AVONDALE, Ariz. — Justin Allgaier and Aric Almirola will both have to start Saturday's Xfinity Series championship race from the rear of the field after a crash sent them to backup cars.
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The incident unfolded early in the 50-minute practice session. Allgaier lost control and hit the outside wall. Brandon Jones and Almirola both wrecked behind him, significantly damaging their cars. Multiple other drivers sustained damage in an incident ultimately started by a mechanical failure on the No. 44.
"The track was oiled down, and I just took off on a slide," Almirola said after exiting the infield care center.
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
Allgaier showed his frustration after climbing out of the car in the garage. He slammed his hand down onto a toolbox multiple times. This was a rare sign of anger from the JR Motorsports driver, but he explained that there were multiple reasons for it.
The biggest was that he had wrecked a brand-new race car that the No. 7 team had built specifically for Phoenix. He called it probably the best car he's ever had.
Another reason is that something out of Allgaier's control led to the multi-car crash. He didn't make a mistake on the track. Someone else's issue sent him into the wall.
"The frustration comes from a place of knowing how prepared we were and, I guess, how ill-prepared other people are," Allgaier said. "And I think that's what ultimately causes crashes like that.
"That's what's frustrating is that you have no control over that. The two in front of me, I saw them start to slide when I was already sliding, and the group behind me, I mean, they hit even harder I think than I did. Just seems like it got worse the farther back it went."
Justin Allgaier and Aric Almirola both return to the track in backup cars. pic.twitter.com/jXFscTjciG
— John Newby (@JohnNewby_) November 8, 2024
The crash is now behind him Allgaier; all he can do is move forward and try to work his way through the field with a backup car. He still has a championship to pursue.
This is something he believes he can do considering that the backup for Phoenix has been the primary in other events this season.
"I don't know what race we raced this one last at, but it's a car that we've had a lot of success in at a couple of different race tracks," Allgaier said.
"...In today's day and age, the number of the car isn't quite as important as it used to be. We've been able to streamline all of that and get really good builds in our core group of cars we've been running this late part of the summer."
