Race Report: Chicagoland

Justin Allgaier and the BRANDT Professional Agriculture team had an early end to their day at Chicagoland Speedway after damage sustained from contact with the wall due to a blown tire sent the No. 7 Camaro to the garage. Allgaier was scored with a 32^nd-place finish and is now fifth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series point standings.

Saturday started out promising for the Illinois native when he and the team qualified fourth for the 200-lap NXS race. He took the green flag and started his surge forward, but the No. 7 Chevy got loose and spun, bringing out the caution on lap 12. Allgaier was able to avoid damage to the BRANDT Camaro and he came to pit road for four tires, fuel and an adjustment to help with the loose-handling condition.

He restarted 31^st and wasted no time climbing towards the front. Allgaier was back up to ninth by lap 20 and took the green-and-white checkered flag to end Stage One in sixth. Under the caution, Jason Burdett called Allgaier in for four tires and multiple adjustments as he was still loose on entry and exit and tight through the center of the turns.

The JR Motorsports driver took the green flag for the second stage on lap 51 and was running in eighth when he reported that the BRANDT Camaro was better on entry and exit, but still plowing in the center. When a caution came out on lap 78, a majority of the field came to it road but the No. 7 team opted to stay out since they were down a set of tires due to their earlier spin. Allgaier restarted in third and was able to end Stage Two in ninth place despite being on older tires. During the stage-ending caution, the team took the opportunity to make several adjustments to improve the handling of the BRANDT Chevy.

Allgaier lined up in the 15^th position to start the final stage on lap 96 and worked his way up to sixth by lap 103. He reported that the No. 7 Camaro fired off good, but was starting to go back to the free side on entry and exit. A spin by the No. 39 brought out a caution on lap 111 and the team called Allgaier to pit road for four tires and fuel. Allgaier was in eighth when the field went back to green as some cars opted to stay out. During the chaos of the restart a car got loose below Allgaier and forced the No. 7 Camaro into the wall.

The BRANDT Chevy suffered damage to the right side, so Allgaier came to pit road for right-side tires and repairs. He got back on track two laps down, but not long after, the damage caused a tire to go down and sent Allgaier into the wall, forcing him to go to the garage. Allgaier ended the day with a 32^nd-place finish.

Cole Custer won the race and was followed by Joey Logano and JRM driver Michael Annett, Brandon Jones and Austin Cindric rounding out the top five.

Justin Allgaier, driver No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture team

“I hate how today went for our BRANDT Professional Agriculture team. We had so many people from BRANDT here cheering us on. Our No. 7 Camaro was fast and these guys worked hard all weekend long. I fired off loose at the start of the race and had that spin, but we recovered nicely and I thought we were going to come home with a strong finish. Unfortunately our bad luck returned.”