Smith holds off Larson for Nationwide victory at Michigan

NASCAR Nationwide Series leader Regan Smith earned his second victory of the season Saturday by holding off Kyle Larson to win the Alliance Truck Parts 250 at Michigan International Speedway.

Parker Kligerman gambled rain would end the race short of the scheduled 125 laps but lost the lead when he had to pit with 13 to go. That opened the door for Smith, who kept his No. 7 Chevy ahead of a charging Larson in the final 10 laps.

There was no caution flag after Austin Dillon brushed the wall with five laps to go and Larson, who was steadily gaining on Smith in the closing laps, never got a chance to take the lead.

Sprint Cup Series regulars Paul Menard, Kyle Busch and Trevor Bayne rounded out the top-five finishers.

It was the second win of the season and fourth career series win for Smith, who also was first at Talladega in early May.

Drivers qualified under warm conditions earlier in the day but took the green flag under overcast, muggy skies that made the track slick. The forecast was threatening, but rain never came.

Pole winner Dillon looked strongest in the first half of the race but opted not to pit with the rest of the lead pack after a lap 64 caution. A flat left rear tire soon dropped him a lap down and he ended the day 20th after his late-race contact with the wall.

Dillon set a new track qualifying record with a lap of 191.882 mph earlier in the day to earn his fourth straight Coors Light Pole Award, a Nationwide Series record.

It was the second straight hard-luck outing for Dillon, who led 207 of 250 laps a week earlier at Iowa but finished second to Trevor Bayne.

Sam Hornish Jr., who started the day second in the standings, left the race on lap 81 after a piece of debris caused him to lose oil pressure.

The race wasn’t quite a lap old before the first caution came out. Alex Bowman and Travis Pastrana spun in turn 4 before Brian Vickers crashed into Jeffrey Earnhardt. The latter two cars sustained significant damage.

Vickers, seventh in the series points standings before the start of the race, got back on the track but finished 33rd.

Dexter Stacey brought out the day’s second yellow flag when he struck the turn 3 wall on lap 7.