Allgaier outduels Haley for the NASCAR Xfinity win at Richmond

RICHMOND, Va. – Justin Allgaier gave up the lead, bided his time and then took it back.

Allgaier caught front-running Justin Haley with 29 laps to go Friday night and held him off the rest of the way to win the NASCAR Xfinity race at Richmond

Raceway, giving him his second victory of the season and perhaps signalling an end to his recent frustration.

He wasn’t sure when to make a move back to the front, but it worked out.

“I didn’t know when it was time, to be honest with you,” Allgaier said about becoming more aggressive. “He pushed the pace there early on and these guys did such a fantastic job.”

Richmond has baffled him previously, making the victory all the more satisfying.

“I feel like we’ve had so many get away here and just haven’t been able to seal the deal. It’s been so frustrating,” he said, adding that nothing has changed from his recent frustrations except “we just had the luck that we needed.”

Allgaier had held the lead for 49 laps before Haley passed him and pulled away, building a lead of nearly 3 seconds in his 48 laps in front before getting caught in lapped traffic as his lead dwindled. Allgaier finally pulled to his outside on Lap 220 and they raced side-by-side before Allgaier reclaimed the top spot and held on, winning by 0.604 seconds.

“I obviously tried to save as much as possible. They wanted me to back it down and I kept backing it down,” Haley said of the long run at the end. “I wasn’t slipping no tires so I didn’t think there was an issue, but Allgaier was just a ittle bit better.”