FORT WORTH, Tex.—Justin Allgaier needed a moment to reflect following the Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 on Saturday.
The driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet had 100,000 reasons to be discouraged after watching the Xfinity Dash 4 Cash bonus slip through his fingers in the closing laps at Texas Motor Speedway.
Allgaier led the most laps—117 of 200. He swept both stages. He was in control of the point until Lap 174 when the sixth of seven cautions flipped the script on the 37-year-old racer.
“Really frustrating to lead that many laps today and have such a great TradeMark Nitrogen/Brandt Camaro and just not have anything for it at the end there,” said Allgaier, who finished third.
“With a couple of restarts to go, we were on the outside behind Brandon (Jones) and just got stacked up on the start. We just couldn’t get going and fell behind from there.
“Just a disappointing way to end the day. But I feel good about our car, where we’re at and what we need to move forward.”
Allgaier tied Kyle Busch for most top-10 finishes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with 266. But the milestone was far from a consolation prize for watching his 20-year-old teammate, Sam Mayer, run away with the victory and the $100,000 bonus.
Allgaier’s pit crew was solid on Saturday and helped the driver maintain track position throughout the 200-lap contest. On the final stop, he referred to the No. 7 over-the-wall gang as “lifesavers.”
“The crew did a better job than the driver today—all around,” Allgaier said. “We had a great car. The effort and time that goes into building these race cars is unmatched. They did a great job on pit road today. The pit crew was lights out today.
“We’ve been hard on them. I know they want it as bad as we do—and today, they showed out. It was impressive what we did on pit road today. We had the right strategy, it just didn’t work out at the end—and we’re sitting here frustrated with a third-place finish.
If Allgaier could change anything, it would be his final restart. He believes had the No. 7 Chevy been out front for the final green-flag run with 11 laps remaining would have made a difference.
“I felt like that last little bit there, after we got out of the groove over here, I just never got the tires back underneath me. I felt like I struggled having the tires underneath me over the last 11 laps—which hurts.
“At that point, it is what it is. You’ve kind of made your bed.”
Still, with Mayer and second-place Ryan Sieg banging doors in the closing laps while battling for the lead, was Allgaier hoping the seas would part and he could capitalize?
“I thought maybe that’s what was going to happen—especially off of Turn 2—when the 1 (Mayer) got beside the 39 (Sieg),” Allgaier said. “(Sam) just got clear of him that at that point it was game over. I didn’t even expect the 39 to get back to his inside.
“I think if they would have entered Turn 3 side-by-side, it might have been a different story. We were just too far back.”
After a slow start to the Xfinity Series season, JRM finally scored its first win of 2024.
“Great day for the company, getting Sam the win and the Dash 4 Cash,” Allgaier said. “And locking ourselves into the Dash 4 Cash for next week. That was really important.
“Sam did a great job. I didn’t think he was going to be able to get to the 39—and he did. Ultimately, he got by him. It was doable. Just unacceptable to have such a bad end of the race for us.”
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
