Kelley Earnhardt drops farewell message for sportscaster Rick Allen 

Rick Allen, who has been an inconspicuous part of the NASCAR soundtrack for the last 20 years and NASCAR on NBC since its return to the sport about a decade ago, will not be heard calling races anymore. On that note, Kelley Earnhardt Miller dedicated a heartfelt note to the veteran sportscaster on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Kelley, daughter of the legendary Dale Earnhardt Sr. and sister of two-time Xfinity Series champion Dale Earnhardt Jr., is one of the most well-known women in NASCAR. Currently, she serves as the Chief Executive Officer of JR Motorsports, a four-car Xfinity Series team; also home to this year’s series champion, Justin Allgaier.

Recalling Allen’s play-by-play broadcasts, Kelley Earnhardt wrote,

“One of the best. You will be missed @RickAllenracing”

Allen’s voice was heard from the booth when Allgaier took the checkered flag at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, bringing home the fourth championship for the North Carolina-based race team in eleven years. Although Allen's plans for 2025 are not clear yet, fans want him to continue calling races.

Before his role at the Xfinity level, Allen used to be the lead caller for NASCAR Cup Series races on NBC. He has also voiced several races in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and the Global RallyCross Series throughout his career. The 55-year-old Nebraskan has been a part of the voting panel for the prestigious NASCAR Hall of Fame since it opened its doors in 2010.

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Kelley Earnhardt reflects on Justin Allgaier’s “incredible” win

Justin Allgaier had to overcome a lot to win his career-first championship title for Kelley Earnhardt’s NASCAR team. He ended up in the fence during practice, which put him in a backup car and at the end of the field for the main event. Nevertheless, by lap 45, Allgaier managed to make the top six.

But things just went downhill after that. As Stage 2 closed in, the Chevy star lost a tire. A few laps later, he was hit with a penalty for violating a restart and then another for speeding on the pit road. Allgaier entered the second half of the race, one lap down.

“There was a time during the race where Justin was through the roof, and I think that was even before the penalties that he was already on fire,” Kelley Earnhardt said during a post-race interview (via Speedway Digest). “So yeah, tonight was unique in the fact that Justin just hung in there and fought back and came back.”

“At lap 150 l was like, this is over. This is over for us. Then I couldn't believe lap - six to go came, and I'm sitting there like, oh, my God, we've got a real shot at this. Then more cautions and more green-white-checkereds, and we finally did it. And I just can't believe it. It's incredible,” Kelley Earnhardt exclaimed.

Chase Elliott, who drives full-time for Hendrick Motorsports in the Cup Series, brought JR Motorsports their first championship in 2014. That was also Allgaier’s debut season in the Cup Series with HScott Motorsports. Following a lackluster season, Allgaier returned to Xfinity with JR Motorsports in 2016 and has been competing in the series ever since.