Race Report: Kentucky

Justin Allgaier and the Whisky River team led 32 laps during Friday night’s Alsco 300 at Kentucky Speedway on their way to a fourth-place finish. The effort was the team’s eighth top-five finish of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season and the 32-year-old driver now has 490 laps led just 17 races into the year.

Allgaier qualified second for the 200-lap event and remained there for the few first laps of the race, but as the run went on the Whisky River Chevy continued to get tight center out. He dropped back some, but still was able to hold on to remain inside the top 10, finishing the first stage in eighth on lap 45. Crew chief Jason Burdett called him in under the stage-ending caution for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment.

Taking the green for Stage Two in 11^th on lap 52, Allgaier wasted no time working his way back inside the top 10. By lap 59, the Illinois native had moved into the sixth position and radioed shortly after that the Whisky River Camaro was free into Turn 3 and still tight on exit at both ends of the track. Allgaier stayed in the sixth position for the remainder of Stage Two to collect valuable points for the second stage in a row. Under the caution the No. 7 team made a fast stop for four tires, fuel and a track-bar adjustment to try to improve the handling.

Initially the adjustment had helped as Allgaier started the final stage in fifth on lap 98 and was up to third in a hurry before a wreck brought out a caution on lap 100. Once the race got back to consistent green-flag conditions, Allgaier reported that the Whisky River Chevy was loose on entry and even tighter on exit as he fell back to the ninth position. When a caution came out on lap 133, the team caught the break they needed to be able to make some adjustments in addition to getting four fresh tires and fuel. He restarted in seventh on lap 139 and worked his way past the No. 18 of Kyle Busch to take second before another caution came out on lap 148. Staying out under the yellow, Allgaier maintained his track position and got a good restart on lap 152, taking over the lead. He paced the field for 32 laps before the Whisky River Chevy’s tight-handling condition returned and the No. 20 of Christopher Bell worked his way by. Allgaier remained inside the top-five in the closing laps and held off Cole Custer to take the checkered flag in fourth place.

Christopher Bell claimed the victory ahead of Daniel Hemric and Kyle Busch, with Allgaier and Custer rounding out the top five.

Justin Allgaier, driver No. 7 Whisky River team

“I’m just really proud of everybody here at JR Motorsports. Our Whisky River Camaro was a handful tonight. We struggled a little bit early, but we were really good on restarts though and I think that’s what made the difference for us, especially at the end. We were able to get a good pit stop, come out with good track position and then make the most of it. Hats off to the guys, they did a great job and made great adjustments all night. We just needed that little bit extra and maybe we could have gone to Victory Lane.”