Justin Allgaier kicked off 2025 on a buoyant note. If clinching the 2024 Xfinity Series Championship was insufficient, Allgaier achieved new milestones for JR Motorsports. For the first time since 2007, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s team debuted in the NASCAR Cup Series. What’s more interesting remains how Allgaier earned a spot in the Daytona 500 and clinched a respectable 9th place. So the expectations were a little high entering the Atlanta weekend.

Justin Allgaier delivered duly. He entered Atlanta with a fresh perspective and qualified fourth. Allgaier ran strongly, earning points in both stages of the 163-lap matinee. He stormed to the front row by the end and vied for victory. But Dale Earnhardt Jr remains unsatisfied – as he believed Allgaier could have done more.

Dale Earnhardt Jr laments about his driver’s move

Well, a runner-up result at the start of the year feels amazing. Justin Allgaier has been making the NASCAR headlines for the past few months. That still continues. Yet Dale Earnhardt Jr. raised his eyebrows at the second-best finish at the Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250.

In the last few laps, Allgaier exchanged the lead with Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Aric Almirola, with whom he made some aggressive moves. Ultimately, neither could outsmart Austin Hill, who made the most of a push from Parker Retzlaff. Hill took the lead on the first turn of the final lap and fended off Allgaier by a 0.216-second margin.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. wondered why his No. 7 Chevy driver could not get over that slim time margin. In a Dale Jr Download episode, Dale Jr outlined how Justin Allgaier could not use his opportunity. “Not sure how to approach that conversation but he gets pushed out into the lead and that was fortunate. Nobody had passed the 21 pretty much all day. He’s pushed into the lead with a few laps to go and chose to stay low in front of his teammate,” he said.

He continued, “I think everybody felt the obvious thing was to hear you’ve got Austin Hill passed like you pull up in front of him. I’m sitting here screaming at the TV, like, alright, let’s go up the racetrack and get him.” Yeah, everyone loves Austin Hill!

In the closing laps, Justin Allgaier‘s teammate Sammy Smith also lined up for the two-lap shootout to the finish. Allgaier apparently tried to make room for his teammate – and Dale Earnhardt Jr was not okay with that. “I’m sure Justin has a long explanation of why he chose differently… he did have a teammate on the bottom. But I think in that scenario… I would have not been upset had he left his teammate… It was just Justin and the 8 down there, I don’t remember anybody else being behind Sammy.”

Yet, Dale Earnhardt Jr. also cut some slack for Justin Allgaier. Going up against Austin Hill with older tires may not be the best idea: “You don’t know what putting that two-car in dirty air at the end of the race, when he’s on the oldest tires he’s been on all day – you don’t know what that might do to him. That might neutralize him to an extent.” 

Indeed, Allgaier had to think carefully, given Austin Hill’s fierce momentum. Dale Jr.’s co-host could not help but shower praises on him.

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A speed that nobody can match

JR Motorsports may have made the headlines. But Richard Childress Racing’s Xfinity Series fold has been breaking records. With the 2025 Atlanta win, Austin Hill clinched four of the last six Atlanta races. His five in total ties a record that 2014 Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick last made. His eight-win total at drafting tracks tied a series record with NASCAR Hall of Famers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart.

Hill also swept both stages not only in Atlanta but also in Daytona. With his teammate’s Daytona win and pole win in Atlanta, no other team has hoisted a trophy or won the pole so far in 2025.

No wonder Dale Jr lamented Justin Allgaier’s moves, as a little tweak to them may have deprived the RCR star of all these record-breaking milestones. While Dale Earnhardt Jr. pined about his driver, co-host and RFK Racing spotter, T. J. Majors admired the Atlanta winner.

“Austin Hill’s won a lot of these races not by coming all the way to the start/finish line. Austin’s won these races because he knows if he’s out up front, these guys get together behind him. I don’t know what the stat would be, I’ll bet it’s a good portion of them – ended under yellow because he’s leading on the white-flag lap… Austin’s just gotten so good at it, man. He knows – he’s so good at it.”

It’s amazing to see the man progress in his career. He leads the table with 84 points and led for a staggering 202 laps. Those are majestic numbers.

For the rest of 2025, Dale Earnhardt Jr. clearly will push his driver to beat the RCR star. Let us see what rivalries Justin Allgaier and Austin Hill bring about later in the season.