Jason Allgaier Wins Xfinity Race at Road America

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ELKHART LAKE, WI - RIS – Jason Allgaier ran away over the last five laps to win a convincing victory at Road America on Saturday in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race.  Allgaier held a 5.4-second advantage over second-place Matt Tifft to take a tense race filled with scrapes and spin-outs around the 14-turn course. Daniel Hemric was third.

Allgaier took advantage of late-race commotion to pick up another road course win following a victory two weeks ago at Mid-Ohio.

Second behind points leader Christopher Bell coming into the weekend, Allgaier picked up his fourth victory overall this season.

“I never would have thought we could have a dream season like this one,” he said with a smile after wiping sweat off his forehead. “Two road courses … would you believe that?”

Allgaier admitted that in the final five laps all he could think about was fuel.

"OK, if I run out of gas I may not go back to the garage area," Allgaier said in recounting his internal conversation. "I may just walk back home to Charlotte."

NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott finished 20th after coming out of retirement to take his first Xfinity ride around Road America. The 62-year-old Elliott started 23rd, then climbed up to 17th before spinning out and falling back.

“It was a heck of a lot of fun,” Elliott said.

The old-school driver would have loved the racing at the front of the field.

With three laps to go, second-place James Davison and third-place Justin Marks were jockeying for position trying desperately to catch Allgaier when their cars spun out around a tight left turn.

Tifft blew past Davison and Marks. But no one could catch Allgaier, who started 11th and was second to points leader Christopher Bell coming into the weekend.

Allgaier picked up another win on a road course following a victory two weeks ago at Mid-Ohio. Allgaier picked up his fourth victory overall this season.

It was an entertaining race for NASCAR during an off week for the top-level Cup circuit.

Outside of Elliott’s appearance, the most attention coming into the race fell on Road America rookies like British racer Katherine Legge, who was driving in her second NASCAR race, finished 14th.

IndyCar driver Conor Daly, who was making his NASCAR debut, finished 31st. A suspension issue forced his No. 6 Ford into the garage after 35 laps.

Unofficial Race Results for the 9th Annual Johnsonville 180 - August 25, 2018 - Road America - Elkhart Lake, WI - 4.048 Mile Road
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 11, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet, 45, 9, 5, 3, 14, 5, 48, Running
2) 1, Matt Tifft, No. 2 Dragon Alliance Chevrolet, 45, 1, 2, 2, 12, 1, 54, Running
3) 12, Daniel Hemric, No. 21 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet, 45, , 1, 1, 7, 1, 44, Running
4) 2, Cole Custer, No. 00 Haas Automation Ford, 45, 7, 7, , , , 41, Running
5) 17, Elliott Sadler, No. 1 OneMain Financial Chevrolet, 45, , 3, , , , 40, Running
6) 4, Justin Marks, No. 42 Chevrolet Accessories Chevrolet, 45, 4, 6, , , , 43, Running
7) 16, Ross Chastain, No. 4 Flex Seal Chevrolet, 45, 10, 10, , , , 32, Running
8) 3, James Davison, No. 18 Tilson Forest Hearing Cruz Toyota, 45, , , 1, 1, , 29, Running
9) 9, Brandon Jones, No. 19 Toyota Service Centers/Mobil 1 Toyota, 45, , , , , , 28, Running
10) 13, Andy Lally, No. 90 HENRY Chevrolet, 45, 8, 9, , , , 32, Running
11) 18, Kaz Grala #, No. 61 IT Coalition Ford, 45, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 19, Michael Annett, No. 5 Allstate Parts & Service Group Chevrolet, 45, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 14, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 RepairableVehicles.com Chevrolet, 45, 5, , , , , 30, Running
14) 26, Katherine Legge, No. 15 Airtec/Quicksilver Chevrolet, 45, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 31, Garrett Smithley, No. 0 Flex Tape Chevrolet, 45, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 27, Alex Labbe #, No. 36 Larue/Cyclops Gear Chevrolet, 45, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 28, Ryan Ellis, No. 78 Superlite Cars/Audio Visual Specialists Chevrolet, 45, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 22, Brian Henderson, No. 38 Friends of Jacyln Foundation Chevrolet, 45, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 30, Joey Gase, No. 35 Sparks Chevrolet, 45, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 23, Bill Elliott, No. 23 ISM Connect Chevrolet, 45, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 37, Spencer Boyd #, No. 76 Grunt Style Chevrolet, 45, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 36, Chad Finchum #, No. 40 Smithbilt Toyota, 45, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 5, Christopher Bell #, No. 20 Ruud Toyota, 45, 2, 4, , , , 30, Running
24) 6, Brendan Gaughan, No. 3 South Point/Beard Oil Distributing Chevrolet, 45, 3, , 2, 8, , 21, Running
25) 7, Ryan Truex, No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 45, 6, 8, , , , 20, Running
26) 20, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 Lombard Bros Gaming Chevrolet, 45, , , 1, 1, , 11, Running
27) 38, Vinnie Miller #, No. 01 JAS Trucking Chevrolet, 45, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 21, Ty Majeski, No. 60 Drive Down A1C Lilly Diabetes Ford Mustang Ford, 45, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 24, Scott Heckert, No. 8 JW Transport Chevrolet, 44, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 25, Josh Bilicki #, No. 45 Prevagen Toyota, 35, , , , , , 7, Accident
31) 15, Conor Daly, No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, 35, , , , , , 6, Suspension
32) 40, Carl Long, No. 66 MBM Motorsports Dodge, 32, , , , , , 5, Engine
33) 39, Stephen Leicht, No. 74 Shadow Warriors Project/Horizon Transport Dodge, 25, , , , , , 4, Clutch
34) 29, Tyler Reddick #, No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, 25, , , , , , 3, Rear Gear
35) 33, Timmy Hill, No. 13 CrashClaimsR.Us Dodge, 24, , , , , , 2, Brakes
36) 32, David Starr, No. 52 Silver Spring House/Onyx Auto Finance Chevrolet, 17, , , , , , 1, Engine
37) 8, Austin Cindric #, No. 22 Menards/Richmond Ford, 15, , , 1, 2, , 1, Engine
38) 34, James French, No. 55 Prevagen Toyota, 8, , , , , , 1, Brakes
39) 10, Ryan Reed, No. 16 Drive Down A1C Lilly Diabetes Ford, 6, , , , , , 1, Accident
40) 35, Jeff Green, No. 93 RSS Racing Chevrolet, 2, , , , , , 1, Suspension
 (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Total Race Length - 45 Laps - 182.16 Miles 
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 23 Mins, 57 Secs.
Average Speed: 75.926 MPH
Margin of Victory: 5.403 Seconds
Race Comments: Justin Allgaier won the ninth annual Johnsonville 180 at Road America, his ninth victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: No. 0 (unapproved adjustments) and Nos. 22, 61, 66  (unapproved tire change)
Caution Flags: 7 for 10 laps: Laps: 5-6 (No. 55 Spin Turn 1 / No. 66 Stopped On Track [None]);
9-9 (No. 16 Incident Turn 3 [None]);
12-12 (Stage 1 Conclusion [66]);
16-17 (No. 22 Incident Turn 12 [66]);
22-22 (Stage 2 Conclusion [38]);
30-31 (Fluid On Track From No. 9 [45]);
38-38 (No. 45 Incident Turn 12 [01]).
Lead Changes: 10 among 7 drivers: M. Tifft 1-10;
B. Gaughan 11-12;
A. Cindric # 13-14;
D. Hemric 15-21;
J. Allgaier 22;
B. Gaughan 23-28;
M. Tifft 29-30;
R. Sieg 31;
J. Allgaier 32-37;
J. Davison 38;
J. Allgaier 39-45.
Duralast Brakes "Brake in the Race":  Matt Tifft, No. 2 
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race:  Hendrick Engines, No. 7 
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race:  Justin Allgaier, No. 7 
Sunoco Rookie of the Race:  Kaz Grala, No. 61

Ron Fleshman

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2018, Issue 8, Posted 8:39 PM, 08.25.2018