After 14 full seasons and eight championship years (seven of which were multi-win campaigns), it seems only a matter of time before Justin Allgeier steps onto the podium in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway this November. Chevrolet drivers no. 7 JR Motorsports have had a close relationship for so long that they advanced to their fourth championship in five of the last seven years and finished second in the title-deciding finals in 2020 and 2023, but a deal must be done.
Allgeier, 38, enters the 2024 Xfinity Series playoffs as one of the favorites to be the No. 1 seed with two wins this season. Six races separated him from another opportunity to finally win that elusive title. But I have at least one question. “I think that’s the hardest thing: How do you go back to other things after having success every year and still not winning a championship?” Allgaier asked at Xfinity Series playoff media day on Tuesday. “How do you enter Phoenix through a different thought process or a different way of thinking?”Allgaier’s latest outing on a one-mile track in Arizona felt symbolic of his previous championship pursuits. Chevrolet no. 7 was on his way to a clear victory at Phoenix in March, leading by three seconds with five laps remaining. That is until he blew a tire in turn 1 and ran his back into the wall. This brought his trophyless day to an abrupt end.
Perhaps because of the failure of Allgaier and Co. The pandemic is gone and we’re left with the regular season. The finale at Bristol Motor Speedway was another good example of making the odds worse. Allgaier entered the regular season championship with a 43 point lead and went on to win the regular season championship. He was driving when the car behind Austin Green blew a tire and hit the wall, hitting Allgeier and damaging the no. 7. He re-entered the top five but was thrown into the inside wall when Sheldon Creed and Allgaier went to the tower exit and spun him. Allgaier eventually finished 30th with ten laps to go and missed out on the regular season title by three points. “I think this has been a weird year for us,” Allgeier said. “At the end of the day, I’d say it was one of the worst years I’ve ever had. If it’s not right, it’s not right.We still do everything right. He still enters the playoffs as the points leader with the most bonus points at the end of the regular season. So I think this has been a really weird or weird season.
Recovery begins now. It’s the 12th of three races to the qualifying line with a 27-point cushion for Allgaier, starting with a trip to Kansas Speedway on Saturday (4 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). . But even though his success is questionable (five DNFs and seven 28th-place finishes in his first 26 races, including two of his last three), Allgaier isn’t taking anything for granted. “I want to go to Phoenix and play for a championship, but I know we have to go to Phoenix,” he said. “And looking at the two individual rounds leading up to the final, there are a lot of unknowns. There are many question marks. There are many things that can work for or against you. So we have to think that we scored a lot of goals this year. I did everything well and even if I didn’t make it to the end, I had a point to show. So if you earn our way, we can easily show you our way.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. owns JR Motorsports. He sees potential in both Allgeier and crew member Jim Pohlman. Since joining forces to begin the 2023 season, Allgaier and Pohlman have posted six wins, 22 top-5 finishes and 35 top-10s in 59 races. Earnhardt doesn’t see this year as a now-or-never moment for the duo, but “soon” is safely on the radar. “I think he’s in the best position to win,” Earnhardt said last weekend at Bristol. “She and Jim have a history and trust each other.
When he asked Jim to be the team leader, I said, “Okay, pick him.” Just looking at the statistics you can see that the third stage is problematic, some races swept the stage but did not get a result. But I only look at the speed of the car. When he unloaded and went through the process over the weekend, he actually had a great race car on par with any of our other cars. I think sometimes Jim goes too far or a little too far. “So I’m not too worried if I don’t win [this year]. I’d say it most likely will in the next few years. I’d be surprised if it wasn’t. I’d be a little surprised if he doesn’t win a championship in the next few years as a team with him and Jim and what they do.
On Tuesday, Allgeier talked about how strong his relationship with Pohlman is and focused on the fun and success they’ve had together as a driver/crew chief. By 2023, Allgaier felt he couldn’t make a wrong decision. Every decision was in favor of team no. 7. We’ve seen some of those moments this year, but there have also been headwinds. But make no mistake. Allgaier is equally enjoyable. “I think sometimes you need highs and lows. Correct? he said “In this sport, you need a top to enjoy the moment and excel. But you really need a valley to reset yourself and give you extra motivation and drive.
“Obviously Bristol didn’t go the way we wanted. But it is a great motivator. Correct? I look back on that race and all the challenges I went through. That was a big motivation for me to go to Kansas this week and try to make up for what I didn’t do in Bristol. “I think we have a machine that can do that.”Of course, he is the trust and support of the team. Allgaier, who has been with JR Motorsports since 2016, drove the no. 7 Chevrolet with 22 of his 25 Xfinity wins, making him a perennial threat for the Xfinity Series championship. Earnhardt, a 2021 NASCAR member and two-time series champion, believes Allgaier has what it takes to hoist a trophy in November 2024 or sometime in the future.
“We’ve made some great decisions in the company, but hiring Justin was one of them,” Earnhardt said. “He is very professional. He represents our partners very well, everyone who came into contact with him at Unilever and of course Brandt, where he grew up, and all the partners who were in his car. They like it. he is perfect He takes care of everything. And if things don’t go well, we seriously test ourselves. He will not do or say things that are difficult for you as an owner, as a team or as an organization. “He’s a very nice guy and I appreciate that. “So I want to help him win this championship because I know it’s very important for him, but I think we’re going to put ourselves in a very good position for him.”
