Race Report: Indianapolis

JR Motorsports Race Report

September 7th, 2019
Race 25 of 33: Indiana 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Track Specs: 2.5-mile oval / 100 laps
Weather: Partly Cloudy; 78 degrees
Race Winner: Kyle Busch
Allgaier's Finish: 2nd

Justin Allgaier and the No. 7 Suave Men team came close to getting back-to-back wins at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, finishing second in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race after leading 24 laps. The result was Allgaier’s fourth runner-up finish of the season. The Illinois native remains fourth in the NXS point standings as the series heads into the final race of the regular season next week.

Qualifying eighth for the 100-lap race, Allgaier wasted little time working his way toward the front. He was up to fifth by the end of the first lap and remained there until a caution flag waved on lap 15. Restarting fourth after a car ahead of him decided to pit, Allgaier steadily picked off positions, eventually finding himself in third when the caution came out once again on lap 23.

Under the yellow, crew chief Jason Burdett called Allgaier to pit road for four tires and fuel. With some cars opting to stay out, Allgaier restarted in 16th, but raced his way back up to sixth before the green-and-white checkered flag waved to end Stage One on lap 30.

Staying out under the stage-ending caution, the JR Motorsports driver took the green flag for Stage Two in third and stayed inside the top five, eventually taking the lead away from Kyle Busch on lap 53. Allgaier continued to pace the field for the remainder of the stage, collecting a playoff point when he took the green-and-white checkered flag in first. Under the stage-ending caution, the team called him in for a fast stop of four tires and fuel.

Winning the race off pit road, Allgaier started the final stage from the lead position. Busch worked his way by and the two continued to battle, with Allgaier ultimately retaking command of the lead on lap 69. When a caution came out with 22 laps to go, the driver of the Suave Men Chevy led the majority of the field to pit road. The team made their final stop of the race for four tires and fuel.

Allgaier restarted in third and battled inside the top five until another yellow came out on lap 88. He took the late-race restart from the fourth position and was able to avoid a big wreck by two of the cars ahead of him to move into second before the yellow came out. The race would come down to a four-lap shootout. Allgaier was right behind Busch in the closing laps but was unable to work his way by, ultimately taking the checkered flag in second.

Busch won the race and was followed by Allgaier, with JRM drivers Noah Gragson and Jeb Burton finishing third and fourth, respectively. Justin Haley rounded out the top five.

Justin Allgaier, driver No. 7 Suave Men team

“Hats off to our guys. Our Suave Men Camaro was on rails, especially on the long run. We had a couple late-race restarts that just didn’t go our way and unfortunately that put us a little behind. Hats off to everybody at JR Motorsports. To have three cars in the top five is huge. Man, you don’t realize what this place means to you until you come that close to kissing those bricks again. We’ll go on to next week and finish out this regular season strong and hopefully go into the playoffs carrying this momentum on.”

No. 7 Suave Men Camaro SS

Start 8th
Finish 2nd
Laps Completed (Led) 100 of 100 (24)
Points (Bonus) 50 (1)
Point Standings (from leader) 4th (-138)
Status Running

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