Sparks 300 at Talladega Superspeedway
JR Motorsports Race Report
Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022
Race 28 of 33: Sparks 300 at Talladega Superspeedway
Track Specs: 2.66-mile tri-oval / 113 laps
Race Winner: AJ Allmendinger
Allgaier’s Finish: 15th
Point’s position: 6th (-45)
Justin Allgaier, driver of the No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet, scored a 15th-place finish in his 400th career NASCAR Xfinity Series start on Saturday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway. Allgaier, who became just the 10th driver to start 400 or more races in the NXS, led for six laps and scored stage points in both Stage One and Two before earning the top-15 finish. With the result, the JR Motorsports driver sits 25 points above the playoff cutline as the sixth seed with one race remaining in the Round of 12.
Race Rundown
- Allgaier took the green flag for the 113-lap event from the fourth position after a strong qualifying effort on Friday afternoon.
- The driver of the BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet bided his time early on, patiently drafting inside of the top five through the opening seven laps. Then, utilizing the outside line to his advantage, Allgaier charged into the race lead on lap 8 and held on to the top spot for the six laps that followed before being shuffled back to the sixth position.
- Despite falling out of the top spot, Allgaier continued to jostle for position in the closing laps of Stage One, racing two and three-wide before ultimately taking the green-and-white checkered flag in seventh on lap 25. The seventh-place finish to end Stage One earned Allgaier four points to begin the afternoon.
- During the stage-ending caution, crew chief Jason Burdett called Allgaier to pit road for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment. With varying strategies playing out on pit road, the driver of the BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet returned to the track for the start of Stage Two in the 10th position.
- Once back underway, the Illinois native again worked his way to the front, as Allgaier methodically drafted back into the top five on lap 31 before rapidly ascending up the leaderboard on the final lap of the caution-free second stage to charge into the second position. The runner-up result to end Stage Two earned Allgaier an additional nine stage points to bring the No. 7 team’s race total to 13 on the afternoon.
- Prior to the start of the third and final stage, Burdett called the driver of the BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet back to pit road for four fresh tires and fuel. Lining up in eighth for the lap-55 restart, Allgaier maintained his position inside the top 10 throughout the run that followed before the lone round of green flag pit stops got underway on lap 67.
- Coming to pit road on lap 68 for fuel only, Allgaier looked poised to remain with the front runners. However, as the field slowed to enter pit road, the No. 31 got knocked sideways, forcing Allgaier to get on the brakes to avoid the incident. As a result, Allgaier lost contact with the leaders as the pack exited pit road.
- Although not with the lead pack, Allgaier continued to fight throughout the closing laps as the driver of the BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet marched back into the top 15 to take the checkered flag in the 15th position.
- With the top-15 result, Allgaier now sits sixth in the NXS Playoff Grid, 25 points above the playoff cutline with one race remaining in the Round of 12.
Justin Allgaier, driver No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet team
“This BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet was really fast today. Jason (Burdett, crew chief) and all the guys on this JR Motorsports team gave me a great car, and it’s just unfortunate that we didn’t get a chance to get the finish we deserved. But we are still leaving here in a good position heading into the final race in this round of the playoffs. Hopefully we can have a smooth day next week at the Roval and move on to the Round of 8. I know this team is capable of getting it done, we just need to keep executing the same way we have all year.”
