Allgaier Grabs Third Win of 2022 at New Hampshire

Photo by JR Motorsports via Twitter

NASCAR

Justin Allgaier Claims Another Victory at New Hampshire

LOUDON, N.H. – Justin Allgaier and JR Motorsports continue to be the hottest team in the Xfinity Series. Saturday at New Hampshire, Allgaier took his third win of 2022, all of them coming in the last eight races. After a few major incidents and late restarts, the 7 team was number one at the Magic Mile.

Allgaier’s day got off to a very less-than-stellar start, as he caused the first incident. While running second in Stage 1, Allgaier ran wide into Julia Landauer on corner exit. This sent the No. 45 hard into the inside wall, all but ending the debut race for the Alpha Prime driver.

This caution shook up the running order late for Stage 1, as a few drivers opted not to pit. This allowed Ryan Sieg to restart as the leader and take the opening Stage win. Ty Gibbs did manage to bounce back to second in the quick dash to finish the Stage.

Gibbs quickly took command back early in Stage 2, and appeared on his way to a dominant Stage win. Even though the 54 fired off strong, the 88 of William Byron passed him late and never looked back.

Coming to the end of Stage 2, Daniel Hemric also spun Noah Gragson racing for sixth. This may have been the result of ill feelings brewing since Road America a few weeks ago.

Only after losing Stage 2, insult added onto injury for Gibbs, as the 54 was sidelined with a mechanical issue. One of the strongest cars was out of the running for the win.

On an early restart in the final Stage, William Byron also had an issue up front. The 88 had a flat tire entering turn one, sending him all the way back to 30th. After fighting and clawing his way back through the field up to third, Byron’s day only ended prematurely with a blown motor inside the final 40 laps.

With Byron sidelined, the lead went to Landon Cassill, who paced the field for the first time since 2015. As laps wound down, Cassill appeared to be in position to take his first NASCAR victory. Many hungry drivers were breathing down Cassill’s back though, including Josh Berry. The polesitter in the 8 had to start in the rear, and took the lead on lap 111.

After Cassill retook the top spot from Berry, the 8 was involved in a big crash. Racing Sheldon Creed for third Berry spun, taking out many behind him in turn two. This major crash led to a red flag for cleanup, as a few cars were destroyed. Getting the worst damage would be Jeb Burton and Ryan Sieg, as the 27 nearly caused the 39 to flip.

For the rest of the day, Cassill had to hold off a hard charging Justin Allgaier for the lead and win. Allgaier took command with 48 to go, only allowing Cassill to briefly grab the lead on another restart.

Once Allgaier passed Cassill again, the 7 was left unchallenged up front. Allgaier eventually cruised to the checkers by almost four seconds, while Cassill had to settle for third.

“We finished second last year to (a Toyota),” Allgaier said after getting the first Chevrolet Xfinity win at Loudon since 2007. “I told these guys I really wanted to win here. This place has been so much fun over the years. First of all, it’s my wife’s birthday today. If I can’t be with my wife on her birthday, the best way to do it is bring her home a trophy.”

“Just proud of our team, I didn’t do a good job early in the race. I apologize to Julia and the 45 team, I got into her. I still don’t know what happened, but I just feel bad no matter what the case was. Just felt like I wasn’t doing a good job all day. The guys kept me calm, we had great pit stops all day, Eddie D’Hondt is awesome up on the spotter’s stand, just really proud of this whole team. God’s good, and thank all you fans for coming out. I said before the race, it’s so cool seeing all the fans line up all the way around this place. This place never disappoints, I love coming up here to New Hampshire.”

Post-race inspection was not kind to a few top-five finishers. Landon Cassill was ruled to be too low in the rear end, while Noah Gragson was also busted for being too low in the front. Both cars were disqualified from their initial finishing positions.

After the DQs, the top 10 results were the Allgaier, Trevor Bayne, Brandon Brown, Jeremy Clements, Sheldon Creed, Ty Dillon, Austin Hill, and Kyle Weatherman, Mason Massey, and Bayley Currey.

The Xfinity Series returns to action next Saturday from Pocono Raceway. As the Playoffs near, the tricky triangle is the next obstacle between drivers and a big victory. Coverage of the Explore The Pocono Mountains 225 begins at 5:00 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Could Allgaier perhaps go back-to-back on two tracks he’s never won on?

Written by Peter Stratta

Be sure to follow us on Twitter

Be sure to follow the writer on Twitter

Photo Credit to JR Motorsports via Twitter