On Friday night, Justin Allgaier seized victory at the Richmond International Raceway. To achieve that, he managed to pull off a magnificent pass around the outside of Justin Haley. The move took place with 29 laps left on the scoreboard, and he never looked back since.
24 hours later, he is all set to do it again, as NASCAR Xfinity paddock returns for the double-header. As the race ran its course, Haley snatched the lead from Allgaier around the halfway stage and tried to pull out a gap.
However, Justin Allgaier was not about to let him get away so easily, and he returned the favour on Lap 222. From there, he kept it for good, and went on to win his second race of the season.
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“We’re just hitting our stride at the right time of the season,” remarked an ecstatic Allgaier. Meanwhile, Haley had to settle for second, ahead of Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric and Ross Chastain rounding out the Top 5.
.@J_Allgaier takes the lead away from Justin Haley.
Now less than 25 laps remain on NBCSN. pic.twitter.com/osDkhvblyz
— #NASCARPlayoffs on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 12, 2020
“I thought maybe a few more laps I could have gotten to him because he was really sideways toward the end,” Haley admitted. “Honestly, he just timed it perfectly. Lapped traffic was not ideal. The whole time I thought we were faster didn’t quite play our cards right.”
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How did the rest of the race pan out for Justin Allgaier?
When the race kicked off in earnest, Austin Cindric took top honours in Stage 1, while Justin Allgaier snatched a Stage 2 win. Another big winner was Michael Annett, who’s seventh place finish was enough to secure a playoff spot.
Meanwhile, Austin Cindric continued his Richmond Top 5 streak, with a fine fourth place. In addition to that, Brett Moffitt’s 6th place was his seventh top-10 finish of the season.
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However, things were not so rosy for 36th-placed driver, Myatt Snider. He got involved in a crash early on and could not progress up the field.
Things were far worse for 27th-placed Chad Finchum, who got disqualified after his car failed post-race inspection. Stephen Leicht will also be without the services of his crew chief, owing to an improperly installed rear axle from the vehicle.