By David Morgan, Associate Editor
AVONDALE, Ariz. – This one has been a long time coming.
And it wasn’t easy.
But nonetheless, Justin Allgaier is now a NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion.
Coming into the weekend at Phoenix Raceway, Allgaier and his No. 7 JR Motorsports team that was making its seventh appearance in the Championship 4 was full of confidence that this was finally going to be their year, but mere minutes into the opening practice session of the weekend, the racing gods were already angry.
As the track was oiled down from a blown transmission, Allgaier was helpless entering Turn 1 when he got into the oil and slammed into the outside wall, sending him to a back-up car for the remainder of the weekend.
Starting from the back of the pack on Saturday, Allgaier was a man on a mission, climbing into the top-10 by the end of the first stage and staying there through the end of the second stage.
However, the bad luck bug would strike the No. 7 team again shortly thereafter when Allgaier was busted for a restart violation on Lap 100, which was followed by a pit road speeding penalty as Allgaier was serving the first penalty.
Allgaier would return to the track a lap down and it appeared his championship hopes were all but sunk.
He would need some help if things were going to turn around for him to still have a shot at the title.
And help he would get.
During a cycle of green flag pit stops, the caution flag would fly on lap 156 for Anthony Alfredo crashing in Turn 1, allowing Allgaier to get back on the lead lap.
“We’re back in the game!” was overheard over the No. 7 team radio as they all knew this was their shot to make another run at the title.
Lap by lap, Allgaier would climb his way through the field, utilizing the advantage of the fresher Goodyear tires he had on his closest championship rival in Cole Custer.
With an assist from his JR Motorsports teammates that helped to hold Custer up just enough for him to get in range, Allgaier did the rest and was able to power past him with six laps to go, setting sail toward finally capturing the championship that had eluded him for all these years.
But it could never be that easy for Allgaier and his team after all the ups and downs they have been through as a group.
With three laps remaining in regulation, the caution flag would fly, sending the race into overtime and giving his championship rivals another shot at taking him down.
Despite a slow stop dropping a couple of positions for the overtime restart, Allgaier found himself in the right place at the right time when Austin Hill and Cole Custer tangled on the restart, opening the door for Allgaier to shoot the gap in the middle and pass them both to take the championship lead.
However, the field would only make it to Turn 3 before another caution flag flew, stacking them up once more for another overtime restart.
This time, though, Allgaier was able to get the jump on the restart to hold the other championship contenders at bay, pulling away with the lead.
The field crossed the line to take the white flag and with only Riley Herbst in his mirror, Allgaier was home free all the way to the finish.
Though Herbst would sneak past him for the win, Allgaier brought his Brandt Agriculture sponsored Chevrolet home as champion.
“This team never gave up. Jim Pohlman, his leadership skills are second to none. He told me all weekend that we were going to have a chance,” Allgaier said.
“Man, we tried to give it away every which way we could. I wasn’t as fast as Xfinity internet, but on pit road and on the racetrack as I needed to be. I just wanted to make it exciting for all you fans at home. I don’t know.
“Dale Jr., Kelley Earnhardt Miller, L.W. Miller, everybody at JR Motorsports, all the men and women, all five of our race teams, just the effort that we’ve put in, I’m at a loss for words. We’re going to celebrate this one for sure. It’s unbelievable.
“I just cannot say thank you enough to everybody that’s ever helped me in my career to get to this point. Seven times in the Championship 4 and we finally got it done, and we’re forever a NASCAR champion, and there’s no words like that.”
Team co-owner Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was one of the first to greet Allgaier after he climbed from his car in celebration, sharing an embrace with the driver that has called JR Motorsports home for the last nine seasons.
“I came here today and just kind of looked around and just learned and gathered what I could, and I told Justin: They think we’re out of it. We’ve got a bullet right here,” Earnhardt said.
“This is an amazing race car, and they think we’re out of it. They don’t think we’ve got a shot. They just think there’s three racing for this. This is the best spot to be in of the four. There’s no pressure.
“Now, he made it tough throughout the race. There were some moments. That’s Justin. That’s just the way Justin is.
“The one thing that was unique tonight is when he had to dig a little deeper, he got it done, and there were some pretty incredible moments on those final probably 20 laps that I don’t know that I even realized were — I need to go watch this thing over again.
“Just standing there in Victory Lane, listening to everybody chirping, talking about all the incredible moments, I’ve got to watch it over again. Because when you’re sitting there living it and you’re nervous as hell, you’re not absorbing all the things that are — that he’s trying to do and did and succeeded in doing on the racetrack. And it was just incredible.”
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