Justin Allgaier has found his peace since winning Xfinity Series championship

Last night, Justin Allgaier had the perfect race, 61 points. He has been absolutely dominant this season in the Xfinity Series. Since winning the championship last November, Allgaier has been on another level from the rest of the field.

The 38-year-old has come a long way since his dirt racing and ARCA days. He’s gone to the Cup Series as a full-time driver and come back to the Xfinity Series as a “lifer.” Five times, he has been voted Most Popular Driver.

When you speak to Justin Allgaier, he seems at peace. That is not something a lot of Xfinity drivers can say. The series where “Names Are Made Here,” is supposed to be a stop along the way. It is where the future stars of the Cup Series are supposed to cut their teeth.

Justin Allgaier has made it his home. Now, as a champion of the series, he isn’t trying as hard. He is letting things happen and not trying to make them happen. Even his team owner, Dale Earnhardt Jr., has noticed a certain calm about him this season.

“Justin’s coming out of a championship where he’s chased that for so many years, and I feel like now that he has that out of the way, his racing, his racecraft is as good as it’s ever been,” Earnhardt said after the win. “Way, way less mistakes. He’s just really calm, putting great races together. So, he’s really dangerous for the rest of the competition at this point, I think in his career.”

Justin Allgaier was able to respond to those comments from Dale Jr. He admits that he wasn’t always so calm, even if he thought he was in his head.

“You know, it’s funny, I always thought I was pretty calm,” Allgaier said. “Then people comment on, ‘Hey, you know as you got older, you’ve got more fiery.’ And I’m like, you know, I don’t know that I have. And then I listen back to some of my audio back, and I’m like, yeah, yeah, I definitely have. But you know, winning the championship last year, I think, for me was this cool, eye-opening moment.

“Maybe not even winning the championship, but the way that the race went, like, almost two laps down, completely out of it, there’s no way – I mean, I was ready to just pull down pit road and just stop, right? Pull in a pit stall. To be honest with you, this is going to sound really bad, if I didn’t have to walk from Turn 4 all the way to Turn 1 to go to the infield care center, I probably would have just stopped and got out, but they were going to make me walk all the way over there.”

Good thing he didn’t park it in Phoenix, huh? While that championship has calmed him down, the determination to win has not let up.

Justin Allgaier has had a change in mentality

Through 14 races, Justin Allgaier has led 638 laps, 350 more laps than the next-best driver. While he has the same number of wins and playoff points as Austin Hill, he has created a 92-point gap in regular-season points. He has collected 178 stage points.

“So, I think that changed my mentality of how these races go. I always used to think like, it’s got to be the perfect night, and we sort of had that tonight, right?” Allgaier continued in his winner’s press conference. “We had the perfect points night and all that. But you know, I think, five years ago, I probably would have driven myself into a fence trying to get back to that clean air. You know, I would have maybe made a mistake on one of these restarts and put myself in a really bad position and wreck myself, or maybe somebody else.”

During his press conference, Justin Allgaier recalled a Nashville race from a few years ago. He had driven into the back of Ty Gibbs while trying to make a pass. While it has only been two or three years since then, Allgaier feels he has grown.

Not to mention, Allgaier is comfortable with his place in the sport. He doesn’t have to go Cup Series racing to prove himself. Allgaier is a champion. He keeps winning races. While his teammates and competitors in the Xfinity Series worry about what’s next, Allgaier knows where he belongs.

With that solace and peace in his heart, he is a different driver. He is a dangerous driver, as far as the rest of the field is concerned.

“In the last nine months, it’s just the different mentality, different attitude. Look, probaly the coolest thing is, I laugh every Monday because I feel like my three teammates are like looking at each other like, ‘This is my person I’m battling for an opportunity to go to the Cup level and make the next big splash in the sport, and I’m like, I’m happy where I’m at. I’m enjoying the role that I have now. It’s just – different mentality.”