedway featured an intense fight between drivers A.J. Allmendinger and Josh Berry not only battling against each other but with their racing image. Despite having won on the ovals four times since joining Kaulig Racing’s Xfinity Series program in 2019. Allmendinger is still working to shake off his appearance as a road racer. Winning a triumphant NASCAR Xfinity Series race on the short track of Martinsville, Berry’s transition to running larger speedways ahead of his 2022 full-season campaign would benefit greatly with a strong run on the two-mile oval.
Requiring three green-white-checker overtime finish attempts with the final being for the #54 SportClips Toyota of Ty Gibbs hitting the wall coming out of turn 2, A.J. Allmendinger would pull off his second NASCAR victory in the span of a week following his surprise win in last week's Cup race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Running his first full season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Allmendinger is in a prime position for the playoffs where his three race wins this year is second only to Austin Cindric.
Though Josh Berry was positioned in the lead prior to the start of the overtime restarts, he faded to finish a still respectable fourth place driving what was a substitute role in the #1 Pilot Flying J TMAF Chevrolet for JR Motorsports. Allmendinger’s #16 RAMCO Specialities Inc. Chevrolet Camaro’s challenge for the win in the final lap came from Joe Gibbs Racing’s Brandon Jones. Jones’ #19 Toyota hounded Allmendinger but crossed the line 0.163 seconds after the leader for the runner-up spot. Noah Gragson finished between Jones and Berry while Harrison Burton crossed the line in fifth place.
A total of nine cautions slowed the New Holland 250 including a multi-car wreck on the backstretch shortly after the start of the race’s second stage. Triggered when the #2 car of Myatt Snider loses control exiting turn 2, seven drivers would be involved in relation to this accident. Austin Cindric #22 Menards-sponsored Ford Mustang and Daniel Hemric driving the #18 Poppy Bank Toyota were two of the most high-profile names that were parked due to the crash.
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