AVONDALE, Ariz. — Justin Allgaier won his first NASCAR Xfinity season championship Saturday night at Phoenix Raceway, making a stunning comeback after falling a lap down midway through the race.
Allgaier bounced back from an early flat tire and back-to-back penalties, working his way back through the field before passing Austin Hill and Cole Custer on an overtime restart with two laps remaining. The No. 7 Chevrolet took four tires during his pit stop before overtime, including two new ones on his right side, before shooting past Hill and Custer on the restart.
After Allgaier made the pass, there was a crash back in the pack, bringing out another caution, but the JR Motorsports driver survived the double-overtime restart to take home a long-awaited title.
It's the fourth Xfinity title for owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. and JR Motorsports — and the first since 2018.
''This is mind-blowing, it really is,'' Allgaier said. ''We tried to give it away every way we could.''
The 38-year-old Allgaier finished second in the race behind Stewart-Haas Racing's Riley Herbst, but it didn't matter because he beat the other three championship finalists: Custer finished eighth, AJ Allmendinger was ninth and Hill 10th.
''It stings for our team — you're always going to be salty when you finish second,'' Custer said. ''But at the end of the day, that's just how it goes sometimes.''
It's a big moment for Allgaier, who had won 25 Xfinity races in his career, but had never won a championship despite making the final four seven times over the past nine years. He finished in second in 2020 and 2023. He's been one of the most popular drivers during his 14 seasons on the Xfinity series — among drivers and fans — and multiple drivers were quick to congratulate him.
