When it comes to traveling in the NASCAR community, Justin Allgaier calls himself a “weird one.”
“(I) really enjoy traveling and going to the race track and having that normalcy,” Allgaier told NBC Sports this month.
NASCAR has one of the shortest offseason in sports, but Allgaier, who drives JR Motorsports’ No. 7 car in the Xfinity Series, objects to the term “offseason.”
“It should be called the non-racing season because I’ve been home probably less than 15 days since Homestead,” Allgaier said.
Since last year’s finale, the 30-year old driver has raced in Brazil and in the Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In the middle of that he squeezed in a trip to Walt Disney World with his wife and daughter, who is 3 years old.
“I’m glad we did because just watching her give the princesses hugs and seeing the eyes closed and enjoying every moment of the hug, ok, that was totally worth the money we spent to come here,” Allgaier said.
The following Q&A has been edited and condensed.
NBC Sports: How old were you when you first to Disney World?
Justin Allgaier: I have no idea how old I was. I know we raced there. I raced quarter midgets there one or two years and was fortunate enough to win there. I can say I actually won a race in Disney (World). That was in the mid to late-90s.
NBC: At the race track they used to have there?
Allgaier: This was actually in a parking lot. It was quite the experience.
NBC: Do you remember the first time you saw for your face or name on merchandise?
Allgaier: Yes, I was probably 7 or 8 at the time. A company we were associated with printed T-shirts. And what’s really crazy about it is that my dad still wears that t-shirt to this day in his everyday wardrobe and it’s lasted. He literally wears it once every week and half to two weeks. It’s so funny to see that shirt because it brings back a lot of really good memories.
NBC: What’s the design of the shirt?
Allgaier: It’s a picture of my quarter midget that I drove and it’s got my name on it. My name’s in purple and it’s got the car which is red, white and blue. To this day it’s still one of my favorite design T-shirts. It’s a true racers t-shirt. it’s got racing style. I just remember, ‘how cool is this I have T-shirt with my name on it?’
NBC: What was your first street car?
Allgaier: A 1995 Camaro Z-28, red. I bought it at an auction.
NBC: How much was it?
Allgaier: $4,000. … I was 14 at the time when I bought it. My dad had promised me that he would buy half of whatever I would want to buy for my first car. That was our agreement. He’d buy half of it. I had up to I think it was $5,000 he would spend. Once he bought that, I had to cover my own insurance, my own gas. That was kind of the deal. I totally undersold it, right? He would pay up to five (thousand), so I could have bought a $10,000 car and ended up buying a $4,000 car, which was not very smart. I remember bidding at the auction and the auctioneer took two or three bids of mine and then he stopped the auction, this is like a car dealer auction, so there’s people everywhere. He stopped the auction and said, ‘Is he allowed to bid?’ My dad said, ‘He’s holding up his hand isn’t he?’ The guy then said, ‘Alright then, let’s keep going.’
So I bought this car and that was my first. My dad regretted it though, because we went outside and they had a little side road you could test drive cars on and not being 16 I couldn’t drive it on the street, but I was able to go drive it on a side road and it had been raining. A Camaro Z-28 is plenty fast enough for everybody, let alone a 14-year-old kid. But I had been racing up until that point, I’d been racing late models. So I gassed this thing up, spinning the tires, sideways, drifting it down this road. My dad realized rather quickly that a Camaro Z-28 was a bad plan for a young kid.
NBC: Have you ever named a car?
Allgaier: Oh yeah, all of my dirt cars get named and always have since I can remember. So last year we had “Darla” from Little Rascals. We had “Happy.” The car I ran at the Chili Bowl this year was named “Aligator.” We’ve had all kinds of them.
NBC: How’d you get Aligator?
Allgaier: Typically we let the car builder, whoever it is, name them. The car builder that built that car, his nickname is “Flea.” That’s what everybody knows him by and he named it for me, he named it “Aligator.”
NBC: You and “Aligator” went for a ride at the Chili Bowl. Your wife posted an Instagram video of your tumble. What was that like from your perspective?
Allgaier: That ride honestly, in the olden days when I wouldn’t have had the safety gear that I had, probably would have hurt pretty badly. I wasn’t even sore the next morning. I didn’t have a bruise, I didn’t have a headache, I didn’t have nothing when I woke up the next day. I was pretty pumped on that fact.
NBC: What’s your least favorite part of race day?
Allgaier: Making time to eat. Because I don’t think about it and then I get to the car and I’m starving. You’re so busy on race day that don’t ever think about it and you got all these things going on. Then I get to the car and we’re starving. So then you try to cram food down, which is never a good idea, or you just don’t eat and you’re miserable. Lunch is probably the worst part of race day.
NBC: What’s your typical pre-race meal or favorite one?
Allgaier: For me, chicken. Any type of grilled chicken. My truck driver Matt is an awesome chef. Not only is he a good truck driver, he’s a great chef as well. He cooks chicken and all kinds of fixens on the side. Usually I’m trying to raid the hauler before the start of the race to get something good. But ideally something that’s not super heavy. I did try Italian Polish sausage one time.
On the way to driver intros I was starving and it was the only thing I could find and I ate two of them on the way to driver intros at Talladega one year. That was the longest, worst race I’ve ever had in my entire life. My stomach and my heartburn was so bad in the car I could hardly even concentrate on driving.
