Driver: Justin Allgaier
Team: JR Motorsports
Crew Chief: Jim Pohlman
Owner: Kelley Earnhardt Miller (listed owner of No. 7 team), Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Rick Hendrick
Primary Sponsors: BRANDT Professional Agriculture, Unilever, Hellmann’s, JARRETT Logistics
Riverton, Ill., native Justin Allgaier, driver of the No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet, captured the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship in his ninth season driving for JR Motorsports after scoring a second-place finish in the season finale at Phoenix Raceway. This marks Allgaier’s first NXS championship and the fourth championship in 11 years for JRM, the company co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Famers Dale Earnhardt Jr., Rick Hendrick and Kelley Earnhardt Miller. Allgaier had to hold off fellow Championship 4 contenders Austin Hill, AJ Allmendinger and Cole Custer to earn the title.
FOURTH TITLE FOR JRM: JR Motorsports’ fourth NXS championship in 11 years comes in its 19th full-time season in the series and with its fourth different driver. Chase Elliott brought home JRM’s first NXS title in 2014, with William Byron scoring the team’s second in 2017 and Tyler Reddick earning the organization’s most recent title in 2018. The company started competing full time in the NXS in 2006 (it entered one race in 2005), and has amassed 88 victories to date, including seven wins among Allgaier, Sam Mayer, Sammy Smith and Connor Zilisch during the 2024 season.
YOU JUST MADE THE LIST: Allgaier becomes the 35th driver to win a NXS championship in its 43rd season.
OWNER’S CHAMPIONS: In addition to clinching the NXS championship, the No. 7 team brought home the NXS owner’s title for listed car owner Kelley Earnhardt Miller. While JRM has four driver championship titles, this marks the first owner’s championship for the organization in NXS competition.
LEADING LADY: Allgaier’s championship marks the first NXS title for Earnhardt Miller as the listed car owner of JRM’s No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro. Earnhardt Miller becomes only the second female car owner to claim a title in NXS history and the first in 18 seasons. JRM’s three previous titles were all won by drivers of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro, of which NASCAR Hall of Famer Rick Hendrick is the listed owner.
TALE OF THE TAPE: Allgaier secured his first NXS championship on the strength of two wins (Darlington Raceway and Michigan International Speedway), 10 top fives, 20 top 10s, and 709 total laps led in 20 of 33 races.
BRANDT’S FIRST NXS TITLE: JR Motorsports cornerstone partner Rick Brandt and BRANDT Professional Agriculture earned their first NXS title with Allgaier’s championship. BRANDT, headquartered in Springfield, Ill., and one of the fastest-growing family-owned companies in the United States, has been involved in NASCAR team sponsorship since they joined forces with Allgaier in 2011. In October, BRANDT announced a continuation of its partnership with JRM and Allgaier through 2026.
POST-SEASON CLOSER: Allgaier and the No 7 team entered the NXS Playoffs this season as the top see by virtue of a pair of regular-season victories and a record number of stage wins. Advancing from the Round of 12 to the Round of 8, Allgaier steadily kept himself and the No. 7 team in the playoff hunt, culminating with a fifth-place finish at Martinsville Speedway to clinch his seventh Championship 4 berth in nine seasons. His second-place finish at Phoenix earned the NXS championship, his first in the series.
MODEL OF CONSISTENCY: JR Motorsports remains the only organization to have a driver in the Championship 4 each year since the inception of the NXS Playoffs in 2016 with Allgaier advancing in 2024. Allgaier and Elliott Sadler both made the finale in 2016. Byron, Sadler and Allgaier all advanced to the finale in 2017, with Byron taking home the title. Reddick earned JRM its third championship in 2018 after his Championship 4 berth, and Allgaier was the lone JRM driver to advance in both 2019 and 2020. Noah Gragson qualified for the Championship 4 in 2021, with Allgaier, Josh Berry and Gragson all earning their way into the final-four event in 2022. 2023 saw Allgaier once again make the Championship 4, with teammate Sam Mayer joining him.
WINNINGEST JRM DRIVER: Allgaier continued to expand his lead as winningest driver in JRM history in 2024. The Illinois native earned two more victories on the season and now has 22 total wins with the organization and 25 in his NXS career.
LUCKY NO. 7: Allgaier’s title stands as the first NXS championship with a car and driver carrying the No. 7. JRM first competed with Danica Patrick in the No. 7 in 2010, and since, a total of 14 drivers have taken the wheel to amass a combined 27 wins (22 by Allgaier and Regan Smith with five), 155 top-five and 293 top-10 finishes with 6,123 laps led, 5,468 by Allgaier alone. Across NASCAR’s top three series it marks the first championship for the car number since Alan Kulwicki earned the Cup championship with the No. 7 in 1992.
ALL-TIME ALLGAIER: With more than 470 series starts, Allgaier finds himself on two exclusive all-time lists in NXS competition. His 25 series victories rank him 10th on the all-time wins list, one ahead of series legends Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tommy Houston.
STAGE STAR: Allgaier won a record 16 stages in 2024, pushing his career total to 69. He remains the only NXS driver with 50 or more career stage victories.
NO ROOKIES HERE: Allgaier and the No. 7 team’s championship represents the first for JRM that did not come via a rookie driver. Chase Elliott, William Byron and Tyler Reddick were all rookies when they clinched their titles with the No. 9 team.
JUST A NUMBER: At age 38, Justin Allgaier joins 2000 champion Jeff Green as the oldest NASCAR Xfinity Series champion. Green was also 38 when he won his first and only championship.
A FIRST FOR POHLMAN: In addition to this being Allgaier’s first NXS championship, it is also the first for Jim Pohlman as crew chief. A 46-year-old native of Oak Lawn, Ill., Pohlman was a crew chief with Richard Childress Racing and the former Chip Ganassi Racing prior to joining JR Motorsports as a crew chief in 2023.
TWO-TIME NATIONAL CHAMPION: Allgaier’s NXS title marks his second national championship in his racing career. The 38-year-old driver also won the ARCA Menards Series championship in 2008, alongside then-crew chief Jim Pohlman.
A TOAST TO THE BOSS: Allgaier’s owner and driver championships mark the sixth and seventh NXS titles for Earnhardt Jr. as a team owner and fifth in 10 years at JRM. His first company, Chance 2, won championships with Martin Truex Jr. in 2004 and 2005 in partnership with Dale Earnhardt Inc.
LAND OF ALLGAIER: Hailing from Riverton, Ill., Allgaier becomes the first driver from the “Land of Lincoln” to win a NXS championship. Illinois is also the home of Allgaier’s primary sponsor, BRANDT Professional Agriculture, and crew chief Jim Pohlman.
STAYING POWER: Allgaier’s two NXS victories in 2024 extends a streak which has seen the Illinois native earn at least one win in eight straight seasons dating back to 2017.
BACK FOR MORE: Allgaier joins Chase Elliott as only the second JRM champion to return and defend his title the following season. Elliott went on the defense in 2015 after his 2014 title campaign, heading to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2016.
POHLMAN EARNS FIRST TITLE: Illinois native Jim Pohlman won his first career NXS championship after finishing second last season with Allgaier. He becomes the 32nd different crew chief to earn the crown.
THE HENDRICK TRADITION CONTINUES: Allgaier becomes the ninth driver to win his first NASCAR championship with Rick Hendrick, co-owner of JR Motorsports, joining Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Larson, Brian Vickers, Jack Sprague, Elliott, Byron, and Reddick as first-timers.
CHAMPIONS DRIVE CHEVY: Allgaier’s championship in the No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet marks the 23rd time a Chevrolet has won the NXS championship. The Bowtie brand also clinched the Bill France Performance Cup in the NASCAR Xfinity Series this year, giving the manufacturer the honors for the 25th time, more than any other manufacturer.
HENDRICK POWERS CHAMPIONS: This will be the 26th NASCAR championship and fifth NXS championship for Hendrick Motorsports engines, which supplies the powerplants for all JR Motorsports teams. Hendrick Motorsports engines won its first NXS championship in 2003 with Vickers. Elliott’s 2014 title, Byron’s 2017 title and Reddick’s 2018 title were also powered by Hendrick Motorsports engines, which now owns more than 300 victories in total.
