It's Austin Dillon in Michigan Xfinity Race

Jerry Markland/GettyImages

BROOKLYN, MI – RIS – Austin Dillon won the rain-shortened NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday. He battled Daniel Hemric to the end in identical Chevrolet Camaro race cars and Dillon came out the winner.

If one of them was in front when the rain came, Richard Childress Racing was going to win.

Dillon ended up beating his teammate Saturday in the rain-shortened NASCAR Xfinity race at Michigan International Speedway. The race was delayed about three hours at the start because of the weather, and there had been a threat of more rain before the race was finally called after 91 of the planned 125 laps.

Dillon, in his No. 3 Chevrolet, fought with Hemric's No. 21 on a restart on the 89th lap, but the race went under caution again almost immediately because of the weather.

"We definitely needed that win for our Xfinity Series team," said Dillon, a Cup Series driver who won this year's Daytona 500. "It was great to have the 21 up there shoving me around. He had our back. If we didn't have the strategy, the rain coming, he was going to have a great shot to win also."

It was the ninth career Xfinity victory for Dillon, and his first in 2018.

Qualifying earlier in the day was canceled because of the weather at the 2-mile track. Kyle Busch started the race at the front based on owner points.

Like at last weekend's Xfinity race at Pocono, NASCAR used a restrictor-plate package.

My hats are off to NASCAR for looking at different packages for our product out there," Childress said. "Like everything, when you very first start running like this, I'm sure they'll tweak on it a little bit, but I was impressed by how close the field was. I looked up after quite a few laps, and nobody had been lapped."

Dillon seemed happy with the package as well.

"I think the competition is closer together, and I think there's a lot of driver skill left in it, truthfully," he said. "Just making the right moves, it's a real chess match out there, and putting yourself in a good position is very key."

Busch won the first stage, and points leader Elliott Sadler won the second. There were 10 cautions for 37 laps, including one from laps 81-88 after a multicar incident in Turn 2. The restart from that was all that was left before more bad weather arrived.

This was Hemric's highest finish of the season. He has been third four times. He didn't seem too upset about the race being called when it was.

"I promise the guy that's second is going to say they threw it way too early, and I'm that guy today," Hemric said jokingly. "I applaud them for saving race cars and all that stuff, and get all these guys back home to their families tonight."

Cole Custer finished third, followed by Ryan Reed, Paul Menard and Busch.

Dillon is the 12th different winner in 13 Xfinity races this season. Cup star Brad Keselowski is the only driver to win twice.


Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 13 3 Austin Dillon(i) Bass Pro Shops/Cabela's Chevrolet 91 9 8 0 Running 3 18
2 5 21 Daniel Hemric South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet 91 35 Running 1 1
3 4 00 Cole Custer Code 3 Associates Ford 91 4 10 42 Running
4 15 16 Ryan Reed Drive Down A1C Lilly Diabetes Ford 91 3 3 49 Running 1 1
5 2 22 Paul Menard(i) Menards/Richmond Ford 91 0 Running 2 8
6 1 18 Kyle Busch(i) Maltesers Toyota 91 1 0 Running 1 29
7 6 9 Tyler Reddick # Nationwide Children's Chevrolet 91 30 Running
8 24 98 Kevin Harvick(i) FIELDS Ford 91 10 0 Running 2 11
9 9 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet 91 28 Running
10 12 11 Ryan Truex Phantom Fireworks Chevrolet 91 6 2 41 Running
11 7 20 Christopher Bell # Rheem Toyota 91 9 28 Running
12 40 61 Kaz Grala # NETTTS Ford 91 8 5 34 Running 1 5
13 8 42 John Hunter Nemechek Chevrolet Accessories Chevrolet 91 2 33 Running
14 16 4 Ross Chastain Flex Seal Chevrolet 91 6 28 Running
15 21 51 Jeremy Clements RepairableVehicles.com Chevrolet 91 22 Running
16 14 2 Matt Tifft Nexteer Chevrolet 91 4 28 Running
17 17 5 Michael Annett TMC Chevrolet 91 20 Running
18 11 19 Brandon Jones XYO Networks Toyota 91 5 25 Running
19 18 39 Ryan Sieg Lombard Bros. Gaming Chevrolet 91 18 Running
20 27 38 JJ Yeley RSS Racing Chevrolet 91 17 Running
21 10 23 Alex Bowman(i) ISM Connect Chevrolet 91 0 Running 1 8
22 34 76 Spencer Boyd # Grunt Style Chevrolet 91 15 Running
23 29 60 Austin Cindric # LTi Printing Ford 91 7 18 Running
24 25 78 Tommy Joe Martins Chevrolet 91 13 Running
25 32 01 Vinnie Miller # JAS Trucking Chevrolet 91 12 Running
26 22 0 Garrett Smithley VehicleKeys.com Chevrolet 91 11 Running
27 33 45 Josh Bilicki # Prevagen Toyota 91 10 Running
28 38 74 BJ McLeod Horizon Transport Chevrolet 91 9 Running
29 36 40 Chad Finchum # Smithbilt Homes Toyota 91 8 Running
30 3 1 Elliott Sadler OneMain Financial Chevrolet 91 7 1 21 Running 2 10 1
31 37 66 Timmy Hill OCR Gaz Bar Dodge 90 6 Running
32 26 90 Josh Williams Sleep Well/Bethel Glass & Shower Door Chevrolet 89 5 Transmission
33 28 52 David Starr Pro Waste Services, Inc. Chevrolet 82 4 Accident
34 23 8 Caesar Bacarella MAXIM/ALPHA PRIME Chevrolet 79 3 Accident
35 35 55 Brandon Hightower Timmons Truck Center Toyota 79 2 Accident
36 30 15 Matt Mills Flex Glue Chevrolet 54 1 Accident
37 20 36 Alex Labbe # Can-Am/Wholey/Cyclops Chevrolet 52 1 Accident
38 39 89 Morgan Shepherd Visone RV Chevrolet 34 1 Brakes
39 19 35 Joey Gase Sparks Chevrolet 33 1 Overheating
40 31 93 Jeff Green RSS Racing Chevrolet 5 1 Vibration
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 45 Mins, 57 Secs. Average Speed: 103.067 MPH Margin of Victory: Caution
18,42,16,00,19,11,1,61,3,98
1,11,16,2,61,4,60,3,20,00
Race Comments: Austin Dillon won the LTi Printing 250 at Michigan International Speedway, his ninth victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following car(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: Nos. 7 (unapproved adjustments) and 40 (engine change).
Failed to Qualify: N/A
Caution Flags: 10 for 37 laps: Laps: 18-20 (#20 Incident Turn 4 [None]); 32-35 (Stage 1 Conclusion [20]); 38-41 (#8, 36 Incident Turn 4 [20]); 46-49 (#39 Spin Turn 4 [None]); 57-59 (#15 Incident Turn 2 [None]); 62-65 (Stage 2 Conclusion [None]); 68-70 (#20 Spin Turn 4 [None]); 74-75 (#60, 5 Incident Fronstretch [None]); 81-88 (#8, 55, 45, 52 Incident Turn 2 [60]); 90-91 (Weather [1]).
Lead Changes: 14 among 9 drivers: K. Busch(i) 0; P. Menard(i) 1; E. Sadler 2; K. Busch(i) 3-31; K. Harvick(i) 32-34; P. Menard(i) 35-41; A. Bowman(i) 42-49; K. Harvick(i) 50-57; E. Sadler 58-66; K. Grala # 67-71; A. Dillon(i) 72-75; R. Reed 76; A. Dillon(i) 77-87; D. Hemric 88; A. Dillon(i) 89-91.
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Earnhardt Childress Racing Engines, #3 Mobil 1 Driver of the Race : Cole Custer, #00
Sunoco Rookie of the Race : Tyler Reddick, #9

Ron Fleshman

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2018, Issue 6, Posted 1:18 PM, 06.10.2018