Justin Allgaier has been a mainstay in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for eight consecutive seasons aboard the No. 7 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports.
During that time, the Illinois native has racked up 18 victories and led 4,477 laps. Despite his success, the series championship has eluded the 37-year-old.
Four third-place points finishes along with a runner-up effort in 2020 sets the stage for one of the series’ longest running questions — when will Allgaier break through?
This season has been another solid year for Allgaier with two victories and an average finish of 10.9 through the first 26 races.
While he has yet to write this year’s playoff story, Allgaier is at peace entering the first race of the Round of 12 Friday at Tennessee’s Bristol Motor Speedway.
“Listen, if my career ended today, I’d be perfectly happy with the things that I’ve accomplished,” Allgaier said during Tuesday’s media day. “Do I want to win a championship? Absolutely.
“(Is it) on my to-do list as being No. 1? Absolutely.
“I look at all the drivers that have (had) the opportunity to win. Some of my heroes have never won a championship,” Allgaier continued. “That’s not to say that they weren’t successful or didn’t have great careers.
“It’s just a testament to how hard this sport is and how difficult it is.”
This season’s parity within the Xfinity Series Playoffs is uncanny. Allgaier enters the postseason as the oldest driver in the field, while the youngest driver, Sammy Smith, enters his first playoff run at age 19.
While Allgaier’s age equates to experience that can be useful, he believes it can also be a detriment in some situations.
“I think as a veteran and somebody that’s got experience, you sometimes come in a little more tentatively, maybe you don’t put yourself in positions you would even in the regular season to try to win races because you know that maybe sometimes being safe is a better route,” Allgaier said.
“But winning races is also really ultra-important. If you can win a race each round and lock your way into Phoenix, it’s a lot easier than it is to point your way in,” Allgaier added. “I think sometimes with experience comes reservation. I’ve got plenty of gray hair here to prove that I’ve done my fair share of crashing. I think you just race differently than you would if you’re kinda young and tenacious and have a little bit of a different outlook on what it takes to be successful.
“I also don’t know how many more opportunities I’ll have,” Allgaier continued. “You never know when that next opportunity is going to come to have a shot to go for a championship, so you try to almost hold it in close and not let it go and sometimes I think, maybe throwing caution to the wind would be a better approach.”