This week the Camping World Truck Series has the weekend off but the Xfinity and Cup Series drivers come to the Irish Hills of Michigan and the two mile track of Michigan International Speedway.
On a comfortable early Saturday morning, 41 drivers take to the track to try and qualify for the New Holland 250.
As the drivers take to the track for a short 20 practice session before qualifying, Daniel Hemric’s team is under the car working on the track bar.
With a time of 37.821 seconds, Noah Gragson put his number nine JR Motorsports car on the pole with AJ Allmendinger sixth hundredths of a second behind to fill out the front row.
After the crew worked on his car, Daniel Hemric drove his car to a fourth place start for the race.
Three of the four JR Motorsports cars are in the top 10; including pole sitter Noah Gragson.
The starting lineup for the New Holland 250:
Noah Gragson
AJ Allmendinger
Justin Allgaier
Daniel Hemric
Sammy Smith
Josh Berry
Brandon Jones
Kyle Weatherman
Ty Gibbs
Brandon Brown
Sheldon Creed
Landon Cassill
Riley Herbst
Dillon Bassett
Ryan Sieg
Austin Hill
Myatt Snider
Kyle Sieg
Jeb Burton
Anthony Alfredo
Jeremy Clements
JJ Yeley
Kaz Grala
Joe Graf Jr
Josh Bilicki
Sam Mayer
Ryan Vargas
Josh Williams
Mason Massey
Alex Labbe
John Hunter Nemechek
Patrick Emerling
Ryan Ellis
CJ McLaughlin
Bayley Currey
Blaine Perkins
David Starr
Matt Mills
Akinori Ogata, Jordan Anderson, and Brennan Poole all failed to qualify for the race.
Stages one and two are 30 laps each with stage three lasting 65 laps for a total of 125 laps around the two mile track. The drivers can run 46 to 50 laps on a single load of fuel.
On a hot afternoon Noah Gragson brings the field down for the green flag start of the race from the outside lane with AJ Allmendinger on the inside. Drivers are already getting spread out across the track. Noah Gragson gets out in front with a big battle for second behind him.
Lap two, Noah Gragson is in the lead with AJ Allmendinger in second; Brandon Jones, Justin Allgaier, and Daniel Hemric round out the top five.
MIS is a wide track where the drivers can spread out several cars wide.
Lap four Josh Berry and Kyle Weatherman battle it out with Berry brushing the wall.
Lap five, Noah Gragson holds on to the lead with AJ Allmendinger in second; Brandon Jones, Justin Allgaier, and Daniel Hemric round out the top five.
Lap seven, Noah Gragson has pulled out to a lead of over half a second on AJ Allmendinger; Brandon Jones, Justin Allgaier, and Sammy Smith round out the top five.
Lap eight, all 38 cars are on the track and on the lead lap.
Lap nine, leader Noah Gragson continues to slowly increase his lead on AJ Allmendinger.
Lap nine, Brandon Jones, AJ Allmendinger, and Justin Allgaier battle for second.
Lap 10, Noah Gragson now has a lead of over a second on AJ Allmendinger; Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones, and Sammy Smith round out the top five.
Lap 16, Noah Gragson has a lead of over a second on Justin Allgaier; AJ Allmendinger, Brandon Jones, and Sammy Smith round out the top five.
Lap 17, Justin Allgaier has cut into leader and team mate Noah Gragson’s lead to just half a second.
Lap 21, Noah Gragson’s lead on Justin Allgaier is down to just two tenths of a second and closing; AJ Allmendinger, Sammy Smith, and Brandon Jones round out the top five.
Lap 23, leaders encounter slower traffic with leader Noah Gragson beginning to lap cars.
Lap 26, Noah Gragson holds on to the lead with Justin Allgaier a third of a second behind; Sammy Smith, AJ Allmendinger, and Brandon Jones round out the top five. There are 33 cars on the lead lap.
After leading every lap, Noah Gragson wins stage one for his ninth stage win of the season. This makes 24 stage wins for JR Motorsports.
The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Noah Gragson
Justin Allgaier
Sammy Smith
AJ Allmendinger
Ty Gibbs
Brandon Jones
Daniel Hemric
Austin Hill
Landon Cassill
Josh Berry
AJ Allmendinger reports that once again his cool suit is not working. After a wiring issue from last week, AJ has a different cool shirt this week and this is also not working properly. Current temps are 87 degrees with a heat index of 93 degrees.
Drivers come down pit road for service Noah Gragson wins the race off of pit road with AJ Allmendinger coming out second.
Noah Gragson brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two from the outside lane on lap 37 with AJ Allmendinger alongside. After a big push from Justin Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger takes the lead.
AJ Allmendinger leads the race but Noah Gragson comes up on the inside with Justin Allgaier on the outside in a battle for the lead.
Justin Allgaier takes the lead with Sammy Smith in second; Ty Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger, and Noah Gragson round out the top five.
Lap 40, Justin Allgaier has pulled out to a lead of nearly half a second on Sammy Smith; Ty Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger, and Noah Gragson round out the top five.
The caution flag comes out on lap 41 when Matt Mills gets into the wall after having to make an engine change after practice. CJ McLaughlin was also gets into the wall.
AJ Allmendinger is reporting that his car is plowing and very sensitive.
Justin Allgaier brings the field down for the green flag restart from the outside lane on lap 46 with Ty Gibbs alongside and Sammy Smith behind. Allgaier edges out for the lead but Ty Gibbs comes up to challenge; Allgaier holds on to the lead as drivers spread out across the track.
Lap 46, Justin Allgaier leads the race with Sammy Smith in second; Ty Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger, and Brandon Jones round out the top five.
Lap 48, Sammy Smith challenges Justin Allgaier for the lead, but Allgaier holds him off.
There are 32 cars on the lead lap with CJ McLaughlin and Matt Mills out of the race.
Lap 51, Justin Allgaier holds on to the lead over Sammy Smith; Ty Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger, and Noah Gragson round out the top five.
David Starr spins out and just misses the wall; bringing out the caution flag on lap 53.
Several of the drivers come down pit road for service short of the end of stage two. Ty Gibbs wins the race off of pit road. Leader Justin Allgaier lost three spots on pit road.
After staying out on the track, AJ Allmendinger brings the field down for the green flag restart with just two laps remaining in the stage. Landon Cassill is alongside on the inside lane. After a push from Noah Gragson, AJ Allmendinger edges out for the lead with Landon Cassill in second.
In a three way battle, Noah Gragson takes second and is looking to retake the lead.
Noah Gragson edges out AJ Allmendinger to sweep the stages and win stage number 10 for this season. That’s 25 stage wins for JR Motorsports.
The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Noah Gragson
AJ Allmendinger
Josh Berry
Landon Cassill
Ryan Sieg
Anthony Alfredo
Kaz Grala
Myatt Snider
Ty Gibbs
Austin Hill
The drivers who stayed out on the track come down pit road for service. Noah Gragson wins the race off of pit road.
Josh Berry was caught speeding on pit road and will have to restart the race form the back of the field.
Ty Gibbs brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three from the outside lane with Sammy Smith alongside on lap 67. Ty Gibbs gets out in front for the lead after a push form Austin Hill.
Ty Gibbs leads the race with Austin Hill in second; Justin Allgaier, Sammy Smith, and Sam Mayer round out the top five.
Lap 70, Justin Allgaier and Austin Hill battle for second with Ty Gibbs leading the race.
Sam Mayer has a smoking tire with a tire rub and will have to come down pit road for service.
Lap 72, Ty Gibbs has pulled out to a one second lead on Austin Hill; Justin Allgaier, Sammy Smith, and Brandon Jones round out the top five.
Lap 74, Justin Allgaier goes side by side with Austin Hill before finally getting out in front for second place; Ty Gibbs is two seconds out in front.
Lap 77, Ty Gibbs ahs a lead of over two seconds on Justin Allgaier; Austin Hill, Sammy Smith, and Brandon Jones round out the top five.
Lap 79, Sammy Smith battles with Austin Hill for third.
Lap 80, Sammy Smith passes Austin Hill for third.
Lap 82, Ty Gibbs has a two and a half second lead on Justin Allgaier; Sammy Smith, Austin Hill, and Brandon Jones round out the top five.
With 43 laps remaining in the race, the drivers are now within their pit window to make it to the end of the race on one more pit stop.
Ty Gibbs has a big piece of debris on his grille. There are some overheating concerns.
Forty to go, Ty Gibbs ahs a lead of over two and a half seconds on Justin Allgaier; Sammy Smith, Austin Hill, and Brandon Jones round out the top five.
Ty Gibbs gets close enough to a slower car and gets the debris off of the grille. His lead is down to under two seconds on Justin Allgaier.
Noah Gragson and Brandon Jones battle for fifth with Gragson taking the spot.
Ty Gibbs holds on to a lead of over a second as he encounters slower traffic.
Lap 92, Ty Gibbs leads the race with Justin Allgaier in second; Sammy Smith, Austin Hill, and Noah Gragson round out the top five.
Lap 94, Noah Gragson challenges Austin Hill for fourth.
Lap 95, Noah Gragson passes Austin Hill for fourth.
Ty Gibbs has increased his lead to over two seconds on Justin Allgaier; Sammy Smith, Noah Gragson, and Austin Hill round out the top five. After speeding on pit road and having to restart the race from the back of the field, Josh Berry has entered the top 10 in ninth place.
With 27 laps to go, Justin Allgaier has closed the gap on leader Ty Gibbs to under two seconds.
Lap 100, Brandon Jones begins the cycle of green flag pit stops; Justin Allgaier gives up second to make his pit stop.
Lap 101, leader Ty Gibbs makes his green flag pit stop and gives the lead over to Sammy Smith.
Lap 103, Sammy Smith makes his pit stop and gives the lead over to Austin Hill.
Several more drivers come down pit road for service.
Lap 104, Austin Hill makes his green flag pit stop and gives the lead over the AJ Allmendinger.
Sammy Smith was caught speeding on pit road and will have to serve a pass through penalty.
Lap 105, AJ Allmendinger makes his green flag pit stop and gives the lead over to Josh Berry. Allmendinger reports that he is tight.
Lap 106, Josh Berry makes his pit stop and gives the lead over to Anthony Alfredo.
David Starr had an issue on pit road that required the fire extinguisher. He came down pit road with the brakes on fire.
Lap 108, there are only 17 cars on the lead lap.
Anthony Alfredo comes down pit road and gives the lead over to Ryan Sieg.
Once Ryan Sieg and Kyle Weatherman make their pit stops, Ty Gibbs will retake the lead.
Lap 111, Ryan Sieg makes his pit stop and gives the lead over to Ty Gibbs with Justin Allgaier in second.
With just 13 laps remaining in the race, Ty Gibbs has a lead of less than a second on Justin Allgaier; Noah Gragson, Brandon Jones, and Austin Hill round out the top five.
David Starr is off the track with Josh Williams out of the race.
Ten to go! Ty Gibbs has a lead of over a second on Justin Allgaier; Noah Gragson, Brandon Jones, and Austin Hill round out the top five.
Seven to go, Ty Gibbs has a lead of nearly two seconds on Justin Allgaier; Noah Gragson, Brandon Jones, and Austin Hill round out the top five.
Five to go, Ty Gibbs has a lead of over a second on Justin Allgaier; Noah Gragson, Brandon Jones, and Austin Hill round out the top five.
There are only 13 cars on the lead lap.
Ty Gibbs takes the white flag with a lead of over a second on Justin Allgaier.
Ty Gibbs wins the race for race win number five this season.
There have been 12 different drivers in the past 12 Xfinity races at MIS.
The unofficial results of the New Holland 250:
Ty Gibbs
Justin Allgaier
Noah Gragson
Brandon Jones
Austin Hill
Josh Berry
AJ Allmendinger
Daniel Hemric
Riley Herbst
Landon Cassill
Sheldon Creed
Sammy Smith
Brandon Brown
Anthony Alfredo
Ryan Sieg
Kyle Weatherman
Myatt Snider
Kaz Grala
John Hunter Nemechek
JJ Yeley
Kyle Sieg
Joe Graf Jr
Jeb Burton
Mason Massey
Patrick Emerling
Alex Labbe
Ryan Ellis
Josh Bilicki
Ryan Vargas
Bayley Currey
Jeremy Clements
Blaine Perkins
Sam Mayer
Dillon Bassett
David Starr
Josh Williams
CJ McLaughlin
Matt Mills