Kelley Earnhardt-Miller, co-owner of JR Motorsports in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, indicated in a SiriusXM NASCAR Radio interview Thursday that Justin Allgaier plans to return to the organization in 2027 and beyond.
The comments come after Allgaier, the 2024 champion, recently admitted that he has considered retiring following the 2026 season.
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“I’m so glad that we talked him into coming back for a couple more years and not retiring yet,” Earnhardt-Miller told SiriusXM. “We might have him sticking around … I think you can count on him being with us and seeing him here at JR Motorsports in the future, for sure.”
In 21 races this season, Allgaier has racked up a career-high six victories and leads the series standings by a whopping 240 points. His victory at EchoPark Speedway last weekend clinched the No. 1 seed for the Chase, which begins in September at Darlington Raceway.
After a win at Nashville Superspeedway in May, Allgaier revealed his thoughts about stepping away from full-time competition after this year.
“We’re kind of working through what that looks like,” Allgaier said in a press conference. “There’s a lot of factors that kind of weighed in on my decision of what 2027 and what the future looks like. If you asked [JRM Director of Communications] [Mike] Campbell in January, he would tell you that it was 100% I was retiring. Actually, 105% — I mean, I bought a house in Illinois, if that gives you any consolation.
“I don’t know what the future looks like. What I know is that I’m having probably the most fun I’ve ever had in my entire career right now … I would say today you’ll probably see me — there’s a higher likelihood of you seeing me next year than there isn’t.”
Allgaier’s 34 career series victories rank sixth all-time, four behind Carl Edwards for fifth. He’s in his 16th full-time season in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and his 11th with JRM. Additionally, Allgaier has made 87 Cup Series starts, racing full-time in 2014 and 2015. He also delivered a ninth-place result in JRM’s first-ever Cup race, the 2025 Daytona 500.