(Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
CONCORD, N.C. — Justin Allgaier saved just enough fuel to hold off John Hunter Nemechek and win the Alsco Uniforms 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Allgaier scored the first victory of the season for JR Motorsports in an event postponed nearly two and a half days because of weather. It was Allgaier’s 20th win in the Xfinity Series.
“To win on Memorial Day — obviously nobody wanted to race on Monday, but to be here on Monday to win on Memorial Day [is] just truly special,” Allgaier said. “The car that we had today, I mean, Jim Pohlman [crew chief] and this whole 7 team, I’m so proud of the effort they put in.”
The race started on Monday just after 11 a.m. ET, but intermittent rain showers and mist led to just 48 completed laps before NASCAR postponed the remainder until after the Cup Series race.
Before the extended delay, Allgaier picked up early damage on pit road. He had a slow stop because he got too close to the pit wall, and on exit, bumped into Sheldon Creed’s car. That didn’t stop Allgaier from flaunting his speed as he finished third in each of the first two stages, only to the Joe Gibbs Racing duo of Ty Gibbs and John Hunter Nemechek.
Gibbs led 52 laps across the first two stages but surrendered his lead on pit road on Lap 93. Because of radio communication issues, Gibbs had a long stop to replace his steering wheel so he could properly communicate with his crew. He never got back into the winning mix and finished fifth, just hours after crashing late in the Coca-Cola 600.
On Lap 129, Sam Mayer spun and bumped into the wall to bring out the first incident caution of the race. Everyone on the lead lap pitted, which led to varying pit strategies for the conclusion of the race. If the race stayed green, teams would either have to pit for a splash of fuel or save until the end.
Allgaier, Nemechek and Cole Custer decided to save while nearly everyone else pitted at some point during the final run. Allgaier led 62 of the final 66 laps and crossed the line on Lap 200 with a 7.829-second advantage after Nemechek saved hard in the closing laps.
“Jim [Pohlman] was trying to match the pace of what we needed to match of the 20,” Allgaier said. “[Nemechek] pushed the pace a little bit to try and get in front of me and did get in front of me, and then we were able to chase him back down. Jim told me to go ahead and go get him back, and then we started saving again.
“Between Jim and Eddie [D’Hondt, spotter], I would say those last 15-20 laps, they did a great job of managing the gap and how much we needed to slow down.”
Nemechek suffered early damage from hitting the wall but said he had a fast enough car to win the race.
(Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
“It was definitely tough to not push as hard you could there at the end and try to run Allgaier back down,” Nemechek said. “We raced each other really hard – really clean, some aero games for sure … Just hats off to all the guys – the effort at this Joe Gibbs Racing organization. If consistency is key to win the championship, we are pretty consistent. Just keep plugging on and we will go click off some more wins.”
Austin Hill recorded his third consecutive fourth-place finish after pitting during the final green flag cycle for fuel. He made up track position by pitting in the cycle and would have been in a position to win had the top three run out of fuel.
“We figured [the top three] were going to have to pit and we were just trying to jump them,” Hill said. “We figured we’d bring them down pit road if we went ahead and maybe that one lap fresher tires could have got us to the lead and got the clean air, but obviously, that didn’t happen.”
Results
STAGE 1: Ty Gibbs, John Hunter Nemechek, Justin Allgaier, Daniel Hemric, Sheldon Creed, Chandler Smith, Austin Hill, Josh Berry, Cole Custer, Riley Herbst
STAGE 2: Ty Gibbs, John Hunter Nemechek, Justin Allgaier, Austin Hill, Sheldon Creed, Chandler Smith, Sam Mayer, Brandon Jones, Cole Custer, Carson Hocevar
FINAL: Justin Allgaier, John Hunter Nemechek, Cole Custer, Austin Hill, Ty Gibbs, Parker Retzlaffm Jeb Burton, Carson Hocevar, Brandon Jones, Sammy Smith
