RICHMOND, Va. – Justin Allgaier’s recent dominance in the NASCAR Xfinity Series hit a snag in Friday night’s Go Bowling 250 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway.
On Lap 227 – following a late-race restart, Allgaier’s No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet was collected in an accident with fellow Xfinity Series Playoff contender Cole Custer when the cars of Austin Cindric and Custer made contact in a four-wide battle entering Turn 3.
Richmond’s tight quarters didn’t leave enough room for the cars to emerge unscathed with Cindric making contact with Custer’s No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang and then subsequently Custer hit Allgaier sending both drivers around.
Allgaier suffered the most damage in the crash, with his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet hitting the outside wall, while Custer was able to keep his No. 00 Go Bowling Ford off the wall and remain in contention.
A five-time winner this season in the Xfinity Series would suffer his fifth DNF (did not finish) of the season in the first round of the Xfinity Playoffs and finish a disappointing 32nd.
Preaching throughout the regular season, the Riverton, Ill.-native it was his goal to build as many points as possible – knowing the more Playoff points on his side, the better chance he had to battle through the wounds and maintain a player for the Xfinity Series championship.
“I said all the way through this year that you have to build as many points as you can before the Playoffs in case you have a night like tonight,” Allgaier said after being evaluated and released from the infield care center.
“That is the only advantage to the night is that we did our job up until this point,” he added. “It really sucks. “I am not going to lie to you, but it’s racing. We knew we had a couple strong runs here. We will keep plugging away.”
Despite the finish, Allgaier was proud of the resilience of his JR Motorsports and while he may not have had a winning car – he certainly had a vehicle capable of maintaining a presence at the front and contending for a strong result.
“I am really disappointed for our team,” Allgaier sounded. “They did a great job. It was the right place at the wrong time. We will go to the next two (races) and do what we can. Hopefully, we can do that.”
Even with his worst finish since Pocono (Pa.) Raceway in June, Allgaier only dropped two points in the Xfinity Series point standings. Allgaier dropped from the top spot to third, 34 points behind Richmond winner and current leader Christopher Bell and 21 points above the cut-off line.
Friday night also ended a stretch of 14 consecutive top-10 finishes from Michigan International Speedway to Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway. During the four-month stretch, the 10-time Xfinity Series winner captured four wins, nine top-five and 14 top-10 finishes.
He also won the Xfinity Series regular season title giving him an additional 15 Playoff points entering the Round of 12 which continues with the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval next weekend followed by Dover (Del.) International Speedway on Oct. 6.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
