"I'm embarrassed for the sport" - When Justin Allgaier called out NASCAR after chaotic race at reconfigured track

In his 14th full-time season and seventh Championship 4 appearance, Justin Allgaier finally captured a NASCAR Xfinity Series championship this past season. The Illinois native posted two victories and placed runner-up in the title race at the Phoenix Raceway to become champion.

Allgaier isn't a driver known for speaking his mind often, but that wasn't the case last year at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. After getting tangled up in a crash with Josh Berry, Allgaier voiced his displeasure with the reconfiguration of the 1.5-mile track.

On the FS1 race broadcast, Allgaier said he believes the racing at Atlanta doesn't make NASCAR look great.

"It's pretty sad, honestly," Allgaier said. "I'm kinda embarrassed for the sport right now, just the way this race has gone."

AMS revamped the racetrack prior to the 2022 season in order to be more of a drafting track, like Daytona or Talladega, rather than an ordinary 1.5-mile circuit. In an interview with racing insider Dustin Long following the crash, Allgaier made his feelings known that he wasn't a fan of the new Atlanta track, saying:

“It's just not fun. This dollar racing. After the reconfiguration of the track, to me, it's completely ruined this place. I hope we can figure something out, because the fans here, this market for us, this is such a great place, and it's always been unbelievable racing."

The Atlanta race was the second of the 2023 campaign, and Allgaier didn't even make it to the halfway point of the event before he crashed out. Looking ahead to the next Atlanta race, the driver of the #7 Jr. Motorsports Chevrolet was hopeful that changes would be made.

"I think we ran, what, maybe 20 green flag laps before halfway?" Allgaier inquired. "That's unrealistic for what we should be doing and we definitely need to go back to the drawing board and figure something out before we come back here in the fall.”

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. said Justin Allgaier "carried" Jr. Motorsports to 2024 championship

Justin Allgaier's first NASCAR Xfinity Series championship marked the fourth title for owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jr. Motorsports. In his championship-winning speech, Earnhardt Jr. said that Allgaier carried Jr. Motorsports to victory at Phoenix.

"There was some moments where I wasn't sure how we were going to come out on top," Earnhardt said. "The statistics will say that Jr. Motorsports won the championship and all of our employees will celebrate in that. ... None of that happens if Justin doesn't get up on the wheel, and man, did he get up on the wheel. All of those restarts, those were classic, classic moment. If you just watched that 7 car work all night long, you can see how badly he wanted it. He carried the whole company on his back that night."

The recently concluded one was Allgaier's ninth full-time season with Jr. Motorsports since joining the organization in 2016. Allgaier has tallied 22 of his 25 career Xfinity wins with Jr. Motorsports.