The race was marred by an airborne crash from Kyle Sieg on the final lap. The incident began when Caesar Bacarella lost control following contact from Parker Kligerman from behind on the backstretch. Bacarella's sliding car turned Carson Kvapil across the track into the outside wall. In the scramble to avoid the crash, Leland Honeyman made contact with the rear of Sieg's car, sending it into a slide towards the apron and taking Chandler Smith with him. Sieg's roof flaps did not deploy, and the car lifted off the ground from behind and slid for several seconds on its roof, brushing the inside wall before rolling back onto its wheels when it reached the grass. Sieg was able to climb out under his own power, he was visibly shaken up from the wreck and had small pain in his right arm.[10][11]
With his 11th runner-up finish, Sheldon Creed surpassed Dale Jarrett for the most runner-up finishes in the Xfinity Series without a win.[12]
Michigan International Speedway is a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located in Brooklyn, Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is known as a "sister track" to Texas World Speedway as MIS's oval design was a direct basis of TWS, with moderate modifications to the banking in the corners, and was used as the basis of Auto Club Speedway. The track is owned by International Speedway Corporation. Michigan International Speedway is recognized as one of motorsports' premier facilities because of its wide racing surface and high banking (by open-wheel standards; the 18-degree banking is modest by stock car standards).
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
(i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
For practice, drivers were split into two groups, Group A and B, with both sessions being 15 minutes long, and was held on Friday, August 16, at 3:35 PM EST.[13]John Hunter Nemechek, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would set the fastest time between both sessions, with a lap of 41.489, and a speed of 173.540 mph (279.286 km/h).
Qualifying was held on Friday, August 16, at 4:00 PM EST.[13] Since Michigan International Speedway is a superspeedway, the qualifying system used is a single-car, one-lap system with only one round. Drivers will be on track by themselves and will have one lap to post a qualifying time, and whoever sets the fastest time in that session will win the pole.[14]
Road course qualifying rules were in effect. The timing line was set in Turn 3, where cars exited pit road, drove five-eights of a lap, then took the green flag in the north chute exiting Turn 3, and completing their lap there the next time by. Teams then immediately pitted the car, meaning only two laps were run. Indianapolis and Michigan both used restrictor plates.
Sheldon Creed, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would score the pole for the race, with a lap of 41.947, and a speed of 171.645 mph (276.236 km/h).[15]
Morgen Baird was the only driver who failed to qualify.
