Mistakes can prove to be costly. Especially at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where Cup Series regular William Byron was determined to make a mark at the 2025 BetMGM 300. The Hendrick Motorsports driver swept the stages and overcame a pit road speeding penalty to secure his fifth win in NASCAR’s second tier since 2017. It all came down to a series of late cautions, which allowed the No. 17 Chevy to progress through the field and pass Dale Jr’s reigning champ for the checkered flag.
For Justin Allgaier, the race was nothing more than a missed opportunity. After a disappointing finish in Texas, the JR Motorsports driver was hoping to redeem himself at ‘America’s Home for Racing,’ but a bad strategy call proved to be the difference maker at the 1.5-mile track, forcing him to finish 4th.
Justin Allgaier’s reckless call cost him big time
Expectations were high for Justin Allgaier. Why would they not be? After back-to-back wins in Las Vegas and Homestead-Miami Speedway, the veteran racer had not entered Victory Lane in his last seven Xfinity Series appearances, despite finishing inside the top-5 a staggering four times. He qualified for the BetMGM 300 in 10th place, but steadily gained track positions as the laps ticked on, finishing third at the end of Stage 1 and second in Stage 2. However, a mistake with 12 laps to go thwarted Allgaier’s late charge for a win.
Reflecting on what went wrong, Justin Allgaier said after the race, “I think the decision to stay out, I’m frustrated at myself at staying out. But I felt it would give me some gains on pit road. If more cars stayed out with us, or more guys took two tires, it would be net positive for us. Unfortunately, it didn’t. All those back-to-back cautions left the guys who had four tires gain a spot or two every yellow. Ultimately, it’s the price you pay. I’m sad.”
After the seventh caution of the race, Justin Allgaier made the disastrous decision of staying out despite his No. 17 crew calling him to the pit stop. His decision also dragged Sheldon Creed, Connor Zilisch, and others off the pit row, even though the majority of the field opted for better tires. The race had four more cautions and went into overtime, which meant the Illinois native was competing with 30-lap older tires than William Byron. That was a recipe for disaster.
Justin Allgaier made a judgement call and it bit them
Here’s his thinking pic.twitter.com/iGSQX8CgYl
— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) May 24, 2025
The Hendrick Motorsports driver placed himself strategically behind the JR Motorsports No. 7 on the final restart. Once he cleared Zilisch, Byron went low and got Justin Allgaier loose and quickly made the pass to take the lead. Unfortunately for the No. 7 driver, Nick Sanchez also managed to make the pass by following Byron, forcing Dale Earnhardt Jr’s driver to settle for a fourth-place finish.
Ultimately, it all came down to a bad strategy call, but despite the heartbreak, the veteran remained quite upbeat, saying, “We’re gonna go on the next stretch of races knowing we have a car capable of winning.” With the race at Nashville Superspeedway on the horizon, will the 38-year-old manage to keep his first place in the driver standings? Time will tell. But if the result in Charlotte is anything to go by, there are plenty of positives he can take from the performance.
Allgaier wanted to win for his daughter
It’s one thing to win for yourself, but to fulfill your daughter’s birthday wish? Now that’s a duty that every parent feels compelled to fulfill. Going into Charlotte Motor Speedway, Justin Allgaier was a man on a mission. He wanted to get his daughter a race win for her birthday, which may go on to explain his fantastic run at the 1.5-mile track. But a single mistake of not going into the pit road on time proved to be very costly.
Sharing his motivation for pushing for a triumph, Allgaier said, “I told you before the race that my daughter, all she wanted for her birthday, was a trophy, and I feel like I gave that away, and I think that’s the hardest part. But to lead [103] laps, to do the things we did today, to have the car that we had, you know, it’s exciting for the stretch of races that we have coming up, but I’ll be kicking myself for a little while, and how that one ended. Yeah, I don’t know, it’s frustrating.”
Justin Allgaier has no time to cry over spilled milk, though. The reigning champ has to pick himself up, dust himself off, and try again in what looks like a busy period on the calendar. With almost two decades of experience in the NASCAR world, the Illinois native is no stranger to heartbreak, having come agonizingly close to winning the championship on several occasions. But this one felt personal, especially because his daughter was looking on from the sidelines, hoping to bring the trophy home.
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