CONCORD, N.C. — Justin Allgaier led 84 laps en route to his inaugural NASCAR Xfinity Series win of the season at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway on Monday night.
His triumph also marked the first time a JR Motorsports driver broke into victory lane this year.
“I’ve not been angry, but I definitely had a chip on my shoulder that JR Motorsports needed to win a race,” Allgaier said.
The No. 7 Chevrolet driver outlasted his competition in the final stages of the 200-lap race at the 1.5-mile oval, also overcoming a very atypical day at the track for the Xfinity Series, as the racing was on-and-off throughout the day due to rain.
“This whole weekend has been kind of a hectic weekend,” Allgaier said. “To stand here tonight, it’s truly special. To have 20 wins now on the career, it’s definitely not Kyle Busch status, but to be in this sport and be with a team like JR Motorsports, to go to victory lane is truly special.”
Joe Gibbs Racing’s John Hunter Nemechek came in a close second.
“It was definitely tough to not push as hard you could there at the end and try to run (Justin) Allgaier back down. We raced each other really hard — really clean, some aero games for sure,” Nemechek said. “If consistency is key to win the championship, we are pretty consistent. Just keep plugging on and we will go click off some more wins.”
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill and JGR’s Ty Gibbs completed the top five.Â
How It Happened
It was anything but a normal race day for the Xfinity Series, as the first 49 laps of the Alsco Uniforms 300 were contested before noon. Then, the final 151 laps took place following the Coca-Cola 600, with the Xfinity Series resuming its charge at 9:45 p.m. (ET).
Polesitter Allgaier kept a tight grip on the lead during stage one, but Gibbs was the man on the move early in the race. By lap six, the No. 19 Toyota had pushed past JGR teammate Nemechek to take second place.
The battle for the lead was between Allgaier and Gibbs on lap 20, with Gibbs hounding the rear bumper of the No. 7.
A competition caution was brought out lap 20 and a red flag followed shortly — due to rainfall. However, after a slight delay, cars were back on track to complete stage one, with Nemechek, Gibbs, Richard Childress Racing’s Sheldon Creed, Kaulig Racing’s Daniel Hemric and Allgaier leading on the restart.
Gibbs took the stage win on lap 45, with the race coming to a temporary close on lap 49.
A few hours later, the 37-car Xfinity Series field rolled back onto the dry, 1.5-mile track.
The race was primarily caution free, until JR Motorsports’ Sam Mayer spun with 73 laps to go and sustained right front damage. It was the fourth caution flag of the night. On the restart, with 67 laps to go, Nemechek and Allgaier shared the front row.
An antsy Gibbs was circling back in seventh, shoving his way through the field. The No. 19 was fourth with 28 laps to go.
Meanwhile, Nemechek was on Allgaier’s rear bumper, keeping less than a second of distance between himself and the No. 7. The two moved back and forth like an accordion, but Allgaier kept the advantage over the No. 20.
As Nemechek entered fuel save mode in the closing laps, Allgaier was able to build a 7.829-second gap over the No. 20 to secure the Alsco Uniforms 300 victory.