ALLGAIER FIGHTS HANDLING FOR TOP-15 FINISH

AVONDALE, Ariz. (March 3, 2012) – Justin Allgaier and the No. 31 BRANDT team looked to bounce back from a rough start to the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) season with a good finish at Phoenix International Raceway.  The team completed two practice sessions on Friday and felt confident leading into Saturday morning’s qualifying session, where they secured a 13^th-place spot after a fast lap of 27.471 seconds.  After running in the top-15 for the entire 200-lap event, even while battling a loose-handling racecar, the team scored a 15^th-place finish.

From the drop of the green flag, Allgaier was determined to make his way to the front and settled into the 11^th position by lap 40.  He radioed to crew chief Jimmy Elledge that his car was really free, but he was continuing to run lap times similar to the leaders.  By the first caution period on lap 43, Allgaier was ready for adjustments and brought his BRANDT Chevrolet to pit road for a wedge adjustment along with four fresh tires and fuel.  He restarted in the 11^th spot on lap 48.  The adjustments were helpful as Allgaier cracked the top-10 one lap later. 

By the second caution flag, Allgaier had moved to the 11^th spot and was still looking for help in and off of the corners.  Elledge called for a slight track bar and air pressure adjustment, as well as four new tires and two cans of fuel.  The BRANDT team made quick work of the stop, gaining their driver two spots on pit road to restart ninth.  Allgaier remained in the top-10 over the next 53 laps, running as high as seventh.  Finally, just before the final caution period of the day, Allgaier said the car was coming to him and he was chasing down and catching the No. 60 for ninth spot. 

During the final stop of the afternoon, the BRANDT team made another air pressure adjustment and Elledge called for a four-tire stop, while other competitors made only two-tire and fuel-only stops.  Allgaier restarted in 14^th, hoping to quickly make up positions to those with differing pit strategies.  Unfortunately, the adjustments made the car much too loose and Allgaier went on to take the checkers in 15^th. 

“We definitely had a better day than last weekend,” Allgaier said after the race.  “But I think we all had much higher hopes for the day.  Our BRANDT Chevy was just so loose in and off the corners and we couldn’t quite hit on the handling.  At one point, we were making our run toward the front just after the halfway mark there, but it just wasn’t our day.  All we can do is learn from things and head to Las Vegas ready to go.”

Next Stop:  The NASCAR Nationwide Series will make its second west coast trip in two weeks as the field will compete in the Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 10.  The Saturday afternoon race will air on ESPN2 beginning at 5:00 p.m. EST with coverage on PRN affiliates and Sirius Radio channel 90.