• Thursday, November 7th, 2024
• NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain

Justin Allgaier is poised and prepared to run for elusive NASCAR Xfinity title

JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier arrives at Phoenix Raceway as the most seasoned NASCAR Xfinity Series driver competing for the 2024 championship.

The 38-year-old Illinois-native will be making his seventh appearance in the Championship 4 Round and third in a row — but will be racing for the first title in a 25-win, 15-year career in the series in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race (7 p.m. ET on The CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Allgaier’s two Phoenix wins in the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet (in 2017 and 2019) are most among the four Championship-eligible drivers, but his best showing in the final championship standings is runner-up last season and in 2020.

This season, Allgaier has 19 top-10 finishes, including a pair of victories (at Darlington, S.C., and Michigan) and has led 705 laps, his second-highest total in the last four years, with a race still remaining.

“I think it’s understated what this team has really accomplished,” Allgaier said Thursday during NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4 Media Day at the track. “[Crew chief] Jim Pohlman told me two weeks ago, ‘We’re going to go win Phoenix, it’s just a matter of whether you race for a championship or not. If we’re going to raise a trophy, I’d rather it be the big one rather than the little one.’ 

“He’s very confident in that, and to have your leader of your group that confident kind of exudes confidence through everybody.”

“The confidence level is high. We’re ready to go,” he added. “When you show up here with a group that you know is capable of executing at a high level, it makes it a lot more fun, knowing everybody’s on the same page.”

Allgaier conceded his experience overall—and specifically at racing for a championship—has played a major role in his approach.

“I feel like in years past, I’ve kind of carried it on my back of like, you have to go here and there, lead every lap, qualify on the pole,” Allgaier said. “You get caught up in that mentality. Last year, I spun out on Lap 5 just trying to get in front of the other Playoff cars. That’s not what we needed to do.

“I’m just looking at this [Championship Race] a lot differently than I have in years past. I don’t feel the pressure of the championship like I have in years past. I come to this weekend, and I think being here as many times as I have and it’s not worked out, you get this sense of peace of like, ‘I’ve been here before and not been able to accomplish it.’ So, with a different mindset we’ll see what happens.”

Cole Custer wants to cap Stewart-Haas career with another title

Cole Custer’s life is about to change again—and he wants it to happen with as much gusto as possible.

The reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion is carrying the banner for Stewart-Haas Racing, which will cease to exist at season’s end.

Next year, Custer will return to the NASCAR Cup Series with reconstituted Haas Factory Team, but he would like nothing better than to reward the current ownership and employees at Stewart-Haas with a second straight title in the No. 00 Ford.

“We had a going-away party on Tuesday and seeing all the people that have been there for so long… everybody’s had a part in our team,” Custer said. “We used a lot of notes from the Cup guys (Chase Briscoe, Ryan Preece, Noah Gragson and Josh Berry).

“We asked a lot of questions. A lot of guys have touched that car. It definitely means a ton if we can try to finish this thing out strong… It would mean so much to everybody in that building, but at the same time, I think it would be so cool to see (co-owners) Tony (Stewart’s) and Gene (Haas) names go out on top.”

From a personal perspective, Custer would join an impressive list of consecutive NASCAR Xfinity Series title winners that includes Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex Jr., Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Tyler Reddick.

“It would be huge,” Custer said, “and from another standpoint, just having the shot to win a championship in NASCAR—you don’t get a ton of shots at that, so you want to make every single opportunity at that count.

“So, we’re going to try to make that happen and hopefully have that title again.”

To accomplish the goal, Custer will have to beat veterans Justin Allgaier and AJ Allmendinger, along with Championship 4 newcomer Austin Hill. He’ll also have to deal with a challenging one-mile, irregularly-shaped race track.

“You’re taking a 3,000-pound stock car and trying to make it go around a flat corner,” Custer said. “So, it’s very difficult to make the car do that. The two ends are different, and trying to get the car to work at every single point isn’t easy, because it’s so different.

“(The track is) starting to get some age to it, so the tires are falling off throughout a run, so you have to have a little bit of everything here.”

• NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship
• Pole Winner: William Sawalich
• Age: 18
• Team : No 19 - Starkey/Soundgear Toyota
• Owner: Joe Gibbs
• Crew Chief: Seth Chavka
• William Sawalich won the Pole Award for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship with a lap of 26832 seconds, 134168 mph
• This is his first pole in three NASCAR Xfinity Series races
• This is his first pole and first top-10 start in 2024
• This is his first pole in one races at Phoenix Raceway
• Sheldon Creed (second) posted his 24th top-10 start of 2024 and his seventh in seven races at Phoenix Raceway
• Riley Herbst (third) posted his sixth top-10 start at Phoenix Raceway It is his 18th in 33 races this season
• Jesse Love (sixth) was the fastest qualifying rookie

• Drivers Entered: 38
• Laps Scheduled: 200
• Laps Actual: 213 - NASCAR OVERTIME!
• Margin of Victory: 0.247 Seconds
• Time of Race: 2 Hours 24 Minutes 20 Seconds
• Average Speed: 88.545
• Cautions: 7 for 53 laps
• Lead Changes: 21
• Green Flag Passes: 2,432 (15.2 passes per green flag lap)

• NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship
• Race Winner: Riley Herbst
• Age: 25
• Team : No 98 - Monster Energy Ford
• Owner: Tony Stewart
• Crew Chief: Davin Restivo
• Riley Herbst won the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship race, his third victory in 175 Xfinity Series races
• This is his second victory and 15th top-10 finish in 2024
• This is his first victory and seventh top-10 finish in 11 races at Phoenix Raceway
• Justin Allgaier (second) posted his 19th top-10 finish in 29 races at Phoenix Raceway It is his 20th top-10 finish in 2024
• Aric Almirola (third) posted his third top-10 finish in nine races at Phoenix Raceway
• Jesse Love (sixth) was the highest finishing rookie
• Justin Allgaier won the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship
• Jesse Love has won the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award
• Chevrolet has won the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Manufacturers Championship
• NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Fast Facts
• Driver Champion: Justin Allgaier
• Team: No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
• Justin Allgaier won his first NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship, becoming the 34th different driver to win an Xfinity Series title.
• Allgaier's his previous best finish in the final series standings was runner-up twice (2020, 2023).
• Allgaier finished second in the season finale at Phoenix Raceway to claim the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship.
• Allgaier made 33 starts this season, posting two wins, 10 top fives and 20 top 10s.
• In the Playoffs this season, Allgaier put up three top fives and five top 10s.
• Justin Allgaier, from Riverton, Illinois, has become the first NASCAR Xfinity Series champion from the state of Illinois.
• Owner Champion: JR Motorsports, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelly Earnhardt-Miller
• This is JR Motorsports' fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series driver championship (Chase Elliott, 2014; William Byron, 2017; Tyler Reddick, 2018; Justin Allgaier, 2024) – which ties them with Joe Gibbs Racing (2009, 2026, 2021, 2022) for the third-most driver championships all-time in the series.
• This is JR Motorsport's first NASCAR Xfinity Series owner championship (Justin Allgaier, 2024).
• JR Motorsports is one of 20 different organizations to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series driver championship (2014, 2017, 2018, 2024) and has become the 19th different organization to win a owners championship (2024) in the series.
• JR Motorsports has led 20 different drivers to Victory Lane for a total of 88 wins in the NASCAR Xfinity Series – Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Elliott Sadler, Jamie McMurray, Josh Berry, Justin Allgaier, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Mark Martin, Michael Annett, Noah Gragson, Regan Smith, Ron Fellows, Tyler Reddick, William Byron, Kyle Larson, Sam Mayer, Sammy Smith and Connor Zilisch.
• JR Motorsports fielded the organization's first car in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with driver Mark McFarland at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 19, 2005.
• Crew Chief Champion: James Pohlman
• James Pohlman has won his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship (Justin Allgaier, 2024), becoming the 32nd different crew chief to win a Xfinity title.
• Pohlman's previous best finish in the series standings was runner-up in 2023 with driver Justin Allgaier.
• James Pohlman has won six NASCAR Xfinity Series races all with driver Justin Allgaier.