Shane van Gisbergen bounced back from a Lap 72 pass-through penalty and gained 11 places in overtime to finish this morning’s Xfinity Series race at Michigan International Speedway in 17th.
The Kaulig Racing #97 had made steady progress over the opening stages and ran in the top ten at times before he pulled out of line on a restart, resulting in his penalty.
He lost half a lap on the field while trundling through the pit lane and returned to the track by himself with no draft assistance. The leaders quickly caught him and put him a lap down, which he recovered with a free pass following a heavy crash for Kyle Weatherman on Lap 117.
Following a 28-minute rain delay, the three-time Supercars champion lined up 28th for the overtime restart and made good ground in the pack, avoiding a frightening last-lap incident, where Kyle Sieg went airborne, to finish 17th.
Justin Allgaier won the race from Sheldon Creed, who finished second for the 11th time in his career but is yet to take a win. John Hunter Nemechek, Anthony Alfredo and Noah Gragson completed the top five.
AJ Allmendinger was the first of four Kaulig Racing drivers home in tenth, with van Gisbergen finishing two places ahead of Josh Williams. Daniel Dye failed to finish after being collected in a Lap 67 incident.
Creed had earlier led the field to green and remained at the front of a powerful outside line. The inside lane quickly merged up, and the field ran single file early.
Van Gisbergen, who qualified 23rd, remained in the mid-field when the first caution was called on Lap 16 when Taylor Gray spun from seventh by himself.
The Kiwi driver was one of 17 drivers to stop under yellow.
Creed held the lead off the Lap 19 restart, and the top four quickly broke away, putting over two seconds on the field. Those gains were short-lived, however, with another caution called when Creed spun out of the lead while under pressure from Riley Herbst.
Herbst led the field back to green on Lap 28 but was quickly passed by Allgaier and Ryan Sieg, the latter of whom hit the front on Lap 32 to win the opening stage from Brandon Jones and Chandler Smith. Van Gisbergen finished Stage 1 in 23rd.
Rain arrived at the end of the stage, bringing the first red flag and a 10-minute delay.
Allgaier finally made the inside line work when proceedings resumed to hit the front ahead of Sieg.
The next caution came on Lap 50 with another incident in the lead group, with Herbst, in fourth, clipping Sieg and spinning hard into the outside wall. Jones spun to avoid the incident but collected Sam Mayer and Cole Custer.
Allgaier stopped under yellow, which saw Nemechek hit the front. He held on to win the stage ahead of Jesse Love and Allmendinger. Van Gisbergen ran in the top ten during the stage but lost ground over the final laps to greet the green-and-white chequered in 13th.
Only Carson Kvapil, Jeremy Clements, and Williams opted not to stop ahead of Stage 3, with the former taking the lead.
Just two laps after the restart, a caution was again called following a three-car incident. Lawless Alan got loose on the inside of a three-wide battle and veered up, collecting Jeb Burton and Dye, with Alan and Dye ending in the outside wall.
Allgaier was joined in the pits by van Gisbergen, Allmendinger, Sieg, Williams and several others during the yellow.
Nemechek held the lead off the lap 72 restart, with van Gisbergen in 22nd and in the outside lane.
However, the Kiwi was seen pulling to the inside too early to pass a slower car ahead, which forced him to drive through the pit lane.
He returned on the lead lap but with no tow, and the lead group, led by Kvapil, was fast approaching.
Kvapil put two seconds on the field mid-way through the stage and caught the Kiwi, with the two working together.
Van Gisbergen briefly took his lap back when Kvapil, who had not stopped under the last yellow, dove into the pits but was quickly overcome by Allgaier, who had climbed back to the front from deep in the top ten.
Weatherman’s right front tyre blew on Lap 117, which speared home into the Turn 2 wall at pace. Van Gisbergen received the free pass to return to the rear of the field on the lead lap.
Rain again descended on the venue during the interruption, bringing another red flag and triggering overtime.
Allgaier led the field to green on the outside and retained the position on Lap 127, with Creed following through behind.
Kvapil was collected by Caesar Bacarella on the final lap and spun, collecting Sieg and Smith along the way.
Sieg blew over and landed on his roof, sliding into the inside wall upside down before returning to his wheels on the grass. He was uninjured.
Allgaier held on for the victory ahead of Sieg, with van Gisbergen making 11 places in overtime to finish 17th.
The Xfinity Series returns to Daytona International Speedway next weekend, and van Gisbergen will run double duties in the Xfinity Series and Cup Series.
