After spending two seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series with HScott Motorsports, Justin Allgaier chose to jump back down to the NASCAR Xfinity Series with JR Motorsports. Since then, the Riverton, Illinois native hasn’t been back for more than a one-off race or an interim role.
While the impression derived by the general public has been that Allgaier didn’t want to return to the NASCAR Cup Series full-time, the Xfinity Series veteran clarified his stance Tuesday while taking questions in an ‘Ask Me Anything’ on X.
Cup? https://t.co/PsT750HPmf pic.twitter.com/Ni1D9N1JiH
— JR Motorsports (@JRMotorsports) October 15, 2024
“If I could drive the right car in the Cup Series, without a doubt, hands down, I would love to go back Cup racing,” Allgaier said, responding to a question about whether he wanted to return to the Cup Series full-time, “I miss it, I love it. It’s the top of our sport. I still feel like most days I can compete at a high level in the Cup Series.”
Between the years 2013 and 2024, Allgaier has made 82 NASCAR Cup Series starts, for several different organizations, including HScott Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports, Spire Motorsports, and Beard Motorsports.
Throughout his time at NASCAR’s top level, Allgaier has a single top-10 finish, an eighth-place result at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2015.
“That being said, I also know how hard it is to build relationships and teams, and do all of the right things, and it has to make sense for everybody. “For example, BRANDT, with the way they’ve supported me over a number of years, I don’t know that the Cup Series would do much good for their brand, or their company, that they aren’t already getting in the Xfinity Series.”
The 38-year-old racer also mentions that he’s loving his current home in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at JR Motorsports, where he’s been since he returned to the second-tier series in 2016. Allgaier is a 25-time NASCAR Xfinity Series winner, and holds the record for the most top-10s in the series.
“Am I torn, absolutely. If I could go drive for a top-tier Cup team on Sundays and have fun and go for a championship, would I still want to do it? Absolutely. I’m probably closer to the end of my career than the beginning, but at the same time, I love what I’m doing and I wouldn’t change it.”
Will that top-tier NASCAR Cup Series opportunity ever come to fruition for Allgaier? Maybe not, but rest assured, the absence of that opportunity in his career wouldn’t dampen his spirits.
