Misfortune strikes again as JR Motorsports drivers lose their steam in the desert race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Even though three of its cars managed to finish inside the top 10, it wasn’t a walk in the park for Justin Allgaier, who had to battle it out with an impotent racecar while an early tangle took his teammate, Sam Mayer, out of the race in lap 8.

With one of its cars out of the fray, it came down to Xfinity Series veteran Justin Allgaier to see the team to the end; however, as the battle waged on, the #7 JRM Chevy kept losing speed, going cold, only to fall back further. Speaking to Frontstretch’s Michael Massie, the 37-year-old veteran driver details the events that unfolded in the closing laps of the race, revealing the strategy he had to adopt to do something significant and finish the race inside the top 10.

Justin Allgaier details his ill-fated desert run in Las Vegas

Saying Allgaier’s Las Vegas run was cursed wouldn’t be an understatement. In fact, even when the race started, bad luck was upon the NXS veteran when he had a tire issue in qualifying. A flat right-rear tire sent his car sliding sideways toward the wall. Though the driver was able to keep his car clean, he had to start from the rear of the field.

To make matters worse, the #7 Chevy of Allgaier lost pace courtesy of an unknown issue, something that even the team couldn’t find out. In fact, shortly after the driver said the car couldn’t be even pushed back to the hauler. Reflecting on the whole situation, the driver after the 200-lap marathon said, “We were down on power right there; we think, something was going on with the car and we were losing power I wasn’t able to really run pace anymore.”

Furthermore, he vented out his frustration, saying, “I mean, at that point, it was kind of the bed that we had to live in. If we would have stopped them before tires on it, I don’t think we’d have had the pace to even finish 10. So, you know, it’s a shame.”

The gamble that got #7 inside the top 10 after a “hard weekend”

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“It’s hard with his weekend. I mean, to have the qualifying incident to go to the back, drive all the way back to the field, you know, have the speed that we did, and then just not really have anything to show for, it’s kind of disappointing,” was what the #7 driver had to say after barely scraping in inside the top 10, finishing tenth at Vegas. 

As a result of the power loss, #7 crew chief Jim Pohlman left Allgaier out longer than everyone else at the end of the race to try to catch a caution and make up for the lost ground. He led 11 laps until he finally gave up the lead and went to the pit to refuel on lap 180.

He then mentioned the gamble that the team had to take. Allgaier said, “At that point, when you’re down like that, you just best bet is to try to go as long as you can, maybe catch a caution. I mean, we knew it was going to bite us if the caution didn’t come out, but, I mean at that point it was kind of the bed that we had to live in. If we would have stopped them before tires on it, I don’t think we’d have had the pace to even finish 10.” 

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