Justin Allgaier heading to JR Motorsports in Xfinity Series in 2016
Justin Allgaier is making the move to the Xfinity Series in 2016.
Allgaier will drive the No. 7 car for JR Motorsports next season. He’s going with sponsor Brandt, who will sponsor 18 of the season’s 33 races. Brandt has sponsored Allgaier in the Sprint Cup Series for the past two seasons.
Allgaier will be replacing Regan Smith at JR Motorsports. Smith, the current driver of the No. 7 car, doesn’t have a ride lined up for the 2016 season. Allgaier is leaving HScott Motorsports in the Cup Series. HScott will field cars next season for Clint Bowyer and Michael Annett. Team owner Harry Scott had said the team was staying at two cars for 2016 and with Bowyer’s arrival for a season before he moves to Stewart-Haas Racing to replace Tony Stewart in 2017, Allgaier seemed like the odd man out.
Allgaier, 29, last raced full-time in the Xfinity Series in 2013. He’s finished in the top-six in points in each of his five full-time seasons in NASCAR’s No. 2 series and he has three Xfinity Series wins. He was 29th in the Sprint Cup standings in 2014 and is currently 30th through 32 races in 2015.
The move to JR Motorsports means Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Xfinity Series team will have two new full-time drivers next season. Elliott Sadler will drive for the team as Chase Elliott moves from the No. 9 to fill Jeff Gordon’s seat in the Sprint Cup Series. Sadler comes to the team after driving for Richard Childress Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing and Roush Fenway Racing over the past five seasons.
JR Motorsports will also field a third car, the No. 88. It will be driven by a rotation of drivers including Junior, Elliott, Kevin Harvick and Kasey Kahne.
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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!
