2014 Driver Reviews: No. 29 Justin Allgaier
After doing exit interviews for Sprint Cup Series drivers in 2013, we’re turning the tables. We want the drivers to sell themselves. So here are the resumés for all full-time Sprint Cup Series drivers in 2014. Then, at the end, we’ll provide a summation of the driver’s season in 150 words or less.
Name: Justin Allgaier
NASCAR Experience: Just completed first full season in the Sprint Cup Series after five-plus seasons in the Nationwide Series.
Most recent team: HScott Motorsports
Most recent season finish: 29th
2014 accomplishments: Improved significantly towards the end of the season. Finished inside the top-20 nine times and seven of those finishes happened in the final 16 races of the season. And four came in the last five (participated in) races of the season.
Most memorable moment: Unfortunately, this explains the parenthetical above. Did not qualify at Talladega because of the craziness that also enveloped Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Strengths: Short tracks and road courses. Won at Montreal in 2013 in the Nationwide Series and finished 17th at Watkins Glen in 2014.
2015 goals: Take the improvement from the end of 2014 and translate it to 2015. With Hendrick equipment and a full year of understanding the relationship, a top-20 season should be the goal.
FTM’s Take: Is Allgaier’s improvement real? Given the Chase, his steps forward were greatly overshadowed but he was clearly much better with experience. If that does carry over to 2015, he may not be a threat for the Chase, but he may not be the lowest-ranked Hendrick powered-and-supplied car either.
Previous reviews: No. 30, David Gilliland, No. 31 Cole Whitt, No. 32 David Ragan, No. 33 Michael Annett, No. 34 Reed Sorenson, No. 35 Alex Bowman
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
