Justin Allgaier is getting the opportunity of a lifetime to compete in multiple NASCAR Cup Series races for Hendrick Motorsports but the focus of his efforts isn't on himself.
DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Justin Allgaier is getting the opportunity of a lifetime to compete in multiple NASCAR Cup Series races for Hendrick Motorsports but the focus of his efforts isn't on himself.
"I want to see Alex [Bowman] back in this car. I'm an Alex Bowman fan when I'm not at the racetrack with these guys," Allgaier said.
For the next three Cup races, Allgaier is in for Alex Bowman while he recovers from symptoms of vertigo that surfaced in the March 1 race at Circuit of the Americas.
Sim driver Anthony Alfredo took over at Phoenix before Allgaier jumped in at Las Vegas. Ultimately, a speeding penalty knocked Allgaier back to 25th, two laps down, but he showed promise late in the race.
"Our car was good enough. We were probably a little behind the eight ball with and being out early to qualify. Then, you know, ultimately, just the penalty of putting ourselves behind. But again, I was really proud of the team. I was part of the effort, you know, hopefully we gained a few points in the owner's points, probably not enough," Allgaier said.
With 21 races to go until the Chase, the No. 48 team is still 36th in owner points, 78 points below the cutline. There is enough time to make the owner's Chase -- but it's unclear who they'll do it with.
"It's a week-to-week thing," Allgaier said. "The biggest thing for me, and I think Mr. Hendrick was onboard with the same thing, it's just he's got to get healthy, right? And he wants to be healthy, and he's working harder than I've ever seen anybody work to be able to do that, so that's all you can ask for. And now you just wait and see what the results are."
Allgaier explained Bowman has been seeing different doctors to figure out how he can get better.
It's a process that Bowman is all too familiar.
In 2022, he missed five Chase races due to symptoms from a concussion suffered in a race at Texas Motor Speedway. The next year, he missed four races due to a back injury sustained in a sprint-car crash.
Suffering from vertigo presents a completely different path back to Cup racing.
"If you've ever had vertigo, it is not fun at all. I can't imagine even thinking about lining up behind the wheel of a race car with vertigo. So, there's not really a clear answer as to how to cure it and so I think that's been the toughest part," Allgaier said. "I don't know what it looks like. Only Alex is probably going to be the one that's gonna know that. I think for him, managing this, he's extremely tough and resilient. He's probably battled through some stuff we didn't even know about before this happened."
Whenever there is a situation like this, Allgaier is the "super-sub" for the occasion. Of the 11 Cup starts he has made since going back to the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, seven of them have occurred as a result of a fill-in effort.
Three starts, to-date, have been with Hendrick Motorsports, including a start in July of 2020 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway when he first raced the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet in Jimmie Johnson's absence.
Before Las Vegas, Allgaier filled in for Kyle Larson in the 2024 Coca-Cola 600 and learned a lot in 249 laps -- but not running the drastically-different Cup cars every week sets him back.
"Absolutely nothing translates from the O'Reilly cars. It is so different," Allgaier said. "There are some things I can take from the day... Driving styles, watching what some of these guys are doing. These guys are absolutely incredible with car placement, racing... I think it's about taking the moment in, seeing what I can do better."
Looking ahead to Darlington, Allgaier's goal is to have a clean race.
"Blake Harris, this whole team, I mean, they've really welcomed me. And I think that's where the disappointment for myself comes, letting them down on pit road because I thought that they did all the right things to put us in position to have a good, solid day," Allgaier said.
Allgaier put in his fourth-best qualifying effort of his Cup career in time trials for Sunday's Goodyear 400 at Darlington. He will start 15th.