Justin Allgaier wouldn’t be denied of a win this time after leading 119 of 147 laps in the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Crown Royal Purple Bag Project 200 at Darlington Raceway Saturday (May 11).
Allgaier took the lead when the race went back to green from a competition caution and only lost the lead during a round of pit stops at the end of stage one. His No. 7 was just too good to surpass, as he held off advances from Austin Hill and others on restarts and set sail to victory.
Hill settled for second, while polesitter Cole Custer, who led the opening 21 laps, took third. Allgaier’s JR Motorsports teammate Sam Mayer was fourth, and part-time Joe Gibbs Racing driver Aric Almirola rounded out the top five.
Winners
Allgaier finally got the monkey off his back and took home his first win of the season. It was one of those races where everything just clicked for him and the No. 7 team, as the pit crew was on point (especially on the money stop). His car was quick off the bat, and once he got clean air, he never looked back.
It was the Illinois native’s 24th Xfinity win and his first since last fall at Martinsville Speedway. Allgaier had come oh so close to earning a win quite a few times this year, which makes this one that much sweeter. From crashing out from the lead with less than 10 laps to go at Phoenix Raceway, to a rain caution ruining his day at Dover Motor Speedway, Allgaier lost the lead in many ways.
But a date with the Lady in Black was just what the doctor ordered for the No. 7 team. With a win under his belt, Allgaier now looks to continue his momentum on Memorial Day weekend.
Hill tried several different ways to get past Allgaier on restarts, but he just couldn’t get by him. Still, a second-place finish got the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing team back on track after finishing outside the top 10 in three of the previous four races coming into Darlington. It’s his best finish since Circuit of the Americas and his sixth top five and eighth top 10 of 2024.
The run showed that although Hill’s primary strength is on superspeedways, he can still wheel it on an egg-shaped 1.366-mile track that’s rough on tires.
Custer, meanwhile, had quite the opposite day from Allgaier and Hill. He started off strong from the lead in the front of the field, but pit road gremlins threw wrenches in his plans to keep the first position.
His crew had a problem with the air gun during the competition caution, causing…
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