SPARTA, Ky. — Standing in his hauler post-practice in an attempt to cool off at a humid Kentucky Speedway, Justin Allgaier reflected on the disappointment of one weekend earlier — but is ready to put the misfortune in his rearview mirror.
“Friday night obviously was one of the hardest, hardest times,” Allgaier told NASCAR.com about the XFINITY Series thriller.
Daytona’s Subway Firecracker 250 saw the JR Motorsports wheelman vying for the win — during an overtime finish — with Sprint Cup Series regular Aric Almirola . When an eight-car crash erupted behind the dueling pair, NASCAR parked the field to determine the finishing order, eventually ruling Almirola the victor.
“It’s disappointing but when you finish second at Daytona and you’re that close … you know you’ve done everything that you can do and you can’t really be too disappointed,” Allgaier said.
In his first full-time season with JR Motorsports, the Illinois native and his No. 7 team have, despite last week’s disappointment, thrived together with six top fives and 12 top-10 results.
And he carries mometum to Kentucky’s 1.5-mile track as four of his top 10s — Atlanta, Las Vegas, Texas and Charlotte — come at intermediate tracks.
One thing, however, is missing on this season’s list of triumphs is that coveted trip to Victory Lane.
“We’ve had some races where things have not gone our way and not gone the way we thought they were going to go,” he said.
“With all of that being said, if we keep putting races together and doing them the way we are going now, we’re in Victory Lane on quite a few of these races.”
And Allagier believes that one of “these races” could, indeed, be Friday’s Alsco 300 (8:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“We definitely have a car not only competing out front, but competing for a win.”