Justin Allgaier passed rookie Austin Cindric with four laps left and held on Saturday to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Justin Allgaier passed rookie Austin Cindric with four laps left and held on Saturday to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Allgaier used the sixth restart of the race to squeeze by Cindric, then held off a challenge on the 72nd lap for his third series win of the year. He also won at Dover and Iowa for JR Motorsport.
Cindric, the pole-sitter for Team Penske, finished 2.05 seconds back after leading 59 of the 75 laps on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course.
Daniel Hemric was third, followed by Matt Tifft and Ryan Truex. Series leader Christopher Bell was 11th.
Cindric built a seven-second lead before the fifth caution came out on the 60th lap. Cole Custer rubbed tires with Tyler Reddick, spinning him and causing a rear right flat tire for Reddick, who could not get his car off the course.
On the restart, Cindric raced clear of everyone, but Elliott Sadler spun Bell out of the way for second place.
Allgaier won the 20-lap first stage after Cindric led the first 17 laps before pitting, yielding the lead to him. It was Allgaier’s third stage win of the year. He fell off the pace by about two mph per lap and was 10th by Lap 40 after the completion of the second stage, which was won by Cindric.
Cindric regained the lead on the 22nd lap and held off the field on a restart on Lap 33 after a blown engine to the No. 39 car of Ryan Sieg.
Andy Lally took the lead from Cindric on the 44th lap following a restart for the fourth caution.
Cindric and Bell each passed Lally on the 50th lap. Lally was spun but regained control near the start/finish line on Lap 56 and finished 15th.
Cindric is the grandson of the late Jim Trueman, who once owned the track and was the car owner when Bobby Rahal won the 1986 Indianapolis 500. Trueman, the founder of Red Roof Inn, died of cancer 11 days later. Cindric’s mother was Trueman’s daughter and his father is the president of Team Penske.
