Race Report: Bristol II
JR Motorsports Race Report |
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August 17th, 2018 | |
Race 22 of 33: | Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway |
Track Specs: | .533-mile concrete oval / 300 laps |
Weather: | Fair; 77 degrees |
Race Winner: | Kyle Larson |
Allgaier's Finish: | 3rd |
Justin Allgaier and the BRANDT Professional Agriculture team continued their summer hot streak on Friday night, bringing home a third-place finish in the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. The team’s fourth straight top-three finish allowed Allgaier to move up to second in the NASCAR Xfinity Series point standings, just 13 points behind the leader with only four races left in the regular season.
The Illinois native rolled off the grid in 10th and instantly began advancing his position at the drop of the green flag. Early in the run, he relayed to the team that the BRANDT Chevy was tight through the center and loose on exit. He was running in the sixth position when the first caution of the race came out on lap 71. Crew chief Jason Burdett called Allgaier to pit road for four tires, fuel and adjustments to try to help with the balance of the No. 7 Chevy. He restarted in seventh and lost a few positions, but rallied back to end Stage One in the eighth spot.
Staying out under the stage-ending caution, Allgaier took the green for Stage Two in sixth on lap 95 and got a good run on the outside line to move into third. He reported that he was still tight center and loose off, but continued to set his sights on the second-place car ahead of him. The caution flag flew on lap 105 and the team opted to stay out on the track. He restarted in third on lap 115 and took over the second spot. On lap 129 though, the No. 20 of Christopher Bell worked his way by. The stage saw one last caution before its conclusion and the team opted to stay out yet again while some other cars came to pit road. Allgaier restarted in second and remained there to finish Stage Two on lap 170.
Burdett called Allgaier to pit road under the stage-ending caution for four tires, fuel and a track-bar adjustment. Starting the final stage in 14th on lap 178, Allgaier wasted no time working his way back through the field. He was up to sixth on lap 194, and soon after, he worked his way past teammate Elliott Sadler to take over fifth. When a caution came out on lap 259, he was running in the fourth position and reported to his team that the balance of the BRANDT Chevy hadn’t changed. The team had him stay out on track and when the race went back to green-flag conditions, he got a good restart to move into the runner-up spot. The No. 23 of Chase Elliott tracked down Allgaier just a couple laps later and the two battled back and forth, but Allgaier ultimately held on to the spot as the laps continued to wind down.
It looked as though the race would be over, but as the field was coming to take the white flag a wreck brought out the caution, sending the race into overtime. The yellow flag gave Allgaier one last opportunity to go for the win and when they took the green for the final restart of the race, he gave it his all, but ultimately took the checkered flag in the third position.
Kyle Larson won the NXS race and was followed by Bell, Allgaier, Cole Custer and Joey Logano to round out the top five.
Justin Allgaier, driver No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture team
“We never really got the balance of our BRANDT Professional Agriculture where we wanted it tonight, but the guys did an awesome job in the pits and made good calls all night. At the end, I knew the No. 42 was faster and I was going to have to try to get past him on that last restart. Christopher (Bell) did everything he could do and got me a little loose there and I just didn’t have enough to hang on to second. All-in-all it was still a great night. To come home third, I know that’s huge for points. I’m really proud of this team.”
No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Camaro |
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Finsih | 3rd |
Laps Completed | 310 of 310 |
Points | 46 |
Standings | 2nd (-13) |
Status | Running |