Mechanical Issues Force Early Retirement for Allgaier at Texas

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor

Justin Allgaier had been on a streak of top-three finishes heading into Texas Motor Speedway, but unfortunately for the JR Motorsports driver, that streak came to an end on Saturday after engine issues brought his day to an early conclusion.

After starting eighth in the My Bariatric Solutions 300, Allgaier held his ground near the front of the field through the majority of stage one, but as the green-checkered flag neared, he reported to his team that he thought there may be a cylinder going down in the engine.

Though he did his best to nurse it to the end of the stage, the team would eventually have to take their No. 7 Chevrolet to the garage for repairs.

They would return to the race 24 laps down, but the damage had already been done and the engine gave way for good just after the final stage got underway and finished the day in 35^th place for his worst finish of the season.

“Not exactly sure what happened there,” said Allgaier. “You know, it’s a shame. These guys do a great job. Everybody at the Hendrick engine department. Our engines have been bulletproof. These Camaros have been fast.

“Luckily, we were able to get the parts that we think were part of the problem out when we came back to the garage and hopefully they can look at those during the week and figure out what happened. Engines have been flawless, these cars have been fast. I’ve got three teammates out there that have fast Camaros as well.”

As a result of his finish, Allgaier, who won the Dash 4 Cash twice last year, won’t be eligible for the first Dash 4 Cash race next weekend at Bristol, where he has one win, six top-five finishes, and eight top-10 finishes in 14 starts.