Justin Allgaier won his fourth Xfinity race of the season last weekend at Road America. That started the conversation as to whether he is ready to return to the Cup series after a three-year hiatus.
Despite modest results in two full seasons in Cup, would he return?
“In a heartbeat,” Allgaier responded to a fan question on Instagram following the race. “I have a lot of unfinished business that I’d like to take care of on the Cup side. But it’d have to be the right opportunity with the right team. The right situation.”
Allgaier, with primary support from his sponsor Brandt, ran fulltime in 2014 and 2015 along with a few races in 2013 and one in 2016. Their effort netted one top-10 at Bristol in April 2015.
MORE: Justin Allgaier has ‘blossomed’ into a ‘great race car driver’
“Racing from Saturday to Sunday, from everything I’ve seen over my years, is a major, major step.” Steve Letarte said on Tuesday’s edition of NASCAR America.
“We’ve seen the struggle with Daniel Suarez, we’ve seen the struggle of William Byron, we saw the early struggle of Chase Elliott,” Letarte continued. “So while what Justin Allgaier is doing this year are career numbers – they are impressive and he deserves the accolades – it is a big step on Sunday. And when he says the right equipment, there are only a handful of teams that I consider to be ‘the right equipment.’ “
“Remember: He spent two years there doing the back-end of the Cup thing and trying to figure that out,” Parker Kligerman said. “And I know … he was not enjoying that. And he loved the opportunity to go back to the Xfinity series and get in winning equipment.”
.@J_Allgaier belongs in the Cup series. We are fortunate to have him, but I hope very soon he gets a great opportunity at the next level.
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) August 25, 2018
And I still have over 150 texts to go through.... it was fun reading all the posts from you guys tonight (good and bad). And thanks @DaleJr,I appreciate the vote of confidence. I would love another shot in cup in top equipment, but man I’m having a blast @JRMotorsports right now!
— Justin Allgaier (@J_Allgaier) August 26, 2018
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