Chasing Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Veteran Lays Down His Strategy for Talladega

After a P3 finish at Texas Motor Speedway, JR Motorsports‘ most tenured and successful driver marches his way toward Talladega. Justin Allgaier, the runner-up of last season’s Xfinity race, is someone who is backed by Dale Jr and his team, as they are aware of his capabilities. The 37-year-old does not disappoint them. His determination to stay on track is skyrocketing, and he is highly rewarded for that this season. Cornerstone partner BRANDT Professional Agriculture decided to pair up with him in his ninth season at JRM.

Going ahead to the Talladega Superspeedway with boosted confidence, Justin Allgaier fell short of the pole position by fifteen places. After the qualifiers, he opened up on the strategies laid out by him to race on the 2.6-mile track.

Justin Allgaier will start fifth in Talladega

The 37-year-old talked to Fronstretch after a tiring qualifying round and discussed important aspects of his racing. He mentioned that his strategies are different at different stages of the race. For example, a week prior, they gave pit strategies more importance, but while racing, things are different.  Allgaier said, “Um, at a place like this, there’s probably more in line with you know, where the race is at, right? So, I think especially if you get strung out and you get you know, how small packs of cars on a green flag lawn, it’s more important.”

“Or sometimes maybe when you’re coming towards the stage you looking at okay, who’s in the Top 10, who am I racing against for stage points. And really, I mean probably the biggest answer is what lap are we on, right? Like, you know, I feel like, for us we do so much prep work in the beginning of the week of what our pit strategies are going to be. And kind of your different plans depending on how the race goes.”

Justin Allgaier further expressed that he has a solid grasp of his position in terms of laps and the team’s strategic plans. He mentioned that while this knowledge could be somewhat distracting, it didn’t significantly impact him during the previous week’s race in Texas. Although he found the lack of visibility merely irritating over there, he admitted to not being fond of the situation.

It was Austin Hill who acquired the pole position for the upcoming Xfinity race in Talladega, and teammate, Jesse Love followed him to the second spot. Parker Kligerman and Cole Custer finished in the third and fourth, respectively. However, it is the experience of JRM’s #7 that would place him in a dominant position above others.

Xfinity clashes against the likes of Kyle Busch

In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Justin Allgaier has proven to be a formidable rival to Kyle Busch. Allgaier has demonstrated his racing prowess by keeping pace with Busch and overtaking him during the critical final laps in some instances. Rowdy has a track record of coming out on top, particularly in the crucial moments of late restarts. Meanwhile, Allgaier’s achievements include a victory and several top-three finishes, surpassing Busch and others, especially in the time period of 2019–2021.

This proves that he is a consistent threat on the track. While he may not always clinch the top spot, Allgaier’s tenacity and ability to go toe-to-toe with Kyle Busch, an experienced and accomplished driver, highlight his competitive spirit and dedication to the sport. Allgaier previously expressed his affection for the 2021 season. Irrespective of the location, they were not only competitive but also consistently among the top performers.

It will be interesting to observe his performance as the season progresses. Justin Allgaier currently ranks fourth in the Xfinity standings. A victory at Talladega would pave his way even closer to the championship. Stay tuned.