Justin Allgaier started his final race of the 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) season on Saturday afternoon at Homestead-Miami Speedway (HMS). After two practice sessions on Friday afternoon, Allgaier qualified his No. 31 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet Camaro in the 14th position for the Ford EcoBoost 300. Allgaier maintained a top-10 position for a majority of the day until a blown tire caused him to make contact with the wall, damaging his BRANDT Chevy. After battling his racecar in the closing laps, Allgaier drove the BRANDT Chevy home to a 19th-place finish for Turner Scott Motorsports.
After rolling off 14th, Allgaier worked his way up to the 10th position on lap 23 and radioed in that his BRANDT Chevy was starting to get tight. When the first caution flew at lap 48, Allgaier relayed to crew chief Scott Zipadelli that his car was loose in and tight in the center. Allgaier came down pit road for four Goodyear tires, Sunoco fuel and adjustments. Allgaier restarted in the ninth position and communicated to his team that his car was really good on lap 69. Allgaier maintained the ninth position until the fourth caution of the race at lap 99 when he radioed in that his BRANDT Chevy was good and he just needed track position. During the caution, Allgaier brought his car down pit road for fuel, four tires and an air-pressure adjustment.
Allgaier restarted in the eighth position on lap 103, and was in the seventh position on lap 122 when the fifth caution was displayed. Allgaier reported his car had lost grip and he came down pit road for fuel and four tires. He restarted in eighth position and after another quick caution he was in the sixth position when the seventh caution came out on lap 150. Allgaier reported his car was good and he brought it down pit road for fuel and four fresh tires. After varying pit strategies, Allgaier restarted 12th on lap 154. After another quick caution, Allgaier was in the seventh position on lap 177 when his tire blew causing him to hit the wall and spin out, ultimately bringing out the ninth caution. Under caution, Allgaier made two pit stops to change four tires, add fuel and repair fender damage. He restarted in the 26th position on lap 183. After the final caution of the race on lap 184, Allgaier finished the 200-lap race in the 19th position with a damaged BRANDT Chevy at HMS. After Saturday’s race, Allgaier finished fifth in the NNS Driver Point Standings.
“We had a good weekend at Homestead [Miami Speedway],” said Allgaier. “My guys worked really hard and set the BRANDT Chevy up to be really good on long green-flag runs. We had a great car during the race and unfortunately something out of our control like a blown tire ended our good run. I have to thank BRANDT, SEM, AccuDoc Solutions and Wolf Pack Energy Services, without great sponsor like them we wouldn’t be able to do this. I also want to thank Harry Scott Jr. and Steve Turner, and everyone else at Turner Scott Motorsports. They all worked really hard this season to give me the best equipment.”
TSM PR
