Kansas strategy sours for Justin Allgaier, who finds solace in Round of 8 ticket at Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Justin Allgaier's finish in 13th place Saturday at Kansas Speedway left him with three things: bittersweet emotions, some big-picture solace and four fresh Goodyear tires his team never got the chance to use. Allgaier's Saturday drive in the Kansas Lottery 300 -- the middle race in the Xfinity Series Playoffs' opening Round of 12 -- could have been one for the ages, a max-points performance that would have provided a victorious high note to career start No. 499. Instead, Allgaier and his No. 7 JR Motorsports team found the points and comfort they needed to advance to the postseason's next round, a key weekend objective that he and crew chief Jim Pohlman emphasized in the days heading into the 300-miler. RELATED: Race results | Schedule, TV info: Kansas The overly sufficient points margin provides Allgaier a worry-free stop next week in the Round of 12 finale at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, but it also provided a small measure of heartache for what could've materialized. "I mean, it's both, right?" Allgaier said, noting his midweek meeting in Pohlman's office. "... If we feel like we're going to win the race, go win the race, right, but we also needed to be mindful of the points. We've gone to the (Charlotte) Roval I don't know how many years the last handful, and you're racing your guts out just to try to make it in the next round, and we had the luxury of not having to do that. So those are big deals for me, but it's disappointing." Allgaier's Saturday story was one of smooth sledding in the early portions and bumpier slopes in the second half. The 39-year-old driver led 71 of the first 90 laps to sweep the stage wins, gathering more of the championship points that would buoy his Round of 8 aims. A sluggish pit stop during the Stage 2 break, however, knocked him back to sixth in the running order. Pohlman's pep talk over the radio took a mismatched page from the most famous movie set in Kansas, as he gave his driver a confidence boost with a reminder to be patient as well: "Put those little red heels together there, Toto." Allgaier worked back up to fourth, driving on after a slight brush of the outside retaining wall on the 124th of 200 laps. But his big move arrived with a pivotal decision by Pohlman to stay out during a caution period that flew with 45 laps left, when Nick Sanchez and Justin Bonsignore came together exiting Turn 2. Only the No. 41 Haas Factory Team group for fellow playoff driver Sam Mayer, who eventually finished 16th, was on the same strategy. MORE: At-track photos: Kansas The crew chief was counting on another yellow flag, which would have given the No. 7 team an opportunity to use that last set of tires, reaping the benefit of a newfound grip advantage over the teams that had only scuffed-in sets as an option. That caution never came, and Brandon Jones eased to his second win of the year. "The falloff is at one second in 10 laps, so all we needed was anytime after (Lap) 172, we needed a caution and we would have been sitting real pretty there," Pohlman told NASCAR.com. "Them guys had some scuffs laying, and they probably would have pitted and we still would have had to go around them, but that's a lot of falloff to have to deal with on sticker tires that we would have had laying, I think us and the 41 were still in the right position. Unfortunately, the caution just didn't fall. For us, the points were the big thing, right? I knew after the first two stages that as long as we finished in the top 15, we were probably locked, so I felt confident about making that right decision there. "But yeah, it sucks because we had a really hot rod and really good car and probably should have won the race, or should have been in contention to win the race. But hey, that's what they paid me to do." Pohlman struck an apologetic tone on the No. 7 radio during the cool-down lap, but reiterated that he'd have elected to use the same strategy given the chance for a do-over. Allgaier responded that he wasn't upset at the pit-box call, but rued the green-flag run to the finish that handcuffed them. Advancing in the playoffs helped offset that blow as Allgaier joined Jones and points leader and JRM teammate Connor Zilisch in the next round. "When we lost the track position there at the end of Stage 2, it was tough because I felt like our strength was being out front, and we made an adjustment on the car, too, that just didn't quite go with where we wanted to go," Allgaier said. "But I'm not disappointed in the call. Jim Pohlman is probably one of the few crew chiefs on pit road that is really willing to be aggressive and to make good calls on pit road, and sometimes they work for you, and sometimes they don't. We see it all the time on the Cup side here, on the Xfinity side and today just wasn't our day."