Practice Crash Shakes Up Xfinity Championship Fight Early

Justin Allgaier climbs into his backup car during NASCAR Xfinity Series practice Friday at Phoenix Raceway. (JR Motorsports photo)

AVONDALE, Ariz. – A split second during NASCAR Xfinity Series practice Friday afternoon at Phoenix Raceway was all it took to shake up the early complexion of the Championship 4 battles.

Fluid on the track after a blown transmission from the No. 44 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet Camaro of Brennan Poole led to a multi-car crash in turns one and two, as driver after driver lost grip on the slick pavement and found themselves careening up into the outside SAFER Barrier.

Chief among those involved were JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier – one of the four title-eligible contenders on both the driver and owner points sides – and Aric Almirola, who hopes to deliver Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 team an owner’s championship at the end of the weekend.

The accident took place less than 15 minutes into the 50-minute practice round.

Allgaier saw both Parker Kligerman and Shane van Gisbergen slide up into the wall ahead of him as he approached the corner, but when he attempted to get on the binders and avoid disaster, the left front tire on the No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet Camaro locked up in a plume of smoke.

With no way to prevent contact, the right side of Allgaier’s car pancaked the wall, and behind him his teammate Brandon Jones befell a similar fate before Almirola’s car spun in the oil behind Jones and smashed into the rear of Jones’ car before nosing into the outside wall in its own right.

In all, five drivers were forced to backup cars – Allgaier, Almirola, Jones, Kligerman, and van Gisbergen.

After being checked and released from the infield care center, Almirola described his view of the incident and noted that the first indication he had that something was very wrong was when Allgaier locked up his left front tire and started sliding toward the fence.

“The first thing I saw was the (No.) 7 looked like he locked up his left front, and that’s not necessarily unusual, right? That happens. But when I got down to the corner, I just had no grip at all. The car just started going straight,” Almirola explained. “I got off the brakes and tried to spin it out (to avoid hitting the wall), and just crashed in the oil. I don’t know who blew up or broke something, but it’s really, really disappointing to come out here and race for a championship and have somebody who oiled the track down wipe out half of the cars racing for a championship. It’s so uncalled for.

“As far as the race, though, we’ll bring out a backup … but it’s really disheartening. We worked on that car for more than a month, because we felt going into the last round that we had a great shot at making it here to race for an owner’s championship, and we did that only to have this happen,” he continued. “A lot of effort and a lot of detail work went into that race car, and it was really our best one, so now we’ll just have to go fight with our second best one and see what we can make happen on Saturday.”

Allgaier was visibly distraught upon exiting his crashed primary car in the garage area, smashing his hands into a tool cart before receiving a hug from crew chief Jim Pohlman and walking to the care center to be evaluated as per the NASCAR Rule Book after any sort of crash.

His disappointment was evident in a later interview, as he felt going into the weekend that this year marks his “best shot yet” at finally collecting an elusive Xfinity Series championship.

“To be in this situation is just frustrating, especially when you’re in a format like we have now where it’s a single-race playoff for the championship,” noted Allgaier, who was second quickest on single-lap speed in Friday’s practice. “As the board shows, our (primary) car was really, really fast. I’m so proud of everyone at JR Motorsports, not just for what they brought here, but to get a backup car on track just for us to get laps in before the end of the session.

“That primary was arguably the best car I’ve ever had at this racetrack, so for it to be crashed hurts, but we worked hard on our backup car just because this exact scenario is something that can happen,” Allgaier added. “As we saw, it did this time around. This team did an amazing job of preparation, though, so we’ll be ready for the race.”

Almirola’s backup car was on the track in just under 18 minutes, while Allgaier’s team got him out in a backup car in 32 minutes, allowing both drivers to turn laps before the end of practice at 6 p.m. ET.

For Allgaier, the disappointment of Friday’s accident was compounded by the fact that he cut a tire and crashed in nearly the exact same spot on the one-mile desert oval while leading inside of five laps to go in the spring race.

He assured his fans, however, that he’s not about to give up the fight.

“Jim (Pohlman) gave me that hug in the garage for motivation,” Allgaier explained. “It’s disappointing that this happened right where we crashed in the spring, but I’ve learned in this sport and in life that the peaks don’t come without the valleys. I know what kind of race team we have, and I know everyone at JR Motorsports is standing behind us, cheering us on to go out and win a championship this weekend.

“Just the wrong spot to have an engine expire for someone, I guess, but we’ve still got plenty left in us.”

Qualifying for the Xfinity Series championship race at Phoenix Raceway is slated for 4 p.m. ET Saturday, live on USA, with race coverage beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET on The CW, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.