Justin Allgaier was elated when he lifted the guitar trophy after winning at Nashville Superspeedway. He won the Tennessee Lottery 250 in dominating fashion, leading 134 laps and winning both stages en route, eventually finishing almost five seconds ahead of second place Trevor Bayne. And it’s just a continuation of JR Motorsports dominance, with Allgaier’s two stage wins giving the team twelve in a row on oval tracks. And Allgaier credited the team with his victory.
Asked if he had ever raced a better car, he responded, “I don’t think ever.” He went on to add: “What a heck of a race, man. We’ve been coming here for a long time, and I love this race track. was slick, it was hot, we were sliding around. Been trying to get a win so bad and hadn’t been able to do it.”
After finishing second last year, Allgaier said: “This guitar has been on my bucket list for a long, long time.” Now, he grinned, “I’ve got a guitar to take home, and we’re going to enjoy it, for sure.”
Trevor Bayne overcome a pit road penalty to finish runner-up, chasing down Allgaier in the final laps.
“It’s really hard to win a race when you go to the back twice,” Bayne said. “We drove to second twice, from the back… drove back and was catching Allgaier.” He said it was frustrating, because “I feel like we did everything right on the car and feel like I did everything right behind the wheel. We have to clean up the mistakes and we’re going to win.”
About his friend Allgaier, Bayne offered “congrats” to him. “Happy for him,” he added, “but man, I wanted to win that guitar and win here at Nashville.”
Riley Herbst finished third, but said he was happy with that performance considering Allgaier’s speed all race.
“I don’t think the whole field had anything for the 7,” Herbst said. “I think he was on cruise control all day, but our Monster Energy Ford Mustang was really good. I’m just proud of us as a group. Way to execute.”
“All in all, it was a good day,” he clarified. “I messed up on pit road a few times, myself and the team, so we’ve got to clean up a little stuff there, but we got a pole and good points. This is what we need to keep doing—just knock on the door, and eventually it will open.”
Ty Gibbs might have had the speed to mount a challenge, but he tangled with Sam Mayer late in the race while running near the front, resulting in damage.
Gibbs said that “he just packed air on my left rear and I got out there and he drove into me. It’s just part of it.” He called it a “learning experience,” adding that “we’re the same age so we’ll see what happens.”
AJ Allmendinger finished sixteenth, but holds on to the points lead by 25 points over Ty Gibbs and 32 points over Allgaier. The Xfinity Series returns at Road America for the Henry 180 on June 2nd.
Photos: NASCAR at Nashville Superspeedway Saturday June 25, 2022
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Results Tennessee Lottery 250
Nashville Superspeedway
Nashville, Tennessee
Saturday, June 25, 2022
1. (5) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 188.
2. (3) Trevor Bayne, Toyota, 188.
3. (1) Riley Herbst, Ford, 188.
4. (14) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 188.
5. (21) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 188.
6. (27) Ryan Preece(i), Ford, 188.
7. (11) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Toyota, 188.
8. (4) Austin Hill #, Chevrolet, 188.
9. (24) Ryan Sieg, Ford, 188.
10. (15) Brett Moffitt, Chevrolet, 188.
11. (17) Brandon Brown, Chevrolet, 188.
12. (25) Parker Retzlaff, Ford, 188.
13. (6) Noah Gragson, Chevrolet, 187.
14. (8) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 187.
15. (23) Stefan Parsons(i), Chevrolet, 187.
16. (2) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 187.
17. (10) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 187.
18. (12) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 187.
19. (29) Ryan Vargas, Chevrolet, 187.
20. (26) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 187.
21. (18) Tyler Reddick(i), Chevrolet, 186.
22. (22) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 186.
23. (31) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 186.
24. (20) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 185.
25. (28) Kyle Sieg #, Ford, 185.
26. (38) Patrick Emerling, Chevrolet, 185.
27. (35) Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, 185.
28. (34) BJ McLeod, Ford, 185.
29. (9) Josh Berry, Chevrolet, 184.
30. (30) Dillon Bassett, Chevrolet, 182.
31. (36) Bayley Currey, Chevrolet, 181.
32. (37) Natalie Decker, Toyota, 181.
33. (33) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 157.
34. (32) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, Electrical, 136.
35. (7) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, Accident, 126.
36. (19) Sheldon Creed #, Chevrolet, Accident, 124.
37. (13) Joe Graf Jr., Ford, Accident, 123.
38. (16) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, Power Steering, 118.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 119.319 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 5 Mins, 44 Secs. Margin of Victory: 4.513 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 5 for 27 laps.
Lead Changes: 13 among 5 drivers.
Lap Leaders: R. Herbst 0;A. Allmendinger 1-18;J. Allgaier 19-47;A. Allmendinger 48;J. Allgaier 49-92;J. Berry 93;T. Gibbs 94-96;J. Allgaier 97-98;T. Gibbs 99;J. Allgaier 100-118;A. Allmendinger 119-133;B. Jones 134;A. Allmendinger 135-148;J. Allgaier 149-188.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Justin Allgaier 5 times for 134 laps; AJ Allmendinger 4 times for 48 laps; Ty Gibbs 2 times for 4 laps; Brandon Jones 1 time for 1 lap; Josh Berry 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 7,18,98,16,21,8,54,19,1,9
Stage #2 Top Ten: 7,54,1,98,18,9,8,19,5,
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