Race Report: Pocono

Justin Allgaier ran as high as second in Saturday’s Pocono Green 250, but another run of bad luck struck the Breyers 2in1 team when the No. 7 Camaro suffered major damage during a wreck on lap 61. The 31-year-old driver was ultimately scored with a 37^th-place finish and still sits sixth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series point standings.

Allgaier started the race in 19^th and methodically started working his way through the field. Running in 16^th on lap 4, the JR Motorsports driver relayed to his team that the No. 7 Chevy was on edge in the center of Turns 1 and 2 and tight in Turn 3. Even with handling issues he continued to gain positions on the track, finding himself in 11^th on lap 14. Allgaier radioed to the team that as the run went on the edginess was still there, but that the Breyers 2in1 Chevy was getting tighter on corner exit. No. 7 spotter Eddie D’Hondt reminded Allgaier to stick with it as several other drivers were also battling issues. The Illinois native was able to hold on to it to finish Stage One in 11^th on lap 25.

Finally with an opportunity to work on the car, the team made a stop for four tires, fuel and multiple air pressure adjustments. He took the green flag for Stage Two on lap 31 in seventh place and was up to fourth when a caution flag waved shortly after the restart as the No. 5 of Michael Annett got loose and spun. The team decided to stay out and Allgaier got another good restart, moving into the second position behind Cole Custer. The two paced the field for much of the second stage, but it came down to a battle among four drivers, with Allgaier taking third as the green-and-white checkered flag waved at the conclusion of lap 50.

Under the stage-ending caution, the driver of the No. 7 relayed that his Chevrolet was loose when he was running by himself and tight in traffic. Coming to pit road, the team made a stop for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. Knowing that fuel was going to be tight, the team had Allgaier come back down pit road as the field was coming to the green to top off his tank. Following another quick caution period, Allgaier restarted among the top 15 on lap 61 and was coming out of Turn 1 when he and another car made contact, causing the Breyer’s Chevy to get into the wall and come across traffic, collecting the No. 20 of Christopher Bell. The No. 7 Camaro sustained heavy damage and was unable to continue on. Allgaier was scored with a 37^th-place finish.

Kyle Busch won the 100-lap NXS event and was followed by Chase Elliott and Daniel Hemric, with Austin Cindric and Cole Custer rounding out the top five.

Justin Allgaier, driver No. 7 Breyers 2in1 team

“We were trying to navigate our way through the restart there. We were coming off of Turn 1 and I kind of got turned and started to go to the right and it swung back to the left and I collected Christopher (Bell ) unfortunately and it wrecked both of our days. It’s just disappointing. Our Breyers 2in1 Chevy was really fast this weekend. We got up there and battled for the lead for a little while. The guys did a great job on pit strategy. I thought we were going to be in a really good spot. We’ll rebound for next week and go to Michigan and try to recover. We’ve had two terrible weeks in a row so I’m hoping to get this monkey off of our back.”