Dale Jr.'s JRM driver Justin Allgaier 'bummed' over mechanical issues derailing promising Xfinity finish

Justin Allgaier shared his frustration after mechanical issues cost him a strong finish in what was shaping up to be a solid run in the Xfinity Series. In a video posted on X, Allgaier described how brake failure late in the race left him disappointed with a 23rd-place result.

The clip was uploaded by Dalton Hopkins, on-track NASCAR manager for Frontstretch. He shared the video with the caption:

“.@J_Allgaier was hoping for better in his home race. After his brakes failed, he finished 23rd.”

In the video, Allgaier explained how his day unfolded before the mechanical setback. He said the team had a decent start with their Chevrolet and made progress despite early communication problems related to choosing cone visibility, which spotters were having trouble seeing.

Once the team worked around that, Allgaier pushed up to around fifth or sixth place and believed he had the pace to compete in the top range of the field. But then, he felt a problem in the left rear of the car. That turned into a full-part failure, which caused the brakes to go out.

Justin Allgaier told Dalton Hopkins:

“Yeah, I thought we had a decent day with our Chevrolet, I thought it was going okay at the beginning. Lot of struggles today… Once we got all that sorted and we got our way up to the 5-6 area… "

"I thought we had the pace to run kinda anywhere from that 36th 37th range. Honestly for me, we were gonna be fine… then I felt the left rear had some issues and you know ultimately, had a part failure in the left rear. Lost brakes because of it…,” he added.

Justin Allgaier described the situation as difficult, especially because the failure occurred late in the race. The team was able to clamp off what they could, but by then it was too late to recover any meaningful track position. He called the experience “just bummed,” adding that the last month had been similarly disappointing. Still, he pointed ahead to the next race in Sonoma, hoping to build on lessons from this weekend.

He added that while the crew did their best to make quick fixes, the damage was done. The failure impacted the final laps, leaving no time for adjustments or recovery. This meant Justin Allgaier finished 23rd, a big drop considering the pace he believed the car had earlier in the race. This race adds to a stretch of misfortune for Allgaier over the past month.

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“I don’t want to miss it”: Justin Allgaier opens up about family, future, and possibly stepping away from NASCAR

Ahead of his recent win at Nashville Superspeedway, Justin Allgaier sat down with Kenny Wallace on The Kenny Conversation podcast and shared unexpected thoughts about his future in racing. While the defending Xfinity Series champion is still performing at a high level, he made it clear that his long-term focus may shift away from NASCAR and toward his family and their tire business in Illinois.

During the conversation, Allgaier shared that he had committed to becoming part of the family business nearly five years ago. His father had asked him directly whether he intended to carry on the legacy, and Allgaier had agreed without hesitation. He has since taken up a minority ownership role.

While the JR Motorsports driver has not announced an official timeline for retirement, his comments made it clear that he’s seriously considering walking away from full-time racing sooner than expected.

In the podcast, Justin Allgaier talked about wanting to be present for his children and not miss out on their growing-up years. He said candidly about his priorities:

“I just don't know what the long term of that looks like. I feel like, for me, my kids are growing up — I'm watching them grow up, I'm watching them get older. I don't want to miss it, you know? I don't want to not be there for it."

"I still love the sport. I still love what I do — I wouldn't change it for the world. But I also feel like there's a lot of other stuff that I can accomplish in this world outside of being behind the wheel. I love the younger drivers that are coming up. I've helped quite a few try to be better. I'd love to do more of that,” he added.

In the 2025 Xfinity Series season, Justin Allgaier leads the driver standings with 646 points after 18 races. Allgaier has picked up three wins, 10 top-five finishes, and 11 top-10 finishes, showing strong consistency when mechanical issues don’t get in the way. He’s also led 648 laps across the season, despite two DNFs, with an average starting position of 6.389 and an average finish of 12.667.