AUSTIN, Texas — On a day where numerous drivers made each other angry, two men from rival teams ditched the drama and had themselves a grand ol' time racing door-to-door in the closing laps at Circuit of the Americas.
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Neither Justin Allgaier nor William Sawalich contended for the win, but they each scored top-10 finishes after recovering from early setbacks. They then enjoyed a moment together on pit road while other drivers expressed frustration with each other.
Allgaier climbed from his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet after a hard-fought eighth-place finish, and he immediately hustled over to Sawalich. He spent a few moments talking to the Joe Gibbs Racing driver before giving him a fist bump and walking away.
"William and I had a heck of a battle for the last two laps, right," Allgaier told FanBuzz after the race. "Side by side and trying to out-brake each other, but we never made contact.
"We drove as clean of racing as you can race but still put each other in every spot that you can put each other in. And I just told him, 'Hey, man, thanks for the lack of contact. You could have just drove in there and cleaned me out.'"
The road course races tend to feature damaged cars and bruised egos, especially during the final stage as drivers fight for position and potentially the win. Circuit of the Americas showcased this on Saturday afternoon and evening.
Multiple contenders got together over the course of 65 laps. Some ended up in the wall while others went through the gravel. One particular incident saw Corey Day get into Connor Zilisch and send him into the wall in the closing laps. This led to some heated comments on pit road and mandatory post-race interviews with CW Sports.
Allgaier and Sawalich didn't have perfect days at the track, nor did they keep their respective cars clean. Allgaier had a pit stop after a flat tire and another unscheduled stop for a loose wheel. Sawalich had a heavily-taped front end after an incident on the opening lap.
Photo credit: Nigel Kinrade Photography
This was far from an easy afternoon at the race track, but both drivers had fun while racing each other at least.
"I've always liked to race clean no matter what track we are at," Sawalich told FanBuzz. "It's more fun for me and I feel like that's how racing should be.
"I have a ton of respect for Justin as a veteran in our series and how he has raced me in the past, so it was fun to race hard and clean in the last few laps."
Saturday was far from the first time that Sawalich and Allgaier have raced around each other. They both drive for top-tier organizations, and they are both talented. They are both expected to regularly contend for wins.
These two drivers have raced door-to-door many times before at such tracks as Daytona International Speedway, World Wide Technology Raceway, Portland International Raceway, and Sonoma Raceway.
Thus far, they have avoided high-profile run-ins. This is a trend they both plan to continue well into the future.
"He's a great race car driver," Allgaier added. "Days like today, battling like that, that's what makes these days fun.
"Yeah, I wanted to beat him, but I'm also not going to drive off — after you've raced for two laps and you've raced each other clean — I'm not going to drive into the next corner and run right into their rear bumper and move them out of the way."
