Race Report: Road America

Justin Allgaier and the BRANDT Professional Agriculture team rallied for a ninth-place finish after coming back from a lap down in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Road America. The finish was the team’s 15^th top-10 effort of the season and was good enough for Allgaier to clinch a spot in the NXS Playoffs. The JR Motorsports driver currently sits fourth in the point standings with three races left in the regular season.

Qualifying eighth for the 45-lap race, Allgaier was racing inside the top 10 when he relayed to the team that the BRANDT Chevy was tight center and lacking forward drive on exit. As Stage One was nearing its conclusion, the BRANDT Camaro blew a left-front tire, sending Allgaier into the sand in the braking zone of Turn 1. After getting towed back onto the track, Allgaier nursed the No. 7 to pit road under the stage-ending caution to give the team the opportunity to survey the damage and get fresh tires. The crew discovered damage to the sway bar, but didn’t have time to work on it under the caution.

Stuck one lap down, Allgaier took the green for Stage Two and reported to crew chief Jason Burdett that the BRANDT Camaro was handling much better on the new tires. He set his sights on being in position for the free pass. The stage went caution free, however Allgaier maintained being the first car one lap down and was given free pass at the end of Stage Two.

Under the yellow flag ending the second stage, the team changed four tires and got to work on repairs, getting Allgaier back out on track as the field was coming to the green to start the final stage. He managed to stay until an opportune caution came out on lap 32. During the yellow, the team called Allgaier to pit road for their last set of tires, fuel and to finalize the repairs to the sway bar. Back under green, Allgaier quickly maneuvered his way back inside the top 20 and was running 11^th when a caution flag waved on lap 41, setting up the final restart with two laps to go. Back under green, Allgaier continued his surge forward, ending the day with a ninth-place finish.

Christopher Bell won the race and was followed by Austin Cindric, with Tyler Reddick, Noah Gragson and Kaz Grala rounding out the top five.

Justin Allgaier, driver No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture team

“Today was a really frustrating day. We had a fast BRANDT Professional Agriculture Camaro and had a tire go flat right before the Turn 1 braking zone and got stuck a lap down with a damaged sway bar. What I love most about this team though is their never-give-up attitude. We were able to get those repairs made and drive back up through the field to get a solid top 10. I’m proud of these guys.”