Justin Allgaier Back In Xfinity Playoffs After Iowa Victory

Justin Allgaier wins at Iowa
Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

The green flag would soon wave, but before Justin Allgaier went elbows up, he draped his arms around his four-year old daughter, Harper Grace.

The tender embrace painted a poignant Father's Day image moments before the outset of the hotly-contested eighth annual Iowa 250 presented by Enogen at the .875-mile Iowa Speedway.

But another stirring photo op developed two and a half hours later, as dad exulted amid strands of confetti in Victory Lane — and this time the triumph came with vital playoff-sealing points attached.

"Our (No. 7) BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet was fast," said Allgaier, who won last month at Dover, but didn't accrue playoff points because of a post-race inspection penalty. "Incredible. We're in the middle of corn fields — how could you not enjoy this? … Doing it on Father's Day, it was really cool having my daughter here."

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"] Allgaier dominated the field despite intense and near-constant challenges from hard-charging Christopher Bell, who came from the rear at the start of the race to finish second. He also notched his second win of the season — but first one that counts, playoffs-wise.

Bell settled for second but overcame a slew of adversity while nearly pulling off the win. He started 39th because his No. 20 Rheem Toyota did not pass pre-qualifying inspection.

"Man, I just needed to be in front of him," Bell said. "Our (car) was really good. … I just didn't have enough to clear him. He could just kind of ride ride that outside there, outside my door, just keep me pinned down. But we had a really good Rheem Camry, just unfortunately not good enough to get by him."

Allgaier also shook off recent encounters with bad luck — and the fence — to win stage one. The Xfinity Series veteran powered his car between pole sitter Austin Cindric and the lapped car of Alex Labbe to win the opening 60-lapper. Cindric, who earlier earned his first career pole, had led the first 58 laps of the stage before Allgaier made his daring three-wide maneuver.

Bell surged to sixth in 60 laps.

As Bell ascended, series points leader Elliott Sadler struggled for the second straight week. A cut tire forced him to pit with a handful of laps to go in the first stage. That mishap relegated him to the back of the pack. He finished 28th and maintains a four-point lead over Cole Custer in the standings.

Daniel Hemric finished third, with Custer and Brandon Jones completing the top five.

Justin Allgaier led a race-high 182 laps in Sunday's victory
Robert Laberge/Getty Images

Allgaier claimed the second stage playoff point, as well — doubling his season total of stage wins to four.

Bell finally took the top position with 70 to go, but Allgaier immediately regained it and maintained a slim advantage as the final stage eclipsed the midway point.

"Hopefully we put on a good show for the fans," Bell said. "We were side-by-side for half the race."

Bell later nearly completed another pass of Allgaier, but a caution for debris halted his momentum.

All of the top five cars steered onto pit road for four fresh tires and fuel.

After the restart, Allgaier again wheeled to the top spot, with Bell in tow.

Allgaier faced another restart with less than 20 laps to go, but remained calm — and in front.

Elbows up. Hugging the steering wheel. Until he could finally hug his daughter again after raising his arms in Victory Lane.

"Unbelievable," Allgaier said. "First of all, all glory to God, man. We had a great car today. These guys did a fantastic job. I can't thank everybody at JR Motorsports enough."

RACE RESULTS

Finish Start # Driver Sponsor/Make Laps Led Points Status
1 11 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet 250 182 60 Running
2 39 20 Christopher Bell # Rheem Toyota 250 2 48 Running
3 2 21 Daniel Hemric South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet 250 2 51 Running
4 5 0 Cole Custer Haas Automation Ford 250 6 46 Running
5 3 19 Brandon Jones XYO Networks Toyota 250 0 44 Running
6 9 18 Riley Herbst(i) Advance Auto Parts Toyota 250 0 0 Running
7 17 60 Ty Majeski Ford Ford 250 0 32 Running
8 7 9 Tyler Reddick # BurgerFi Chevrolet 250 0 33 Running
9 12 2 Matt Tifft Wastebits Chevrolet 250 0 28 Running
10 8 61 Kaz Grala # NETTTS Ford 250 0 27 Running
11 1 22 Austin Cindric # Fitzgerald Glider Kits Ford 250 58 41 Running
12 13 23 Justin Haley(i) FOE Chevrolet 250 0 0 Running
13 10 5 Michael Annett Northland Oil Chevrolet 250 0 24 Running
14 6 11 Ryan Truex Phantom Fireworks Chevrolet 250 0 23 Running
15 15 42 John Hunter Nemechek Chevrolet Accessories Chevrolet 250 0 28 Running
16 14 3 Shane Lee Childress Vineyards Chevrolet 250 0 22 Running
17 40 16 Ryan Reed Drive Down A1C Lilly Diabetes Ford 250 0 21 Running
18 21 39 Ryan Sieg RSS Racing Chevrolet 250 0 19 Running
19 16 4 Ross Chastain Georgia Watermelon Association Chevrolet 249 0 18 Running
20 19 51 Jeremy Clements RepairableVehicles.com Chevrolet 249 0 17 Running
21 27 35 Joey Gase Iowa Donor Network Chevrolet 249 0 16 Running
22 26 76 Spencer Boyd # Grunt Style Chevrolet 247 0 15 Running
23 18 36 Alex Labbe # Can-Am/Wholey/Cyclops Chevrolet 247 0 14 Running
24 23 52 David Starr DAI/Circletrack Chevrolet 247 0 13 Running
25 20 0 Garrett Smithley Chevrolet 244 0 12 Running
26 29 40 Chad Finchum # Smithbilt Homes Toyota 244 0 11 Running
27 32 8 Blake Jones Tennessee XXX Moonshine Chevrolet 243 0 10 Running
28 4 1 Elliott Sadler OneMain Financial Chevrolet 239 0 9 Running
29 22 15 BJ McLeod Chevrolet 239 0 8 Running
30 28 55 Brandon Hightower Allgayer/Premier Recycling Toyota 220 0 7 Accident
31 36 1 Vinnie Miller # JAS Expedited Trucking Chevrolet 205 0 6 Overheating
32 25 78 Tommy Joe Martins Riessen Construction Chevrolet 201 0 5 Running
33 38 66 Stan Mullis TLC Resorts/LasVegas.net Chevrolet 150 0 4 Running
34 33 90 Josh Williams Sleep Well Chevrolet 134 0 3 Electrical
35 24 38 Jeff Green RSS Racing Chevrolet 131 0 2 Driveshaft
36 34 45 Josh Bilicki # Prevagen Toyota 95 0 1 Fuel Pump
37 35 13 Timmy Hill OCR Gaz Bar Toyota 75 0 1 Brakes
38 37 74 Mike Harmon Horizon Transport Chevrolet 31 0 1 Rear Gear
39 30 89 Morgan Shepherd Visone RV Chevrolet 28 0 1 Brakes
40 31 93 JJ Yeley RSS Racing Chevrolet 21 0 1 Vibration


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