Race Report: Charlotte

Justin Allgaier drove the Hellmann’s Real Mayonnaise & Ketchup Chevrolet to his second consecutive second-place finish on Saturday afternoon in the Alsco 300. It was his career-best NXS effort at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Allgaier sits fifth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series point standings, 126 markers outside of the lead.

Starting the 200-lap race in sixth, Allgaier maintained his position for the first several laps. He relayed to crew chief Jason Burdett that the Hellmann’s Chevy had no right-rear lateral grip and was tight everywhere else. When the caution came out on lap 18, the team opted to stay out and maintain their position. Back under green on lap 24, he drove his way up to fourth, but with the tight-handling condition still plaguing him, he ultimately took the green-and-white checkered flag to end Stage One in sixth.

Under the stage-ending caution, Allgaier came to pit road for four tires, fuel and adjustments. He took the green flag for Stage Two in sixth and was in that same position when the caution flag waved on lap 66. The Illinois native reported that the Hellmann’s Camaro had good stability but the adjustments hadn’t helped front turn. Allgaier restarted in sixth and faded back to eighth, but gained positions in the closing laps to end Stage Two in the fifth position.

The team called Allgaier to pit road for four tires, fuel and a track-bar adjustment. A fast stop allowed Allgaier to take the green flag for the final stage in the fourth position. He moved his way up to third before another caution flag waved on lap 101. On the restart, Allgaier got stuck in the middle and lost some positions. He continued to race inside the top 10 and was back up to fifth when the caution flag came out with 60 laps to go. Under the yellow, Allgaier made his way to pit road for four tires, fuel and an air-pressure adjustment.

The 32-year-old driver restarted in fourth on lap 147 and was in fifth when a caution came out with 44 laps to go. Allgaier and the team opted to stay out while some of the other lead lap cars pitted. Back under green, he held his own for a while on older tires, but was running in seventh when another caution flag waved. This time the team took the opportunity to pit for four tires and fuel. On the restart, Allgaier drove from 12^th up to fourth before the last caution of the day came out on lap 181. Restarting in fourth with 16 laps to go, Allgaier powered his way to second and remained there until the checkered flag waved. The runner-up finish was his fifth top five of the season.

Tyler Reddick won the race and was followed by Allgaier and Jeffrey Earnhardt, with JRM driver Noah Gragson and Justin Haley rounding out the top five.

Justin Allgaier, driver No. 7 Hellmann’s Real Mayonnaise & Ketchup team

“We weren’t as good as we wanted to be today, but Jason Burdett and the boys did a fantastic job. We had great pit stops. Our Hellmann’s Real Mayonnaise and Ketchup Camaro was fast. The middle part of the run we were really good, but we really needed that fire-off speed and long-run speed. Hats off to Tyler (Reddick). He did a fantastic job. Overall it was a great day. I’m ready to get to Pocono.”