Just Allgaier the Illinois native ran a fantastic race at the Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday coming out as the big winner on his home track.
He jump out into the lead on a bold move to the inside of the track after a restart on Lap 186 of 200. Allgaier obtained a push from teammate Elliot Sadler which powered the No.7 Chevrolet down to the bottom of the track on Turn 1 passing both Erik Jones and Ryan Blaney for the victory.
However, a caution for Ryan Reed’s spin in Turn 2 during some hard charging racing against Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr., slowed down the field for the fifth time during the race which set-up the restart with only seven laps remaining.
Again, Allgaier propelled into the lead, with Erik Jones chasing him. Jones changed lanes moving his racing car to the outside of Sadler before reaching the start-finish line and was penalized killing his chances for a win.
Allgaier, raced across the finish line taking the checkered flag 1.772 seconds ahead of second place finisher Kyle Larson, who maneuvered his way through the field in the No. 42 Chevrolet when he received a late pit-road speeding penalty on Lap 182. Elliot Sadler finished in third position, followed by Daniel Hemrick fourth and Austin Dillon fifth.
Meanwhile, Brendan Gaughan who finished 13th after recovering from an equalized tire being down three laps rallied to secure the final spot in the NASCAR XFINITY Series Playoffs.
Upcoming rookie Cole Custer finished in seventh place and led for a career high 41 laps which gives him some momentum going into the playoffs next week. While super rookie William Byron, a three time winner this season and points leader finished 34 laps behind in 33rd place due to transmission problems. This mechanical situation will have to be corrected for the playoffs for sure.
The 12 care field is now set for the NASCAR XFINITY Playoffs to begin next Saturday at Kentucky Speedway. In the No. 1 position William Byron, followed by Justin Allgaier, Elliott Sadler, Daniel Hemrick, Brennan Poole, Ryan Reed, Jeremy Clements, Cole Custer, Blake Koch, Matt Tift, Brendan Gaughan and Michael Annett.
The Kentucky playoff race which is the first of seven will begin on Saturday at 8:00 PM eastern time. All the action can be followed by local fans on NBCSN, PRN and SirusXM NASCAR radio.
