Allgaier Captures Third Win of 2018 at Mid-Ohio

Fresher tires prevailed on Saturday afternoon as Justin Allgaier and the No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture team used them to earn their third NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of 2018 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The win was Allgaier’s eighth in NXS competition and marked his second victory on a road course. With his Stage One win and race victory, the Illinois native was able to add six NXS Playoff points to his total and remains the second seed with only five races remaining in the regular season.

Rolling off seventh for the 75-lap race, Allgaier was up to second on lap 5. He radioed to his team shortly after that the BRANDT Chevy needed more forward drive. Allgaier held his position on track and assumed the lead with just a few laps remaining in the first stage when the No. 22 of Austin Cindric opted to come to pit road under green. The No. 7 driver held on to win Stage One and collect a playoff point. Under the stage-ending caution, crew chief Jason Burdett called Allgaier to pit road for four tires, fuel and an air-pressure adjustment.

Taking the green for Stage Two in 13^th, Allgaier was racing four-wide when he was pushed into the grass. He was able to continue on though and started regaining the positions he had lost. The 32-year-old driver was running in 15^th when the caution came out on lap 30, and he radioed that the previous adjustment didn’t help the handling of the BRANDT Camaro. The team opted to stay out and once the race was back to green flag conditions, Allgaier continued to improve his position, taking the green-and-white checkered flag to end Stage Two in 10^th. Under the yellow, the team made a stop for four tires, fuel and air-pressure adjustments.

Allgaier continued his climb forward once the final stage was under way on lap 45. By lap 56 he found himself in the fifth position, having worked his way past the No. 00 of Cole Custer. Just two laps later, two continued their battle and Custer made contact with Allgaier, sending the No. 7 Chevy for a spin. Allgaier avoided damage and lost minimal positions as he continued on. When the caution flag waved on lap 60 for a spin, the team took the opportunity to bring Allgaier to pit road for four fresh tires and fuel while a few teams stayed out.

Restarting 11^th, Allgaier was back up to fifth before another caution came out on lap 67. On the final restart of the day, the JRM driver muscled his way further towards the front. He was up to second in a hurry and set his sights on leader Cindric, who was on older tires. The two battled it out, but Allgaier was ultimately able to clear him and cruised on in the closing laps to the victory. Cindric had to settle for second and was followed by Daniel Hemric, Matt Tifft and Ryan Truex to round out the top five.

Allgaier’s win stands as JRM’s 41^st NXS victory and second at Mid-Ohio.

Justin Allgaier, driver No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture team

“Jason (Burdett, crew chief) made a good call to come down pit road and put four tires on, and that was what kind of made the decision at the end there. I knew we needed to get up towards the front on that last restart. I knew that was going to be pivotal if we were going to have a shot at getting past Austin (Cindric). They were the class of the field all day and definitely had the best car…. This BRANDT Professional Agriculture team has been spot on this year. Hats off to them. They work hard and it feels good to come home with another win.”