LOUDON, N.H. – Justin Allgaier was looking to join some elite company at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, hoping to join Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell as the only drivers to win consecutive Xfinity Series starts at the “Magic Mile.”
He had the car to do it.
By the end of the second lap, Allgaier emerged with the lead from his fourth starting position. Throughout the opening stage, he traded it back and forth with eventual winner John Hunter Nemechek – also trading paint in the process.
“[I was] just minding our own with [Nemechek],” Allgaier said of the opening stage. “He had to get to my bumper and move me to get by me, even when we were just riding and we were able to get the lead back. I felt our car was really good.”
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Allgaier cruised to the opening stage victory. It’s his fifth of the season, tying Cole Custer for the most in the Xfinity Series through 18 races.
Then it all went wrong. Allgaier slid through his pit stall, and his No. 7 team began working on the car when it was still outside of the pit box. That resulted in a penalty that forced him to drop to the rear of the field for the restart.
“I was trying to get him back [in the box] to hold the track position,” James Pohlman, Allgaier’s crew chief, told NASCAR.com. “Unfortunately, we jacked the car and if you start service, then you have to do it. We came back down to put lefts on. That’s just part of the game.”
After tracking inside the top 20, another caution flew. On the next restart, there was a stackup at the front of the field which led to a pileup in the middle of the pack. Parker Kligerman, Ryan Sieg and Anthony Alfredo may have gotten the worst of it (all DNFs), but there was Allgaier spun around on the frontstretch, with damage on all four corners of his Chevrolet.
Another yellow flag emerged with a handful of laps remaining in the second stage. Pohlman kept Allgaier on the track while most front-runners pitted. The No. 7 car finished sixth, earning five stage points with a battered car.
Allgaier powered on during the second half of the race, remaining a viable top-10 threat. He was able to crack the top five at times, but ultimately finished sixth.
He was left disappointed after the 206-lap race.
WATCH: Chaos on restart leads to pileup
“I feel like we gave one away today,” he said. “Jim Pohlman did a fantastic job with the pit strategy and what we needed to do. The guys did a good job with the repairs. Really aggravated with how the race ended; the calls on some of the timing lines. You work your guts out all day to get back up there and to have it all taken away for no reason. Pretty frustrating, pretty aggravated.”
In what could have been a much bigger hit to his regular season championship hopes, Allgaier lost just six points to Nemechek, who dominated the race by leading 137 laps. With Cole Custer getting caught up in an overtime restart, Allgaier gained a position in the standings, moving up to third.
“These guys just fought hard all day,” Pohlman said. “That’s a testament to this team; the no-quit attitude in them. We just keep fighting. … We keep hanging tight with these guys that are leading the points. We got a [playoff] point out of today which is good. We lost a little bit overall. John Hunter is starting to pull away, which is frustrating for us because we feel like we’re doing the right things and not getting the results to show for it.”
The series heads next week to Pocono Raceway, where Allgaier has three consecutive top-10 finishes.