Somewhere in the back of his mind, Justin Allgaier knew his car might not have enough fuel to make it to the finish line.
And on turn two of the final lap, just after he passed Carl Edwards — who did run out — on the final lap of Saturday’s STP 300 at Chicagoland Speedway, Allgaier’s car was empty as well.
But the Riverton native had a little home track luck, as his car was able to huff and puff its way to a dramatic victory over Edwards for his second career victory in the Nationwide series.
Allgaier did not even have enough fuel to do a celebratory burnout after crossing the finish line.Chicago Breaking Sports - Tribune
“[Crew chief] Jimmy Elledge has made great pit stop calls all year,” said Allgaier, who led only the final lap. “I wasn’t sure if we were going to make it or not. I saw Carl run out of gas, so I ducked to the left. As soon as I moved to the left, my fuel ran out.”
Allgaier and Edwards last pitted with 62 laps remaining in the 200-lap race. Allgaier, who took tires and fuel on his final pit stop, chased down Edwards in the final laps. Edwards came in for fuel only on his last stop.
“Our Hendrick motors get great fuel mileage, and I figured one of these races is going to work out our way,” Elledge said.
It was Allgaier’s second career Nationwide win. His maiden victory came in March 2010 at Bristol. Allgaier also became the second regular in the series to win this year. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took the checkered flag at Iowa two weeks ago. MiamiHerald.com
“I thought I saved about a lap of fuel and they told me I could make it to 200,” Edwards said. “My first thought was that I should block him, but then he might pile into me and wreck me. If I could have gone 100 or 150 feet, I think we would have still won the race.”
Trevor Bayne picked apart the field from the opening lap and finished third.
Bayne, who hasn’t raced in about six weeks because of Lyme disease, went from the 31st position to sixth in the race’s first 57 laps. His only issue in the early part of the race was during the second caution, when he left his pit box and nearly ran into Allgaier.
“We came to 10th in [the first] 35 laps,” Bayne said. “I feel like I saved too much fuel and I thought I should have gone [for the lead] about six laps earlier.
“It was a good recovery here, and we actually had sponsors here today, and I got to wear a [decorated fire] suit other than a white one.” Chicago Sun-Times
Danica Patrick, in a one-week visit to stock cars between IndyCar Series races, finished 10th, the first car a lap down. She also finished 10th in last week’s Indianapolis 500.
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NASCAR Nationwide Series: STP 300 at Chicagoland Speedway - Race Results
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