Allgaier is on fire in 2026

Justin Allgaier doesn't get the publicity of a Denny Hamlin in the Cup Series, but the veteran racer is putting up impressive numbers in his own right. The driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet in the NASCAR O'Reilly Series has six wins in 21 races thus far this season. The latest was something truly for the highlight reels with sparks flying behind his car as he raced to a win at Atlanta last Saturday Like Hamlin in the Cup Series, Allgaier has gotten better with age. Now 42, he's easily outperforming anyone else in the O'Reilly Series. He leads all major categories with the six wins, 472 laps led, 13 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes. He holds a 240-point lead over Jesse Love in the drivers standings with Sheldon Creed another 33 points back. Creed has the second most top-five finishes with eight. Austin Hill and Corey Day are the only other series regulars with multiple wins at two each. Cup Series regulars Kyle Larson, Connor Zilisch, Shane van Gisbergen are the other drivers with two wins each in the early part of the season. Allgaier, winner of 34 career races, was the 2024 O'Reilly Series (then Xfinity Series) champion. The six wins already this season have surpassed his previous best five wins in the 2018 campaign when he was the regular-season champion. The Illinois native is a fan favorite, a five-time winner of the Most Popular Driver Award for NASCAR's No. 2 series. Allgaier has struggled at the Cup level, competing in the Daytona 500 for JR Motorsports for a second straight year and three races substituting for an injured Alex Bowman in the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. His best finish was 22nd in those four races. Overall, he has just two top-10 finishes in 87 Cup Series starts. But, his performance in the O'Reilly Series has been exceptional. He has finished in the top five in points every season since 2019, and never lower than seventh in his career. He has been series runner-up twice. While Larson has won in the JR Motorsports cars, none of the team's series regulars — Carson Kvapil, Sammy Smith or Rajah Caruth — have come close to matching Allgaier's performance. Allgaier's wins have come on a variety of tracks — Phoenix, Darlington, Martinsville, Nashville, Pocono and Atlanta. He finished fourth in the Suburban Propane 300 at Bristol in April. He's a two-time winner at Bristol, which includes his first career win in 2010 when driving for Roger Penske. Allgaier and the rest of O'Reilly Series drivers have the week off before heading to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Pennzoil 250 on July 25. WILKESBORO RETURN North Wilkesboro Speedway hosts its first NASCAR Cup Series points race since 1996 with Sunday's Window World 450. Jeff Gordon, now Vice President of Hendrick Motorsports, was driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for the team when he won that race. It's the closest Cup Series track outside of BMS with a full weekend of racing on tap. The CARS Late Models are in action Friday night, followed by the NASCAR Truck Series on Saturday and the Cup Series on Sunday. Layne Riggs, who is having his own outstanding season, leads the Truck Series by 44 points over Kaden Honeycutt. Riggs, driving the No. 34 Ford for Dandridge businessman Bob Jenkins, has four wins in the first 14 races. They include the street course at St. Petersburg, the ovals of Charlotte and Nashville, and the Naval Base in San Diego. Chandler Smith, his Front Row Motorsports teammate in the No. 38 Ford, ranks third in points and is the defending race champion at North Wilkesboro.