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[/media-credit]”I’m a little disappointed. We’ve felt that we’ve had very strong racecars week-in-week-out, and for whatever reason, we’re not finishing the way we should. We’re struggling a little bit for the finishes, but not all of it is our fault. Some of it is mechanical failures, crashes, and things that are unfortunate, yet out of our control. We’re hopeful that we can get it turned around and we’ll be in good shape come the end of the year.”
13 races into the 2012 Nationwide Series season, Justin Allgaier has one top five and seven top 10s, sitting fifth in points.
It hasn’t been the season that Allgaier and team were looking for as many had them as contenders for the championship this season with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Dillon and Elliott Sadler. However, it’s been a mix of issues for Allgaier and Turner Motorsports, including a pair of finishes outside the top 15 due to an engine failure at Fontana and a wreck at Daytona.
This past weekend at Michigan International Speedway, Allgaier finished 14th after qualifying eighth.
“We unloaded off the truck and thought we were pretty decent, and for whatever reason, we seemed to kind of not have the day we were hoping for,” the driver of the No. 31 Brandt Chevrolet says. “During the race, we felt like we were underpowered a little bit and for whatever reason, we felt like we’d be better off the truck. Not sure what issue we were fighting, but we definitely not what we were looking for.”
This weekend, though, welcomes a change in pace for the NASCAR Nationwide Series with the road course event at Road America. Allgaier is hoping it brings him a good finish and begins a string of a solid finishes after running well last year before running out of fuel at the end.
“It’s a totally different mindset,” Allgaier says. “You’ve got to change how you race; it’s differnet than what we’re used to. Definitely got a big challenge ahead of us, but at the same time, it’s a good challenge. I think we all really enjoy going to the road courses and changing it up a little bit, and I think we’ll have a good weekend.”
Allgaier met Steve Turner after becoming good friends with both Chris and James Buescher.
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[/media-credit]”Everything kind of worked together with BRANDT and just the whole timing of everything was perfect and fortunately we were able to put a deal together and get them on the car,” Allgaier adds. “It was just the perfect storm, to be honest with you.”
Being a driver at Turner Motorsports has given him the opportunity to work with a diverse group of teammates, from veterans like Kasey Kahne to fellow young drivers like Brad Sweet and Steve Arpin.
“I think its great to work with those guys,” he says. “It’s a good group of guys and everybody is there to run good and win races, and I think that’s important number one.”
Allgaier says that sometimes, it can be tough being part of a non-Sprint Cup team when you’ve got a problem on your hands and can’t find the solution. That’s why at times it can be tough to run against the Sprint Cup guys in the Nationwide Series, but Allgaier welcomes the challenge.
“I think it’s a good thing for our sport to have the Cup guys run with us and elevate the competition like they do,” he says. “I think that’s great. Trust me, don’t get me wrong, it’s frustrating to have to race against those guys and try and beat them.”
He adds that racing against them prepares him for future goals, like making it to the Sprint Cup Series. Allgaier has been able to beat the field twice with a pair of wins in the Nationwide Series. Looking to help him reach the goal of victory lane for a third time is crew chief Jimmy Elledge.
Allgaier says that he and Elledge have a great relationship, though it can be their downfall sometimes to how much they are alike.
“We just seemed to hit it off right away, right out of the box,” Allgaier says. “I really enjoy that relationship and glad that he’s my crew chief. I feel that we work very well together.”
He adds that they also have fun together as Elledge got him interested in Outlaw Go-Karting and now they race together each week.
Allgaier is one of many drivers that came through the ARCA Series ranks up to the NASCAR ranks. Allgaier says it’s a great series to learn from and his most memorable moment came when he won the championship in 2008.
“At the time, I was driving for my dad’s ARCA team and it came down to the last race and we were third in points going in,” he says. “Everything had to work out exactly how it did for us to win the championship. We ended up winning the race and the championship and it was just an awesome experience for me and to see the joy on his face was just amazing.”
In all of his racing, Allgaier says that the biggest lesson he has learned is that you’ve got to put 100% effort into racing.
‘There’s always someone that going to want it and try just as hard, and if you’re not putting the effort in, someone else is going to be,” he says.
