Creed wins again at Gateway, Allmendinger on a roll at Michigan

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series began their 2021 Playoffs at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, just on the other side of the Mississippi River from St. Louis. John Hunter Nemechek and Austin Hill led the field to the green flag for the Toyota 200.

Early on, Chandler Smith, a playoff contender, had issues as his truck broke down and he had to go down pit road. Then with 23 laps left in Stage One, Corey Roper went spinning as Jordan Anderson had to make an evasive move to avoid Roper. Sheldon Creed would go on to take Stage One at Gateway.

Stage One Top 10:

1. Sheldon Creed
2. Stewart Friesen
3. Ben Rhodes
4. Zane Smith
5. Ty Majeski
6. Todd Gilliland
7. Matt Crafton
8. Austin Hill
9. John Hunter Nemechek
10. Derek Kraus

During Stage Two, the power went out at the race track as some of the lights had gone out, also knocking out the timing and scoring. There was an accident outside the track that impacted the situation. This had to put the race under the red flag for almost an hour. Once the race was able to continue, Sheldon Creed would sweep both stages of the race. A big pileup on the front stretch during the final stage collected the likes of Ty Majeski, Austin Hill, Tyler Ankrum, Todd Gilliland, and Jake Griffith, making this a tough night for playoff drivers. Championship favorite John Hunter Nemechek had problems with his truck and had to go behind the wall for a bit, costing him a good result. Tanner Gray ran up into Carson Hocevar with five laps to go as Hocevar managed to get away, but Tanner Gray would go spinning to bring out a late caution. In the end, Sheldon Creed held off Matt Crafton and Ben Rhodes to get the win in St. Louis. Hailie Deegan also became the first female to finish in the top 10 outside of Daytona in the Truck Series.

As for the NASCAR Xfinity Series, they make a stop in Michigan for the New Holland 250. Austin Cindric and AJ Allmendinger led the field to the green flag for Xfinity Racing at Michigan. AJ Allmendinger took the lead after Cindric got loose at the start, dropping to fifth. Cindric began to recover and work his way back up shortly after. The competition caution would come out around lap 16. At the restart, Allmendinger didn’t get going and Austin Cindric took the lead back with Ty Gibbs behind him in second. Then a spin came from Caesar Bacarella in the #90 to bring out the caution. It was smooth sailing for the rest of stage one, as Austin Cindric will collect yet another stage win in 2021.

Stage One Top 10:

1. Austin Cindric
2. Ty Gibbs
3. AJ Allmendinger
4. Myatt Snider
5. Noah Gragson
6. Daniel Hemric
7. Harrison Burton
8. Brandon Jones
9. Josh Berry
10. Justin Haley

At the start of Stage 2, a big pileup took place that involved Austin Cindric, Daniel Hemric, Brandon Jones, Bubba Wallace, Myatt Snider, Brandon Brown, and Justin Haley. Jeb Burton would lead for a bit until AJ Allmendinger took the lead late in stage two with Ty Gibbs entering the mix. Allmendinger would go on to win Stage 2.

Stage Two Top 10:

1. AJ Allmendinger
2. Ty Gibbs
3. Harrison Burton
4. Justin Allgaier
5. Jeb Burton
6. Noah Gragson
7. Brandon Jones
8. Josh Berry
9. Brett Moffitt
10. Riley Herbst

Jeb Burton and AJ Allmendinger led the field to the restart to begin the final stage with 59 laps to go. Allmendinger took off as Justin Allgaier jumped up to second. Harrison Burton had a right front vibration with 52 laps to go and had to go down pit road, as he is still looking for his first win this season. With 38 laps to go, Allmendinger and Allgaier battled for the lead and were held up by lapped traffic, allowing Josh Berry, subbing for Michael Annett, to take the lead. With 27 to go, Berry is struggling to get around the lapped car of Harrison Burton, as he struggled on the inside line. Berry was able to keep the lead as green flag pit stops began. Justin Allgaier got out in front of Berry by only pitting for fuel and not tired. Jeb Burton would stay out too long and end up running out of gas with 13 laps to go as he coasted down the backstretch. Berry immediately catches back up to Allgaier with 11 to go. They battled side by side for the win with now 10 laps to go as Jeb Burton slowly moves to pit road. Berry still struggled on passing on the inside but the caution would come out as Burton couldn’t make it to pit road. This had to make Justin Allgaier go down pit road for tires. On the restart, Allmendinger had a huge push from Allgaier but down the backstretch, Josh Berry took the lead back with five laps to go. One lap later, Allmendinger took the lead as the caution came out with a spin from Jesse Little and Bayley Currey. Another restart came that instantly brought out another caution, so Allmendinger and Berry lined back up again as Berry tried to get away from Allmendinger. But Allmendinger had more momentum going off of turn two, then the #54 of Ty Gibbs loses control and spins, hitting the wall and bringing out yet another caution. Allmendinger once again clears everyone on the restart with Brandon Jones now in second. In the end, AJ Allmendinger continues a hot streak and goes on to take the checkered flag at Michigan!