By Sarah Handy, Staff Writer
NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Michael Annett finished Saturday afternoon’s Desert Diamond Casino 200 from ISM Raceway with a solid ninth place finish, but it wasn’t enough to propel the JR Motorsports driver into the Championship 4 next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Annett who ultimately finished the race in the same position he started, ninth, had one of his most consistent races of the season finishing out both the first and second stages within the top-10 running order. Annett cruised his No. 1 Pilot / Flying J “Thank You Veterans” Chevrolet to stage finishes of sixth and fifth, respectively.
Despite earning his 19th top-10 finish on the season, Annett’s top-10 wasn’t enough to punch his ticket to Homestead-Miami to fight for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship.
The veteran driver currently sits 8th in the points standings with next Saturday’s season finale on the horizon.
Even so, Annett wasn’t disappointed with how his season has gone and he was happy to see his JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier win Saturday’s event and punch his ticket to Homestead.
Congratulations @J_Allgaier, heck of a race today. #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/5K4Q3KaoZs
— Michael Annett (@MichaelAnnett) November 10, 2019
“We knew we weren’t going to be able to probably out point Justin though as good as he is but seeing him win that race that’s pretty special and kind of had a feeling all week that car was going to be sitting in victory lane this weekend”, said Annett.
Annett started off the season with a win in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway, his first in the series and has without a doubt had his most successful season in his Xfinity Series career capturing the one win, six top-fives, 19 top-10s and his first career pole in the series as well at Talladega Superspeedway in April.
Annett acknowledged his success this season post-race and is set on capturing his second win of the season in the season finale Ford EcoBoost 300 next Saturday afternoon at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“We had a list at the beginning of the year, and we checked off quite a few things, probably everything but making it to Homestead and fighting for that Championship”, Annett said. “Really good season, it’s not over yet and I think being fifth place in points is a special honor and we’re right there with the 98 and the 22-car fighting for that.”