Fans Pour in Best Wishes for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Forgotten Champion as Questions Raised Over Popularity

When Little Gator finally hoisted the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship trophy in 2024, it marked the culmination of a 14-season journey filled with near-misses and what-ifs. The Springfield, Illinois native’s path to championship glory wasn’t conventional, especially for a driver who had already tested Cup Series waters. Just days after his disappointing DNF at Texas, where he admirably took responsibility for a wreck with Kris Wright, fans have rallied behind Allgaier, raising questions about why this champion remains somewhat overlooked in NASCAR’s bigger picture.

Allgaier’s recent Texas race incident, where he led 99 laps before a collision ended his day, perfectly encapsulates his career – talented enough to dominate but sometimes forgotten when discussing NASCAR’s elite. Despite being the defending Xfinity champion with two wins and eight top-five finishes already in 2025, Allgaier’s name rarely enters conversations about potential Cup Series stars, even after he impressed with a 9th-place finish in JR Motorsports’ Cup Series debut at the 2025 Daytona 500.

The 38-year-old veteran has shown his versatility beyond just stock cars, making appearances in the Porsche GT3 Cup Brazil and even Stadium Super Trucks. His Cup Series experience includes 83 races over 9 years, including a recent strong showing when substituting for Kyle Larson in the 2024 Coca-Cola 600, finishing 13th in the rain-shortened event. Everything about Allgaier screams that he is a great race car driver. But why is one of the most promising NASCAR talents not racing in the premier series?

And this was the question raised by a new NASCAR fan on Reddit, “Hello New viewer here, I just got to know that Allgaier is almost as old as Kyle Busch, and given his Xfinity performance so far that I have seen, why is it that he does not get a cup seat in the Chevy teams?” The NASCAR fans who have been following the sport for a long time chimed in with their views on Aallgaier’s preferences. While also explaining how different the two series are despite being under the same umbrella.

Fans Defend Allgaier’s Career Choices

“He has 2 young daughters and prefers the lighter schedule,” one fan pointed out, highlighting the personal side of Allgaier’s career decisions. Indeed, the data supports this view – the NASCAR document confirms Allgaier is married to Ashley with daughters Harper and Willow. For many drivers, the gruelling 36-race Cup schedule makes family life challenging, while the Xfinity Series’ shorter calendar allows more family time. His commitment to family appears to be as important as his racing career. And at 37, very few teams in the Cup Series would bank on him, rather, they would go for a young talent.

Another fan perspective cuts to the competitive heart of racing: “I think it comes down to would you rather be running at best mid-pack in the top series or would you rather contend and run for a championship in the second highest.” Unless Allgaier was at teams like Hendrick, JGR or Penske, he would be running mid-pack. This was evident when he raced for H Scott Motorsports for two years, and he could only bag a top 10 result. Now compare that to 27 wins and a championship glory in the Xfinity Series, for drivers like Allgaier, he’d rather be competitive than just survive in the mid-pack.

Perhaps most telling are comments about his previous Cup attempt: “He got a Cup opportunity in 2014 and 2015 but it went poorly because the team he drove for was a complete dumpster fire.” The statistics confirm this assessment – driving for HScott Motorsports, Dale Jr.’s champion’s best points finish was 29th in 2014. One fan lamented a missed opportunity: “He should’ve gotten the Penske #22 when A.J. Allmendinger failed a drug test.” Instead, Allgaier found his home with JR Motorsports, where he’s flourished since 2016, becoming the team’s veteran leader and now their defending champion.

Some fans even took jabs at Corey LaJoie, who is desperately trying to find a full-time ride in the Cup Series after being ejected by Spire Motorsports. He is running a partial schedule with Rick Ware Racing, and if we are to compare his stats with zero wins to those of Allgaier’s 27 in the Xfinity Series, the latter one has a better and successful racing career. “He understands something lajoie doesn’t: the trophy room doesn’t care what series the trophies came from. But a full trophy room is much cooler than an empty one.”

As Allgaier continues his championship defence in 2025, the forgotten champion keeps proving that sometimes the best career path isn’t always the most obvious one.