Justin Allgaier Finally Wins Title in the Most Improbable Fashion

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Finally.

After 25 wins, 471 starts and seven appearances in the Championship 4, Justin Allgaier is a NASCAR Xfinity Series champion at last.

He went from Hell and back the entire night, yet he defied all the odds and stormed through the field twice to claim his first Xfinity championship in such improbable fashion that not even Hollywood could’ve dreamt it up.

“When I sit down 10 years from now and I’m no longer driving, tonight is going to be one that you’re going to laugh at wholeheartedly,” Allgaier said. “And it is going to be one that will make this night that much more special.”

For most of the weekend, Allgaier’s personified by Murphy’s Law: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

Brennan Poole‘s blown engine in practice caused Allgaier and several other cars to crash and lose control in the oil, and the No. 7 team’s brand-new, purposefully built Phoenix car was junked after four laps. After roaring from 37th to sixth in the first 40 laps, contact with a frustrated Riley Herbst after a near-wreck at the end of stage two dropped Allgaier to 10th with a softened left rear tire that looked ready to blow at a moment’s notice.

Allgaier and Herbst make contact late in the stage! #Championship4 pic.twitter.com/eTdZeMPrKz

— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) November 10, 2024

And then, everything fell apart at the start of the final stage. Allgaier drew a restart violation on lap 99 by moving out of line before the start/finish line, which drew a pass-through penalty under green. Then to add insult to injury, Allgaier was penalized for speeding on pit road while serving said restart penalty.

The No. 7 was issued an additional penalty for speeding on pit road.

— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) November 10, 2024

By this point, his title hopes were on life support. Allgaier fell off the lead lap to 35th place, and it appeared that his seventh Championship 4 appearance would result in yet another disappointment.

“I was ready to pull down pit road to be honest, just park the car in the pit stall and get out,” Allgaier said. “Because if it could go wrong this weekend, it went wrong.”

That is, until lap 156.

The caution came out for Anthony Alfredo’s hard crash, and Allgaier was running 12th and had yet to make a green-flag pit stop at the time. The caution came out while he was on the lead lap, and with the opportunity to pit for fresh rubber, he was back in the ballgame.

“[The caution was] Christmas,” Allgaier said. “Christmas in November.”

He restarted just outside the top 10 with 37 to go, and he made quick work of fellow Championship 4 drivers Austin Hill and Allmendinger. But Cole Custer had pulled quite a gap to Allgaier in third place, and it was only after a 20-lap chess match of methodical, calculated moves that Allgaier had passed Custer to take the Championship 4 lead with 8 laps to go.

Allgaier retained the lead with Custer close behind with 3 to go, but as has been the case for most of the 2024 season, the Xfinity championship would be decided by an overtime restart.

“I was thinking that when I was really open, we get to the white [flag], because I got around Cole and then the caution came out,” Allgaier said. “We couldn’t just finish this thing off, right?”

After losing two spots on pit road and exiting fifth, Allgaier had a monster restart in the first overtime, cutting underneath Custer and Hill to retake the championship lead out of turn 2.

“I had this moment of, if the No. 21 drives it off into the corner like I think he’s going to, there’s no way he’s going to come out the other side,” Allgaier said. “And so, I was like, I’m just going to hedge to the middle. I entered in high … and (spotter) Eddie [D’Hondt’s] voice went up five octaves, and he’s yelling at me to get down, get down. And then we were able to get clear.”

With Allgaier up to second place and the rest of the Championship 4 outside the top five, things were looking good for the No. 7 team until Parker Retzlaff crashed to force a double overtime restart.

Restarting on the front row for the final two laps of the season, Allgaier was clear to the lead despite a tight squeeze into the wall with Herbst and Jesse Love heading into turn 1.

With the white flag in hand, Herbst — who dominated the race with 167 laps led — was rapidly closing in on the No. 7 car for the lead. Allgaier left the No. 98 car room through turns 3 and 4, which allowed Herbst set sail to the race win and Allgaier to clinch the coveted Xfinity championship after seven Championship 4 appearances and nine seasons of trying at JR Motorsports.

“[Herbst] would have done whatever it took to get by me in the last corner, so I gave him the bottom and I just hoped that we could drag race off the corner,” Allgaier said. “But either way, to come out of here with a second-place finish, to come out of here with a championship. Yeah, you want to have the walk-off home run and win the race, but it’s still an amazing journey to get here, and I’m proud of what we accomplished tonight.”

Forever a champion in the series, Allgaier also spoke about how it’s the people that make wins and moments like this special.

It’s the sponsors, the crew members and the personnel that work in the shop and make the No. 7 team the powerhouse it is today.

“I cannot say enough about the team that I have behind me,” Allgaier said. “And the reason why tonight is going to be so special for many years to come is because — one of the BRANDT employees texted me this morning, and he said, ‘the only way to have a comeback story is to start from behind,’ and we’ve done that all weekend. We’ve done that all year, and this team is really special.”

And it’s the family and friends that are there to celebrate and enjoy the moment with him.

“Family is what started the sport for me, it’s what carried the sport for me,” Allgaier said. “It’s what I will always go back to. They’re the most important piece. Having all of them here tonight, and to celebrate and to be part of it is — there are no words.”

All that’s left for Allgaier now is to count down the days to February and do it all over again.

I signed a new two-year contract, and to be honest with you, tonight makes me ready to go to Daytona,” Allgaier said. “I know that sounds crazy. I know we got an off season. I’m getting shoulder surgery in a couple of days, right? Got a lot going on, but I truly am ready to go to Daytona. I’m ready to keep this journey going.”