By David Morgan, Associate Editor
TALLADEGA, Ala. – For the past three seasons, Justin Allgaier and crew chief Jim Pohlman have been a dominant force in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, but that partnership will be ending at season’s end with Pohlman moving up to the Cup Series in 2026 with Kyle Busch and Richard Childress Racing.
Since partnering up with each other in 2023, Allgaier and Pohlman have won nine races together, along with Championship 4 appearances in 2023 and 2024, which Allgaier was able to parlay into his first title last season.
Once again, Allgaier and Pohlman are in the hunt for another Championship 4 appearance, with Allgaier sitting 44 points above the cut-off line heading into Saturday’s United Rentals 250 at Talladega Superspeedway.
“I’m super happy for him in this opportunity and what we’ve been able to accomplish together on the racetrack. And I would say that had we not won a championship last year, it would’ve been a lot tougher for me to kind of go into this final stretch to the Playoffs,” said Allgaier.
“We sat down, he told me what was available and I told him you’d be crazy to not take it. And he looked at me and kind of in silence and I said, look, you weigh all the options here. You’ve got a guy that arguably of my generation is probably the best, or depending on how you want to slice it, one of the best drivers that’s come through our sport. RCR is motivated to try to up their program and do what they need to do to win races.
“And I think Kyle is as well and he understands the culture up there really well and he’s been up there before, so it’s a great opportunity for him. It’s something that he’s dreamed of being on the Cup side full time.
“So, I think it’s really cool that somebody like him is getting an opportunity to go do that and I think they picked the right guy. I’ve seen how hard he works and how much effort he puts into it and they picked the right guy.”
Allgaier explained that even though Pohlman may be leaving at season’s end, the knowledge of the two having a finite amount of time together has galvanized their want to end the season on top once again.
“When this started weighing on him, he focused on getting us to where we needed to be when he started to try to internalize some of the stressors of what that looked like and making those decisions, it made him focus harder on the racing program and how to go,” Allgaier said.
“That’s his stress reliever. As odd as that sounds, that’s where he went. He dug deeper and I feel like for him, our relationship is what probably held him back from making that decision earlier. And we’ve talked about that a lot and I think that he didn’t want to leave the 7 group, right?
“He’s built a great team around him and so I feel like he’s let that weigh on him and so he’s put more effort into making sure that everything, all the details are finalized and he wants to win.
“There’s nobody that wants to win the championship as much as he does. And so, I think that that helps me. It gives me that comfort.
“We’re not in a lame duck situation where he’s going to another Xfinity team or going to work with another Xfinity series driver. He’s a hundred percent committed to going to win a championship this year, and that’s encouraging for me and we all want to send him off for that championship as well.”
Game Planning for Talladega
Focusing on the weekend ahead on the 2.66-mile superspeedway, Allgaier noted that he had comfort in having such a big points cushion over the cut-off line, but it would not change his game plan for the final superspeedway race of the season, given the chance to be safe at Martinsville next weekend and locking himself into the championship race.
“I really enjoyed the Roval, of going into the Roval and knowing that I didn’t have to worry about it. I would love to do that in Martinsville. I don’t know that I’ve ever done that in Martinsville either. We kept talking about the Roval was like this place that I go in there and you’re on pins and needles. It was nice to go to the Roval and just be like, oh, whatever happens today happens,” said Allgaier.
“I don’t know that we can get there. Just looking at the cut line and who’s out and who’s in it would be very difficult to get to 61 points ahead of the cut right from 44. Is it possible? Yes. So I think we have to be on the attack today. I think we have to try to do everything we can.
“Obviously we have to finish, there’s no question. I can’t afford to come out of here 10 points or 15 points above the cut line. I don’t want to race like that in Martinsville, right? 44 above the cut line of going into Martinsville. It’s not great, but you still feel pretty good about it.”
He added that things could change as the race plays out, especially if he or some of the other Playoff drivers get swept up in the inevitable Big One that is likely to break out on the Talladega high banks.
“But I think the determining factor today will be who wins? Is it one of the guys that are maybe out of contention at the moment? What happens to everybody? All it takes here is one Big One, and while you may be out, so could all your other competitors and it could really change the game for next week.
“So, I think we have to let the first two stages kind of come and go see where things are at and then race from there.
“And I feel like this round of the Playoffs, that’s what we’ve had to do everywhere. We’ve had to run those first two stages, get the points you can get in the first two stages, figure out where the points kind of fall, and then just kind of go from there.”
