THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion, Justin Allgaier. Congratulations, Justin.
JUSTIN ALLGAIER: I don't have a voice, just so y'all know. I apologize in advance. I did a lot of screaming out there and it's gone, so I'll do my best to get through this. Sorry.
Q. When I asked you about Wayne Auton in Vegas a couple weeks ago, you said that was your goal this weekend, was to get him on that championship stage. He ends up handing you that trophy. That moment as you're celebrating this pinnacle of your career, how special was that?
JUSTIN ALLGAIER: Beyond special. I mean, Wayne has been a staple of this sport, not even just the Xfinity Series, when I came into the Truck Series way too long ago to even want to admit, Wayne was the guy, right.
Wayne is the type of person that he has leadership skills and he rules the garage well, but he also is the same guy that you want other people to emulate. You want your kids to know Wayne because he's that guy. He's just a special human being.
Not that we won't have great leadership moving forward, but there's a huge void that will have to be filled, and Wayne is somebody special. And I'm going to be honest with you, Wayne has given me a lot in this sport, and I wanted nothing more than to be able to send him off and to celebrate a championship with Wayne on the stage.
It hasn't really sunk in yet, but when we get to that banquet, I told him, I want to get you on stage, I want to embarrass you. That's my goal. His family was here tonight, and Wayne got emotional last night when we did our Championship 4 meeting because he cares about this sport and the people that are in this sport.
It was really cool to be able to send him off that way. We've both been here a long time. We got a lot of gray hairs together, and that was really special to me.
Q. (No microphone.)
JUSTIN ALLGAIER: It was, yeah. When he keyed up the microphone, hearing him and signing off as 42, those are moments that you'll never get back. When he walks away -- I don't know if he'll come back to the racetrack or if he won't, whatever, but when he walks away from the sport, I'm very proud of the fact that I was the last champion that he got to crown.
Q. It's about like lap 145 and you're circling the track by yourself, one lap down, kind of begging for a caution. What's going through your head there? Did you think there was any hope left?
JUSTIN ALLGAIER: No, I was ready to pull down pit road, to be honest with you, and just park the car in the pit stall and get out. If it could go wrong this weekend, it went wrong, and the team never gave up.
I could tell the disappointment in their voices, they went radio silent for a while, and I could tell the disappointment in their voices. And that's a hard spot to be in as a driver.
Six times before me I've come in here and I've said we did a great job and we executed the night well, and we built a great race car. And I've walked out of here as second, third, fourth and not had an opportunity to bring a championship back to the men and women at JR Motorsports.
This 7 team right now is just different. Jim Pohlman and his leadership is amazing, and these seven guys, I cannot begin to stress to you how out of the trenches they dig, and tonight is a great example of that. We walked out of here as champions because of them.
The strategy, the race calling, Jim and I laugh because last year everything kind of went the way we wanted it to, and we got here and we ran second. Third in the race, second in the points.
This year, everything we've tried to do together that's been kind of bold and outlier strategy has gone against us.
And tonight that's not the case. It's a dumb mistake on my part, followed up by a second dumb mistake. And still to have the wherewithal to have the strategy right, to get us back in it and walk out of here as I champion -- I really wanted to win the race.
Riley had a really fast race car, but we had already run into each other like four times tonight. So I knew if I blocked Turn 3, I was probably getting wrecked. And that wasn't going to suffice for the team to walk out of here with a championship.
Again, I cannot say enough about the team that I have behind me. And the reason why tonight is going to be special for many years to come is because one of the Brandt employees actually texted me this morning, he said the only way to have a comeback story is to start from behind.
And we've done that all weekend, we've done that all year, and this team is really special.
Q. As a follow-up to that, over the last two days, we've seen the full range of emotions from you, from bashing the toolbox to the emotion of the winning the championship. In that moment, 45 to go, finally after a year of very bad luck, you get the caution you need. What were you feeling and thinking at that moment?
JUSTIN ALLGAIER: Christmas. It's Christmas in November.
You know, I've never fought a toolbox before. I've fought a lot of things, I never fought a toolbox before. That was a first for me. I don't know who won to be honest with you. I think the toolbox won. The emotions have gone just haywire.
My wife and my kids are that, like, steady foundation that -- when I'm done with the sport, I just want my kids to look back and just realize that we never quit, even when the moments didn't look like they were going our way.
And that's what this weekend was all about. The weekend didn't go the way we wanted it to. If you could script a championship finale, it would not go through the way that we did it this weekend. I can assure you of that.
Not only that, JR Motorsports as a whole fixed our car, got the backup car out, fixing the 9, wrapped the 9, the 18 was working their guts out trying to change an engine.
It just was, like, as a company in a 10-minute span, we had everything go the way you wouldn't want it to go.
I think that these moments -- Dale Jr. and his elation tonight was incredible. Kelley and L. W., Mike Bumgarner and the leadership of our shop.
And then to have all of the other teams come out there and be out on the stage with me at some point from our shop, we have a special place. I know that that sounds crazy, but our race team is not big by any stretch, and we pick each other up when we're down and we push each other to the absolute limits.
I was sad that it was only one of us in the Final 4, to be honest with you. I thought at the beginning of the year we had a great shot at getting all four in the Final 4, and over time that kind of wanes and you end up with where we were.
But the effort this week, watching those guys help us put cars together and then last night, it's about this race team as a company. The men and women that are at JR Motorsports are really special. And the Hendrick engine shop, they've gone to work all year. We've not been where we want, and they've gone to work all year. It's just special.
This is going to go down for me as one of those weekends where I truly will step back in 10, 15, 20 years ago, I'll look back at the race team that we had and really be proud of what we've accomplished.
Q. What does it mean to you that so many of your competitors have either reached out to you personally, they were coming in here and congratulating Dale Jr., they've been saying things at social media, your championship is very popular among people that you race against?
JUSTIN ALLGAIER: You know, I think for me, A, I've been doing it a long time. I've got a lot of gray hairs because of this sport. But I've been so lucky to have great teammates, to have great competitors.
Yeah, you battle amongst each other time and time again, but at the end of the day I think all the other racers that I'm around really truly, they know what I believe about the sport and why I want to be here and why I race like I do. I'm not going to say that I'm not aggressive in some regards. I don't feel like I'm dirty, but I also -- I put my heart and soul on the racetrack each and every lap.
I think that when you get here to this sport, it's not easy. Nobody has ever had an easy path to get here. Championships don't come easy. Race wins don't come easy. Just being on the racetrack as a whole doesn't come easy. But I've had so many great people that I've been able to have conversation with and race with and be a part of their racing journeys, and they've been a part of mine.
I think that a lot of people know how hard I work and how much I want this, and that makes this more special. But to see the ones that you've battled with hard and even guys we were racing with for a championship tonight, it was a battle, and genuinely we all had a lot of respect for each other and we walk out of here, and I think that we would have all four been happy for each other had any of the other ones one, and I think that's really special.
It doesn't go unnoticed. Josh Williams brings me a Yoo-hoo every time we win, and tonight he brought a Yoo-hoo up on stage. Obviously, they didn't have the night that they wanted, but he still, like clockwork, does that.
Those are the type of moments that for me are special. When I walk away from the sport, I don't really care how many wins we had, the championship doesn't really matter. I want people to remember me for me, and it means a lot.
Q. Your leading last lap going to the checkered flag, Riley is coming. What's going through your mind at that moment?
JUSTIN ALLGAIER: Don't crash. Don't get wrecked.
Q. Were you concerned about him? Because he said he would have moved you.
JUSTIN ALLGAIER: He did, multiple times throughout the course of the night. He actually tried to flatten the left rear tire at one point. He wanted to win this race. I wanted to win the race, also, and I wanted to win a championship a lot more.
I think if he ever gets an opportunity to be where we were at tonight, I think he'll look back at this win and probably wish he would have done some things different. But at the end of the day, you know what, everybody has got the way that they're going to do it, and wins are obviously super important.
I'm not upset at him. There's no hard feelings. I just think that the moment tonight was way different than just winning the race, and I believe that.
Q. You tongue-in-cheek maybe kind of joked a few weeks ago that there was a moment a few years ago where you said if you'd won the championship you were done --
JUSTIN ALLGAIER: 2022, absolutely.
Q. Are you going to walk off now?
JUSTIN ALLGAIER: No. No, my wife says I can't. So you can all thank my wife for that. 2022 I left here, and there's a photo of Dale and I, and it was very emotional. It was a very weird emotional experience.
But Friday night before that race in 2022, we were sitting at dinner. We had like 20 people at dinner. And I said, If I win the championship tomorrow, I am dropping the mic and I'm walking away and I'll wipe my hands of the sport.
She looked at me with a look that I had never seen my wife give me before, and I realized really quickly that it wasn't about me per se. I would be remiss if I didn't mention Rick Brandt and the Brandt family for what they have done for my career and me being in the sport.
We have a lot of great partners but nobody has stood behind me like Rick and his whole group.
A couple of months ago I signed a new two-year contract. And to be honest with you, tonight it makes me ready to go to Daytona. I know that sounds crazy. I know we've got an off-season. I'm getting shoulder surgery in a couple days. I've got a lot going on.
But I truly am ready to go to Daytona. I'm ready to keep this journey going. I don't know what it looks like. I may never make another Final 4 in my career. I'm okay with that. That's not my -- God's plan is way bigger than anything I could ever come up with.
Selfishly, we all question what that plan is sometimes, right? And it doesn't always work out the way you think it's going to work out or whatever. But I am blessed to be a part of a sport that is really special.
As a young kid, at school you do book reports and you do all these things, and you get thesaureses and you learn all these good words. You do book reports and you do all these good things. From the time I can remember, it's all been about the sport of NASCAR. I've always loved the history of the sport and what it embodies.
I think that makes tonight special, but it also makes me want to come back and do it again. We'll see what happens with 2025. Whether we make the Final 4 or not, I don't really care. I will next year, but in the moment I don't really care right now. I'm just excited to be here and be a part of it and put this in the record books.
Q. What's the shoulder surgery going to be for?
JUSTIN ALLGAIER: Over time you crash and do things and be stupid, and I'm a 38-year-old that thinks that I can throw a softball with my daughter really, really well. So I have like a bone spur, I guess, in my shoulder, and I tore my rotator cuff because of it. So getting all that fixed.
Layne Riggs at Milwaukee jumped up and down on the roof and his shoulder came out of socket, and I'm like, I've been there, I know what that feels like, and it's not pretty. So getting that fixed.
It's been three years since all of this started, and it was finally time. So it's only fitting that we win a championship right before that.
But it's been super annoying. If I've ever shaken your hand in the last couple of months or like pointed something or you've seen my move my arm -- you probably don't recognize it -- it doesn't work like it's supposed to.
I cleaned the desk off at the chiropractor's office a couple weeks ago, and I'm like: I've got to get this fixed.
So we're doing that. And recovery time should be short. But as with all things, you never know what to expect until you get in there. But should be healed up in a couple of weeks.
Q. In Las Vegas to begin the Round of Eight, you talked about -- you laughed when you said maybe you're going to take the hard road to the championship, and you talked about the peaks and valleys and experiencing that and understanding and being grateful. Do you think, even after time passes from tonight, that you will ever be able to comprehend the peaks and valleys in not only this season but tonight to win this championship?
JUSTIN ALLGAIER: The short answer is no. Jim gave a speech at the Roval, I guess it was, that pressure makes diamonds. We had the little diamond figurine that we brought along and all these things. I think it goes without saying that the sport is tough, but I also don't think you realize how impactful those little moments are.
It's not been easy, but also it's not been hard. I look at some of the struggles that other drivers' teams have. I'd be remiss if I didn't look at how great of a race team I have, how good of race cars we bring to the racetrack every week. Yeah, when it's hard, those are difficult moments. But it's really all about how you persevere through those moments.
I've been blessed to drive amazing race cars for the last number of years and have a threat at a championship and an opportunity to do this. Even on days like today or this weekend where it didn't go well, we crashed in practice and then you're starting in the back and then you have the tire go down and then you make the penalties, it's like one thing after another.
Those are the moments when -- when I sit down 10 years from now and I'm no longer driving, tonight is going to be one that you're going to laugh at wholeheartedly, and it is going to be one that will make this night that much more special.
And I really truly believe that God works in mysterious ways, but tonight is one of those ways that I will never understand or comprehend how it worked out or why it worked out or how we got here. But we're here, and I'm not going to be sad about it.
Q. The final two restarts, the way you drove being in the moment, did anything feel different? Did you feel more determined? Was it win or go home? What were you feeling or thinking in those two restarts?
JUSTIN ALLGAIER: I was thinking that I was really hoping we'd get to the white because we -- I got around Cole, and then the caution come out. And I'm like, we couldn't just finish this thing off, right? Then we pit, and then the restart happens. I think there was another one, right?
Well, the 21 -- I don't know why, I had this, like, moment of if the 21 drives off into the corner like I think he's going to, there's no way he's going to come out the other side. He's on two tires.
I'm like, I'm just going to hedge to the middle. I entered in high, and I'm like I'm going to hedge to the middle.
And Eddie's voice went up five octaves, and he's yelling at me to: Get down. Get down. Get down.
And we were able to get clear of him, and then the caution come out.
Then I actually just saw a replay, and I was -- the first question, I saw replay. I didn't realize that the 98 was outside the 22 going down the front straightaway. We all should have crashed. I knew we almost crashed, but we should have crashed. I didn't know any of that in the moment.
The angle is so weird here for the spotters. There is no way they can call anything getting into 1 or getting off of 2.
I wondered why Jesse was so mad at me after the race was over, but obviously that makes good sense.
But it was like every time we're almost there, we can't get there, and then again, the last restart we were able to get out front, and then Riley is there. And I was pretty confident he would have did whatever it took to get by me last corner.
So I gave him the bottom and just hoped that we could drag race off the corner. But either way, to come out of here with a second-place finish, to come out of here with a championship, yeah, you want to have the walk-off home run and win the race, but still an amazing journey to get here, and I'm proud of what we accomplished tonight.
Q. You mentioned your family numerous times tonight. It's been 14 full-time seasons, seven Championship 4 appearances. What was it like to share this moment with them on the frontstretch after your first championship after all these years?
JUSTIN ALLGAIER: I'm going to start with my mom and dad. As they get older, you don't know how many more moments you have with them to celebrate stuff like this. My parents haven't traveled nearly as much this year as they used to, so that's been tough for me. As somebody that they were the reason why I'm in the sport, it's been hard not having them travel.
My wife and my kids haven't traveled as much. My oldest plays travel softball. You guys all know that because I talk about it all the time. But they haven't traveled as much, either. She was actually supposed to play this weekend, and luckily if I made it to the Final 4 they didn't travel, so here we are.
But family is what started this sport for me. It's what's carried this sport for me. It's what I will always go back to. They are the most important piece.
Having all of them here tonight and to celebrate and to be a part of it is like -- there are no words. My in-laws were here and I had I don't know how many people here. Campbell probably would know. I feel like it was 100. People just kept showing up to get pictures and I was like, I forgot they were here. I forgot they were here, too. Then obviously the Brandts had tons of people outside. Just really, really special.
This is something for me that again, my wife is the reason why I'm still doing this and my kids are the reason that I want to show them the resiliency of just never quit. It's been a long time. I've missed a lot of things in my kids' life. My dad missed a lot of things in my life as he was traveling to the racetrack. That's not -- I regret that part of it, but at the same time I think they understand why I do what I do.
Willow is my youngest. I'll be at more stuff for her because I'll obviously be old and retired by the time she gets a little bit older, but these are the moments that having these pictures -- we're getting ready to go do photos on the back straightaway. Having those photos will be really, really important to me.
I'll always have the memories, but the photos are important. I think back to 2022, going back to that, and I think back to Ty and the photos that he has on the back straight away with Coy, and I don't know what those photos mean, but I know. It makes tonight that much more special. My family will always be a big part of it, and I never knew if we were going to win a championship or not, but it's cool to be able to have these photos and have all the celebration and all the things, and Campbell has got a scar for the rest of his life because of tonight. He got some stitches earlier in Victory Lane.
We've had it all tonight, and it makes it that much more fun.
Q. I want to get your reaction on this. When Dale was in here he said, and I quote, "I didn't give one s--- about the owner's title, I just wanted Justin up on that stage." What does that mean to you?
JUSTIN ALLGAIER: You know, it's funny, two years ago that photo we were talking about, Dale was like, I could just see this pain in his eyes and his face, and it wasn't even about the race team not winning. He genuinely cared that I didn't win the championship. Like it bothered him that we couldn't get the job done.
He commented on it multiple times. Then last year, he's like, it didn't feel the same. Like it wasn't -- I was upset that we didn't win, but we were there and we were in the moment, and we just didn't get the job done.
Then tonight before the race, I was like, man, this one doesn't feel like the last two, and I'm like, I don't know that I'm going to get as emotional if we don't win like I did two years ago, but it just feels different. He's like, man, there's nothing more than I would love to see our race team be able to get you a championship trophy and stand on that stage. Like you deserve this.
He's like, I think two years ago we had a moment where you realized not only what you mean to myself but to this race team, and that was genuine, like I really feel that way.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has accomplished everything in this sport that any driver could ever want, right? He's a fan favorite, he's a race winner, he's a champion; he's all the things that you would ever want in this sport. He doesn't need Justin Allgaier. He doesn't. Nor does Kelley, nor does L.W., nor does anybody at JR Motorsports. But when I walk in the doors, I feel like they genuinely want me to be there, and they want to see me succeed.
I was sad, last week Sammy had a great race and almost made the Final 4. Sam has done an amazing job this year. Brandon has done an amazing job. He's had a lot of heartache on his -- not of his doing, just stuff that's happened.
Then you add Connor and Carson both have done an amazing job and it's been a great season for our race team.
But we've done this so long together. I've seen drivers come and go. I've seen champions come and go. I've watched drivers win championships for Dale that I'm like? Man, what am I doing wrong? Why can I not get one of these for Dale.
I think I'm the first owner's champion; is that right? Non-9 car, also. They told me that earlier. So that's a cool stat. Kelley is technically my car owner; so Dale is going to be upset about that one.
You know, it's just different. Dale has seen the struggle. He's seen the pain. He's seen the frustrating Mondays when we come back from the racetrack. Those are moments that you live it with somebody, whether -- Dale has driven his fair share. He's raced with us this year. He's done it all. He knows the frustration. He knows the pain in what we're going through.
I watched Ty win yesterday, and I feel like a short person is going to win tomorrow because the first two of us are really, really short. Reddick -- Blaney -- there's a stat that if I win he wins or something but Reddick might get the advantage because he's short like me, I don't know.
But one of the things that was really cool was, like, when I look at yesterday and I look at Ty, he's a short track racer. He's got a lot of the same background that I have. I grew up racing dirt cars all over the Midwest. When you're a kid and you're racing, and I was 12 or 13 when I got behind the wheel of a dirt late model, you don't think about this.
There's a lot of great racers. You battle every Friday and Saturday night against amazing race car drivers and you never think about this. Dale has spent his whole life in this, whether it be with his dad or his brother or family or whatever. He's spent his whole life in this, and he genuinely understands what it means to be here and to be a part of the sport.
Tonight is kind of a culmination of all of that, and I think having him be a part of it is really special, and I hope we made him proud. I hope we made the whole race team proud tonight, and we're going to walk out of here with our heads held high, and I'm definitely proud of my race team. I'm proud of what we accomplished, and we're going to enjoy this one.
I just want to say thank you to each and every one of you. I have a lot of conversations with you all throughout the course of the year. Some good, some not so good. Sometimes I'm in a different state of emotion.
But you all truly have been great part of my career. I appreciate it. Appreciate all the hard work, and I look forward to seeing every one of you in Daytona.
I know that things change and jobs change and all that fun stuff, but I genuinely do enjoy all of your smiling faces, and I look forward to seeing you all in Daytona. I'm sorry that it's whatever time it is, 11:00 at night and we're still in here, but I appreciate all the hard work you guys put in, and looking forward to seeing everybody in Daytona.
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