AVONDALE, Ariz. — 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.
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.”
e 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.”