While everyone was buzzing about KyleLarson‘s marathon day, racing from the Indy 500 to the Coca-Cola 600, Mother Nature had other plans. The weather at Indy dampened Larson’s plans, and a pit road blunder left him finishing in the18th. By the time he was supposed to race in Charlotte, he was too late.
Eventually, his ride at Charlotte Motor Speedway was taken over by JRMotorsports’ Xfinity driver, Justin Allgaier. Not many expected much from Allgaier’s stepping in at the last minute, but he ended up impressing everyone at the HMS camp and earning their respect with his standout performance.
Could Kyle Larson’s #5 car improve on his Indy 500 finish at Charlotte with Justin Allgaier’s help?
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KyleLarson’s#5 car showed promising performance even though Larson himselfcouldn’t participate in the Coca-Cola 600 due to the weather delay at the Indianapolis 500. Stepping in, Dale Earnhardt Jr‘s driver, Justin Allgaier, drove the #5 Chevy impressively, navigating from a start position of P10 up to P13 before the race was stopped by rain. After working through some challenges in the earlier stages of the race, where he placed P26 and P23, respectively,Allgaier’seffortdidn’tgo unnoticed.
EvenLarson’s crew chief, Cliff Daniels, was quick to praiseAllgaier, saying,“Justin Allgaier, you did one hell of a job. You should be proud. Hendrick Motorsports and all of us are.“Humble in his response, Allgaier expressed his gratitude,“Sir, Ican’ttell you how much I appreciate working with you guys. I was hoping Larson would get 1100 but I appreciate it.“ Justin Allgaiermodestly added,“The car has more potential than the driver at the moment,“signaling that the #5 Chevy was a contender for victory, especially once Larson took the wheel.
Cliff Daniels: "Justin Allgaier, you did one hell of a job. You should be proud. Hendrick Motorsports and all of us are."
Allgaier: "Sir I can't tell you how much I appreciate working with you guys. I was hoping Larson would get 1100 but I appreciate it." #NASCAR
— Jonathan Fjeld (@Jonathan_Fjeld) May 27, 2024
Justin Allgaier showed nothing but team spirit when he mentioned thathe’dfeela bitdown if Kyle Larson won the race—not because hewouldn’tget credit, but because Larsonwouldn’thave the chance to enjoy the winning credit himself. But with all the confidence outside, he seemed quite overwhelmed before the race started.
Not to mention, since the rain did notlet up, Christopher Bellwas declared the winner since he was leading the race with 249 laps down. Brad Keselowski was in second place, with William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, Ty Gibbs, and Chase Elliott rounding out the top spots from third to seventh.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr’s driver was overwhelmed with emotions that caused him sick
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JustinAllgaier’sride in the Cup Series has been a mix of ups and downs.He raced full-time in the cupseries,backin 2014 and2015,for HScott Motorsports.After that, he got anothermajoropportunity in July 2020, filling in for Jimmie Johnson, who was out with COVID-19 but in that race also ended up in a crash early on. Fast forward to 2023, and hedidn’tget a single shot at the Cup series, settling comfortably into his niche in the sport without any fuss.
However, at Charlotte, when he got a chance to drive a Hendrick Motorsports car, he pushed his limits. After the race was stopped due to rain, Allgaier shared his pre-race jitters and how he almost got sick just getting into the car.“Youdon’tget the luxury of justkind ofgetting comfortable in there. Because it is Kyle Larsonandhe’sKyle Larson. I thought I was going to throw up at one point when I got in the car, to be perfectly honest with everybodyandIdidn’t,“he said.
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“So when I finally gotcomfortableIactuallyhad to tighten my seatbelts up because I felt like, I just felt like my body get relaxed and I was ready to go. And by the time the race wasoverI’mlike,‘Alrightwe’reactually doing the right thing.’It was coolyouknowtherewas a lot of things thatI did for the first time tonight that Ihadn’tdone.It was worth it.”
While we missed out onseeing Kyle Larson tacklethefull1100 miles, JustinAllgaier’seffort in stepping up was nothing short of impressive.
