SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Leaving Indianapolis Motor Speedway and during subsequent team gatherings at the JR Motorsports shop during the week, celebrations will be had from all across the organization as Connor Zilisch earned the milestone 100th win at the Brickyard Saturday evening.
However, the few hours after the Pennzoil 250 and flight back to North Carolina will come with some bitter feelings as cornerstone driver Justin Allgaier crashed from the lead with 14 to go after contact with Kyle Larson.
Through light rain and some ominous weather hovering over the 2.5-mile facility, the Xfinity Series field bunched up for multiple restarts as the laps ticked off.
Allgaier cleared to the point on a prior restart in front of Larson, who was piloting the No. 17 hot rod for Hendrick Motorsports. But on the following restart, Larson and Allgaier were even off Turn 1 and into Turn 2 before Larson scooted up the track and clipped the No. 7 Chevrolet, sending Allgaier into the outside wall. With heavy rear-end damage, it marked the end of another heartbreaking loss for the longtime Xfinity veteran who’s responsible for a quarter of JRM’s all-time wins.
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“It doesn’t take much here, especially restarts, the way that everybody’s kind of packed up here,” Allgaier said after exiting the infield care center. “Unfortunately, we got the worst end of the deal. Probably more disappointed because we came here last year, we went down a path and we weren’t as good as we wanted to be. [Crew chief] Jim Pohlman and this whole 7 team, we have worked tirelessly on trying to make sure when we came here to Indy that we had a car that was capable of not only running up front, but trying to win this race.”
That mission was accomplished as Allgaier led a race-high 37 laps and snagged the Stage 2 checkered flag from teammate Zilisch in a side-by-side tilt to the start/finish line.
Meanwhile, Larson kept the No. 17 off the Turn 2 wall and recovered to a fourth-place finish. He explained that he tried to stay off Allgaier as they raced side-by-side into Turn 2, but there wasn’t much he could do.
“I was almost clear and he was just able to kind of get to my right rear and just pull me back,” Larson said regarding the restart. “He kind of drove by me pretty quick where he just took enough air off my right side, where I was just kind of along for the ride there — was trying to miss him, but unfortunately, got into him. Hate to have that happen. That was kind of the end of my race there and obviously to his, so I don’t really know what I could have done differently yet. I’m sure once I look at the replay, I’ll see some things. But he was just there on my door, but I’m the one to control my car, trying to be anyways, but it’s still in my hands.”
It’s not just missing out on getting the 100th win for JR Motorsports in his 10th season with the organization, but it’s a crushing end for Allgaier at one of the most iconic tracks in the world.
At 39 years old, Allgaier knows it will only get harder to stay on top of his game and win at the Brickyard again, but regardless, he’s happy to see his team reach the milestone although the disappointment will linger until getting back into the car next weekend at Iowa (Sat., 4:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“I know how important Indianapolis is to the ecosystem of the sport,” Allgaier said. “Even for me, the want to win here again is high. You never know how many opportunities you’re even going to have to race here, let alone win here. I think that’s the hardest part. We were able to get up there and to lead the race and to manage well. We lost the lead a couple of times, and we were able to get it back. Those are really key moments for me that I feel really good about.
“I told [team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr.], if we get [100 wins], I’ll be in Victory Lane celebrating with you. I think that’s the most frustrating part. As a racer, you want to be the one to win those key milestone races. But as somebody that’s been a part of this company for a long time, and as somebody that has watched the men and women in our company work tirelessly to have great Chevrolets week in and week out, 100 wins is no small feat. We’ll go celebrate and have a lot of fun, but it’s going to sting.”