The annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Dash 4 Cash bonus race series kicks off this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, and JR Motorsports will have its winningest and most accomplished bonus-race driver in the four-car field for the opener.
Justin Allgaier will carry JRM’s hopes for the big money on the high-banked oval. The highest-finishing member of that quartet will claim the $100,000 bonus and advance to the next round with another shot at the big cash. The remaining races will be set using the same format-the top four eligible NOAPS drivers this weekend will advance to the next round on April 18 at Kansas with the April 25 event at Talladega Superspeedway and the finale on May 2 at Texas Motor Speedway also on the list.
Rajah Caruth, who finished fourth for JRM last week at Rockingham, is also in the D4C field, along with Rockingham winner William Sawalich and Brandon Jones, but will not be in the familiar No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet at Bristol this weekend. He will make his Dash 4 Cash debut in the No. 32 Chevrolet for Jordan Anderson Racing.
JR Motorsports has been a mainstay of the annual bonus program, as its drivers have combined to win the prize 23 times. Behind Allgaier’s team-record seven Dash 4 Cash wins, Noah Gragson (4), Regan Smith (3), Sam Mayer, Brad Keselowski and Elliott Sadler (2 each) and William Byron, Josh Berry and Sammy Smith (1 each) have also claimed the big check.
Allgaier, who won his first bonus in 2016 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for JRM, earned the prize at Bristol last season and is looking for two in a row there. Racing for $100,000 at Bristol sounds exciting, and Allgaier pointed out that it’s a tough place to get the job done.
“Bristol is such an iconic place because of how tough it is and anything can and usually will happen,” he said. “I’ve led a ton of laps at Bristol and have had a lot of heartache, even after leading so many laps.”
The opportunity to win his eighth D4C bonus check is another high point for the Illinois native.
“I’m just excited for the opportunity for it, and we’re going to go in there with the same mindset,” he said. “If you win the race, nobody else can beat you for the Dash for Cash, so it makes life a lot easier. I don’t know that anybody’s ever won eight, so that would be really special. It’s just like race wins. You never know with the field of competition that we have today and the talented race car drivers, crew chiefs, engineers, teams, everybody that’s a part of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series right now. Just to even have a shot at it is a big deal. But when you get that check at the end of the day…”
The fact that O’Reilly Auto Parts, as part of its series sponsorship, picked up the bonus program from Xfinity was something Allgaier appreciates. “The extension of the Dash for Cash program, I’m really glad that O’Reilly Auto Parts brought that program back. That $100,000 means so much to these race teams and being able to reinvest into organizations and the people. Just even having that opportunity to race for 100 grand is a big deal.”
Winning one of the four Dash 4 Cash races is a tough accomplishment on any track, and the prize money on the line adds to the degree of difficulty, Allgaier said.
“There’s just something meaningful about it because you know what it’s taking to accomplish that and how much effort the three other competitors that you’re racing against put into it and how important it is for them to win as well.
“We’re lucky we’re going to a great racetrack for us, but it could just as equally go the other way and not have anything to show for it, so I’m proud of what we accomplished at Rockingham to be able to race our way in. Now we’ve got to go try to get one, and hopefully lock our way into the next one.”
