AVONDALE, Ariz. — Justin Allgaier and Aric Almirola crashed moments into NASCAR Xfinity Series practice Friday ahead of Saturday’s championship decider at Phoenix Raceway.
A broken transmission from Brennan Poole’s No. 44 Chevrolet laid oil upon the race track entering Turn 1. Allgaier slid through the fluid and into the outside retaining SAFER barrier with the right side of his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. His teammate Brandon Jones did the same, as did Almirola in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
Allgaier, a member of the 2024 Championship 4, is chasing his first Xfinity Series title Saturday night (7 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The No. 20 team, meanwhile, is seeking an owner’s championship.
MORE: Xfinity standings | Phoenix schedule
Upon entry to the corner, Allgaier was simply along for the ride.
“We all got into (the oil), and it just went straight,” Allgaier said after being evaluated and released from the infield care center. “I think that’s the frustrating part about this format is it comes down to one race, one weekend and we’re standing here in this situation. Obviously, the 20’s in it with us; it’s not ideal for anybody. But at the same time, we brought an incredible Brandt Camaro. It was by far the best car I’ve ever had here at this race track. And I think that’s the most frustrating part.”
To his point, Allgaier posted the second-fastest lap in Friday’s session within the few laps he made in his primary car. Both title contenders — as well as Jones and Parker Kligerman — will start from the rear in backup cars for Saturday night’s race 200-lap bout.
Both Allgaier and Almirola were able to practice their backups in Friday’s practice. Their incidents happened shortly after the 50-minute session began, and each championship contender was permitted to bring a race-ready backup car, wrapped in its primary paint scheme and equipped with an engine. Each was also allowed an extra set of tires.
Series director Wayne Auton conferred with crew chiefs of each of the other title contenders — Austin Hill’s No. 21 Richard Childress Racing team; Cole Custer’s No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing team; and AJ Allmendinger’s No. 16 Kaulig Racing team — to ensure all agreed with allotting the Nos. 7 and 20 teams an extra set of tires. Additionally, all Championship 4 teams — both in the drivers’ and owners’ points — will receive extra time in the garage to work on their respective vehicles, a NASCAR spokesperson confirmed.
Allgaier was in exceptional position to win the spring race at Phoenix in March, ahead by three seconds with three laps remaining before his left-rear tire went flat, sending him into a spin and into the Turn 1 wall rear-first. Allgaier’s frustration Friday after his crash in practice was more obvious — more furious — as he slammed his fists on a metal toolbox in the No. 7’s garage, a rare burst of anger from the typically mild-mannered veteran.
“I feel like you all know me pretty well, and I got in a fight with a toolbox, so I don’t feel like that’s characteristic of me normally,” Allgaier said after practice. “(The emotions are) obviously high. They’re frustrating, especially when it’s out of your control. You drive down into Turn (1) expecting everything to be status quo, and it’s not, and five or six of us hit the wall.
“Two of the Championship 4 or 5 are in it. Yeah, it’s frustrating. It makes you want to rip somebody’s head off, right? But at the end of the day, this is the cards we’re dealt. We’re gonna go after it and not really much else we can do other than make sure this race car is better than the other three.”
Allgaier felt comfortable in his backup car despite the clear speed his primary vehicle showed and remains optimistic for Saturday.
“I think we’re gonna make some adjustments to maybe match the primary car a little bit better over the course of this afternoon before we roll through (technical inspection),” Allgaier said. “But I felt like balance-wise, I feel really good about where we’re at. You’re in a rush, right? You’re literally throwing stuff on there. Tire pressures were close, but they weren’t exact. We didn’t have time to get the brakes up to temperature. All those things. It’s not perfect, but I do feel like we did a great job of getting where we needed to get to, and I have no doubt tomorrow we’re going to be just as fast.”
Qualifying for the NASCAR Xfinity Series season finale is set for 4 p.m. ET on Saturday on USA Network and the NBC Sports App.