Allgaier’s Playoff Chances Take Early Hit After Kansas Crash

Justin Allgaier (HHP/Jacy Norgaard photo)

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – The recent dark clouds that have hovered over Justin Allgaier’s NASCAR Xfinity Series efforts continued to haunt him in the playoff opener Saturday at Kansas Speedway.

One week after a disastrous Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway outing cost Allgaier the regular season title, and despite entering Kansas Speedway as the top seed in the postseason, the Riverton, Ill., native encountered yet another roadblock in his latest quest to capture his elusive first championship.

Allgaier restarted 10th on lap 70 following the third caution of the day and was battling Sheldon Creed for seventh when Creed got loose exiting turn two and came down a half groove off the outside wall.

A host of turbulent air – combined with a tight three-wide situation where Allgaier was in between Creed and Connor Zilisch – eventually saw Allgaier break loose and skid down the track in a long, smoky slide before making hard left-front contact to the inside wall.

Though his team attempted to repair the heavy damage to the front corner of the No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet Camaro, Allgaier wasn’t able to maintain minimum speed on the next restart and pulled to the garage, ending his day after 73 laps.

The bleeding wasn’t just in the finishing position, however, as Allgaier free-fell from 27 points above the playoff cut line and tops in the series standings to ninth place and one point outside the top eight.

“I wish I could explain [what happened],” said Allgaier after being checked and released from the infield care center. “We had that restart and went to the top; I thought we were going to be in great shape … but the inside row got two- or three-wide there, and it bottled everything up.

“I still thought the outside row was the right choice, but Sheldon [Creed] got checked up and it got crazy,” he added. “We lifted a couple of times, and the momentum was really weird … I don’t know if me being behind him was just making him that loose, but once we got to corner exit [the car] took off on me.

“From there, I just have to figure out how to not hit the inside wall in that situation. It seemed like I slid forever, and the end result is just super frustrating.”

Ironically, it was the second straight race that a tangle between Creed and Allgaier led to the latter crashing, as the pair also found themselves in close quarters at Bristol before a similar incident.

Allgaier was quick to note that he didn’t hold any ill will toward Creed for either situation, though it puts his hopes of advancing to the Round of 8 in a more tenuous position heading to Talladega (Ala.) Speedway – where anything can happen at any time – for the final drafting event of the season.

“I’m proud of our effort and proud of this team,” he noted, turning the focus as positively as he was able to in the moment. “I don’t know if I’ve ever had a stretch of races like I’ve had this last month … but we’re not out of it, by any stretch.”

After a run of eight straight top 10s, including a win at Michigan Int’l Speedway in August, Allgaier has finished 17th or worse in his last four races. That includes three finishes of 30th or worse and two DNFs.

But only being a single point behind the advancement threshold to remain in the playoffs, with two races to make up one position on the racetrack, is a situation Allgaier is grateful for with all things considered.

“This is exactly why you do all the work in the regular season to get all the bonus points that you can, is for moments like this,” he said. “We’ve got a long road for the next two races, but I have the team to rebound strong as long as we can get some luck on our side.

“We still have a chance right now and that’s all I can ask for.”

Allgaier and the rest of the Xfinity Series field head next to Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway for race two of the playoff Round of 12 on Saturday, Oct. 5. Jesse Love won at the 2.66-mile oval back in April.

Broadcast coverage of the United Rentals 250 is slated for 4 p.m. ET, live on The CW, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.