The Mid Ohio Sports Car Course may be a relatively new stop for the young drivers of the NASCAR Xfinity Series, but it is quickly becoming a must see stop on the Series schedule. One of the most technical road courses in NASCAR, it played home to the Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 for a third consecutive year.
In qualifying, Team Penske’s hired gun Alex Tagliani (#22 Discount Tire Ford) was untouchable, winning the pole handedly over the other thirty-nine drivers joining him in the race. Once the race began though, it would be a rash of early cautions that would change the shape of the race.
As the race began, spins by drivers like Darrell Wallace Jr. (#6 Ford), Kenny Habul (#20 SunEnergy1 Toyota), and Ben Rhodes (#88 Alpha Energy Solutions Chevy) would slow the field within the first twenty-five laps. Meanwhile, at the front of the field, it would be the road course ringers battling hard with the championship contenders, as Tagliani and Boris Said (#54 Monster Energy Toyota) did battle with Chris Buescher (#60 Zest Ford) and Chase Elliott (#9 NAPA Chevy).
After four full-course cautions in the first half of the race, the drivers, teams, and fans were all looking for a long green-flag run. And as that green flag run evolved, Alex Tagliani ran away with the lead. He would gab second place Chris Buescher by a wide margin as the field past halfway. However, a caution with 34 laps to go for the stopped car of Dylan Kwasniewski (#97 Chevy) would close up that gap once more.
On what could be the final set of pit stops on the day for teams, Tagliani would come out second off pit road to Regan Smith (#7 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Chevy). Meanwhile, not all was well for everyone on pit road, as both Boris Said and Daniel Suarez (#18 Arris Toyota) ran into problems.
On the ensuing restart, Regan Smith would take control and lead at Mid Ohio. He would extend his lead up through 24 laps to go, when a caution for fluid on the track would slow the field once more. Drivers would then start saving fuel under caution, trying to stretch it out to make it to the end.
As the race got back to green, Smith would hold the lead until Alex Tagliani chased him down and passed him with only fifteen laps to go. Tagliani has been solid on the long run in his car, but the long run would not materialize. A caution would fly with just ten laps to go, and tighten up the field for what could be a final restart.
The restart would be frantic, and result in a big pileup in Turn 2 involving at least four cars. It would slow the field and lead to yet another attempt to finish the race, with Alex Tagliani still in control.
With only three laps to go, Tagliani led the field back to green. He would have to try and hold off the charging Regan Smith. In the end, Regan Smith would put the bump-and-run on Tagliani in the final corner, and win the Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 at Mid Ohio.
A strong leading performance by Alex Tagliani would end with him in second. Championship contender Ty Dillon would finish third, with points leader Chris Buescher third. Buescher would not add to his points lead this weekend over Dillon, but only lost one point.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series will next do battle at the last coliseum in Bristol, Tennessee. Watch the young guns race at Bristol on Friday night on NBCSN.