DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Justin Allgaier and JR Motorsports locked themselves into the Daytona 500 for the second consecutive season on Wednesday night. And while this wasn't as historic as the first time, it was no less impactful.
Videos by FanBuzz
"I would say this is like just having more dessert, man," team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. said in response to a question from FanBuzz. "We ate the whole course last year, and we're getting to be back for seconds at the dessert table, just have a little more. Feel like we're in bonus time, if you will.
"For both of us in our lives, honestly, it's like we're getting a little extra that we've already had pretty good careers together, out on the racetrack, behind the wheel and all that.
"This is just like a part of the story that we didn't really know we was going to get to live. It's pretty incredible."
JR Motorsports has accomplished a significant amount, especially since Allgaier entered the fold in 2016. The veteran driver has remained the mainstay at the organization, delivering consistency and 25 wins while pairing with a wide variety of teammates.
Many of these teammates ended up in the Cup Series. multiple won championships before making their way to the next level of the sport.
Through it all, Allgaier remained, and he added an O'Reilly Auto Parts Series title to his resume.
And while Allgaier has occasionally voiced an interest in returning to the Cup Series if a quality opportunity surfaced, he has also made it clear that he remains happy with his current situation. He gets to regularly compete for wins and championships with a top-tier organization.
He also recently had the opportunity to deliver a new opportunity to country music superstar Chris Stapleton, who sponsored the No. 40 Chevrolet both seasons. He got to show Stapleton how incredibly difficult this sport can be.
Stapleton has an appreciation for NASCAR, but that doesn't mean he fully knows the stress that teams encounter during Speedweeks. He has far more knowledge about the music and spirits industries.
Allgaier and JR Motorsports provided this education over two consecutive seasons. They locked into the Daytona 500 once during the Duel races and once during single-car qualifying. For those keeping score, JR Motorsports prefers the latter path.
But regardless of how they got to this point, Allgaier is just happy to have this dessert so late in his NASCAR career. He gets to compete in the Daytona 500 for only the fourth time in his career, and he gets to do so with the team that has become his home.
"As Dale said, never in my life did I expect to get back here to do what we're doing, especially now with JR Motorsports, right," Allgaier said. "When this came about last year, it was, like, 'Man, this is just amazing.'
"To do it again in the second year, it definitely has not diminished. It's a stress in a different way, but it has not diminished. Now we're just going to have fun and enjoy it because it's definitely not diminished."
