By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer
Justin Allgaier overcame adversity on the final restart to earn a top-10 finish at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.
The Race
During the final caution of the in the inaugural NASCAR Xfinity Series race on the Brickyard’s road course, Pennzoil 150, Allgaier was penalized. His JR Motorsports No. 7 Klondike Chevrolet Camaro SS pulled the air hose out of the pit box. The penalty dropped Allgaier from a top-10 position on the restart to the tail-end of the field.
The veteran quickly went to work climbing back up the running order. In the chaos of turn one on the restart, Allgaier discreetly moved inside the top-20. As he continued to climb the running order, he battled both Xfinity regulars and road course ringers.
In the closing laps, Allgaier slipped by Xfinity regulars Brandon Brown, Michael Annett, and Alex Labbe. He also made quick work of ringers Jade Buford, Brandon Gdovic, and Preston Pardus. When the checkered flag waved, Allgaier found himself in seventh.
“It seems like we’ve had speed and just couldn’t finish one of these races until today,” stated Allgaier. “We’ve had speed week in and week out, battled for race wins.”
Recent Stats
Despite the late-race penalty, the Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard was a continued change of pace for Allgaier. The Riverton, IL native has just one top-10 in the past four races and has only finished two of the past four before Indianapolis.
Allgaier ran up front throughout the race. He finished second in both stages after starting the race in fifth. The race also featured the first practice sessions across NASCAR’s top three national series since before the COVID-19 shutdown. Allgaier was fifth-fastest in both sessions.
The seventh-place finish is the sixth top-10 finish for Allgaier this season. It is also the 182nd top-10 of his Xfinity Series career.
The top-10 moved Allgaier up from seventh to sixth in the points standings, 122 behind leader and race winner Chase Briscoe. He is 149-points ahead of the cutoff for the playoffs, held by Brown.
Running Cup
Next for Allgaier is the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 where he will fill-in for Jimmie Johnson in the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Johnson tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday. The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion plans to retire following the 2020 season.
“Obviously the circumstances are not what anybody wants,” admitted Allgaier. “It doesn’t have to be Jimmie or any driver for that matter. I feel like NASCAR, all of the teams, have done a really good job of being proactive. Unfortunately, with what is going on right now it is very, very difficult to do social distancing and hope that nothing happens like this.
“I’ve been sitting every week on stand-by for HMS. They’ve been extremely helpful in that regard on my end. They have a back-up plan for not only myself, but for all of their guys. So, I’ve sat every week and to be honest, I thought it was kind of crazy. I really didn’t expect this opportunity to come. When I got the phone call yesterday it was about 10 minutes before all of you found out. I couldn’t ask for a better team.
“I’m excited in one aspect, but on the other side of this we’re thinking about Jimmie and his whole family. No matter what happens tomorrow on the racetrack, we want to see Jimmie get healthy and see him back at the racetrack as soon as possible.”
Game Plan
Allgaier has 76 career start in the Cup Series, his most recent came in 2016 in the night race at Bristol Motor Speedway when he filled-in for Michael Annett. He has two starts at Indianapolis with a best finish of 27th. Allgaier has one top-10 finish in Cup at Bristol in 2015.
“I was honored when they called as asked me to be that guy,” explained Allgaier. “I looked at other drivers that have had fill-in rolls in the past and they’ve all done a great job with it. Especially at Hendrick Motorsports, they had a plan in place to make the drivers comfortable, make sure the drivers are fast. That resonates with me as a driver because you’re already on pins and needles when you’re filling in for someone.
“Even before the pandemic and since, they have had a set of my gear in the hauler. That way I can jump in and drive any of their cars. They unloaded the car last night to make sure my stuff was inside of it. In the morning I’ll have to jump in and make sure that I’m comfortable before they roll through tech.”
Moving Forward
Allgaier will start from the rear of Sunday’s race. Although there was no qualifying due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the qualifying draw had Johnson in the No. 48. As a result, Allgaier will drop back for the start due to the change. The No. 48 Chevrolet has had speed capable of reaching victory lane throughout 2020.
Allgäuer also commented on the potential of him going into the No. 48 full-time next year, replacing the retiring Johnson:
“I would say that the list for potential drivers for the 48 is long,” Allgaier recognized. “I don’t know where I fit on that list, but I’ve been very lucky to have a great relationship with Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet, be a part of their program, driving in some of the wheelforce tests for them.
“For me, this is 100 percent what I can give. It’s going to be important to go and do what I can do. If an opportunity were to come out of that for me to go somewhere, I would love for that opportunity. On the other side of that, I have a great relationship with my team. There’s a lot of moving pieces on that puzzle that would have to be addressed.
“Mr. Hendrick is a part of JR Motorsports; it is his group. He’s been a great leader. There’s been times when he’s reached out to me and talked me through some things on the racing side of things that he didn’t have to, but he did. He’s been a great advocate for the race team.”