Trouble strikes early for a #Championship4 driver!@J_Allgaier is involved in an incident during the opening moments of practice.
?: @USANetwork pic.twitter.com/2PLan94tHI
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) November 8, 2024
He may not have advanced to the Championship 4, but NASCAR Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year contender Jesse Love has a fast No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro this weekend at Phoenix Raceway.
In Friday’s practice session for Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race, Love turned a fast lap of 29.407 seconds (130.496 mph).
RELATED: NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Practice Results
Justin Allgaier and his crew chief Jim Pohlman had a car that was the latest and greatest chassis from the JR Motorsports shop in Mooresville, North Carolina for this weekend’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race, and just a couple of laps into his run, Allgaier recorded the second-fastest lap of anyone.
However, Allgaier won’t have the benefit of using that car for the remainder of the weekend.
In the opening minutes of the practice session on Friday afternoon, Brennan Poole suffered a mechanical issue with his No. 44 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet ahead of Allgaier, Brandon Jones, and Aric Almirola. Fluid trailed behind Poole’s car which caused Allgaier a Championship 4 driver, Almirola an Owners Championship 4 contender, and Jones to crash hard.
As a result, the best car Allgaier had ever driven was junked after turning just three laps, as were the cars for Almirola and Jones.
Die to being Championship 4 contenders, NASCAR allowed Allgaier and Almirola to take backup cars onto the track in the practice to tune their cars for Saturday’s event.
Connor Zilisch, the winner of Friday’s ARCA Menards Series West race, was third-fastest in practice behind Love and Allgaier. Almirola was fourth, and Custer was fifth.