Allgaier wins pole for rain-threatened Charlotte Xfinity race
Justin Allgaier will start on the pole for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway but the only question is when.
The 300-mile race was originally scheduled for 1 p.m. ET Saturday but with an expected heavy rain system on its way, NASCAR has already moved up the start time to Noon ET Saturday.
However, the forecast currently calls for rain throughout the day Saturday and Sunday in the Charlotte area. Should both the Xfinity and Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 get postponed until Monday, the Xfinity race would run first in the morning followed by the Cup race in the afternoon.
Allgaier's average lap speed of 181.172 mph was good enough to top John Hunter Nemechek (180.246 mph) in qualifying on Friday to earn the pole, his first of the season and eighth of his career.
"Honestly, I thought I gave it away off Turn 4 there," Allgaier said. "It's a testament to everybody at JR Motorsports to build a race car this good. We saw it in practice how good the car was on the long run.
"But to have the short run speed that we had; I just feel really good about this car. I'm really proud of our team."
Allgaier and the entire JR Motorsports organization is still searching for their first win of the 2023 season.
"I feel like we've flown a little under the radar this year," he said. "We haven't had the results we want. I'm really proud of the effort that we're putting in right now. I think our race car is really good, so I feel good about (the race)."
Ty Gibbs will start third, Cole Custer fourth and Allgaier's JRM teammate, Brandon Jones, will line up fifth. Kyle Busch will start sixth with Sheldon Creed, Sam Mayer, Jeb Burton, and Chandler Smith rounding out the top-ten.
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