“Great mentor” soars Justin Allgaier’s confidence as he drops a crystal clear Daytona 500 “capacity” check

Justin Allgaier brimmed with confidence as he boasted about "great mentor" Dale Jr.'s support while conveying JR Motorsports' Daytona "capacity." The 2024 Xfinity Series champion will pilot a Cup car in the Daytona 500 for a third time albeit registering JRM's debut crown jewel race attempt.

JRM recently announced fielding the #40 Traveller Whiskey Chevrolet Camaro for a maiden Daytona 500 attempt. Notably, unlike other Cup Series races on the calendar, the season-opener has a distinct qualifying procedure. The single-car qualifying makes up only for the front two spots, the rest is finalized after two Duels of 60 laps each.

Allgaier isn't new to racing at the Daytona International Speedway. While the defending Xfinity champion has made two Daytona 500 starts, he has competed 28 times on the 2.5-mile oval in the National Series and has claimed a solitary win and eight top-5s.

But amid returning to the Daytona 500 for the first time since 2015, Allgaier explained that aiming to qualify is the best way to ease off the pressure. He expressed confidence in the team's "capacity" by stating JRM's past Daytona performances and the ongoing support from his "great mentor" Dale Jr.

"You're going to have to go try and see what you can accomplish. Number one, I have a great mentor in superspeedway racing, and number two, we've had success on superspeedways in the past, we won Daytona not this past summer but the summer before in the Xfinity Series, so there are things that I think are going for us in that capacity but it's not lost on me how much pressure there is," Justin Allgaier said via Cup Scene (25:04).

Dale Jr. has an impressive Daytona 500 record of two wins, one pole, and a pile of top-5 finishes, making him among the greatest mentors to aid in Allgaier's Daytona 500 effort.

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Justin Allgaier reflects on his "random afternoon" dilemma after being asked to visit Kelley's office

Justin Allgaier, the defending Xfinity Series champion was amidst the off-season time when he received a "random afternoon" phone call to visit Kelley Earnhardt's office. Unbeknownst to him, the organization wanted to sign him for the 'Great American Race.'

The upcoming #40 Chevy driver revealed during a conversation with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio about his visit to the office. He shed light on the management's somber face, instigating him to question whether he did something wrong. However, what happened next brought a big smile on the JRM loyalist's face.

"They all had this like somber look on their face and I'm like, 'Oh, man, like, what did I do wrong? Did I say something wrong?' At the very end, they're like, 'Well, we'd love for you to drive it. We feel like, you know, you obviously have been a great part of our organization and, you know, we feel like you'd be the perfect fit.' And I got a big smile on my face and, obviously, they got a big smile on their faces and it was a really, really cool moment," Justin Allgaier said.

It's worth mentioning that though it's a one-off Cup Series start for JRM, Justin Allgaier's boss Kelley Earnhardt expressed how the Daytona 500 would set a benchmark for the organization's future endeavors.