NASCAR star claims Cup Series career torpedoed by uncompetitive car

NASCAR star Justin Allgaier has opened up on a misconception about his Cup Series career.

The reigning Xfinity Series champion has only raced two full seasons in the Cup Series, running for the HScott Motorsports team in 2014 and 2015 but achieving just one top ten finish in those 72 races.

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Allgaier's failure to perform at a high level in the Cup Series saw him head back to the Xfinity Series, where he's raced for JR Motorsports in the decade since while occasionally getting a Cup Series drive – getting the second top ten finish of his career at Daytona this year.

Speaking to The Athletic's Jeff Gluck, Allgaier claimed that his Cup Series career was sunk by driving an inferior car, admitting he'd jump at the chance to return in better equipment.

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Allgaier: I was driving an uncompetitive Cup Series car

Asked what people get wrong about him, he said: "A lot of people assume when I was in Cup, I had equal equipment to what the guys up front were running. I see a lot of comments where somebody will say, 'Oh, I wish he would go back to Cup racing' and then you’ll see 100 comments that say, 'He had a shot in Cup and didn’t make it last'.

"Well, look at Alex Bowman when he drove for BK Racing. Look at Clint Bowyer when he drove the (HScott Motorsports) car after me.

"You could name all these guys who drove in stuff that wasn’t competitive, but they were still able to go on and be ultra successful (in better cars).

"I don’t regret that time and I wouldn’t change it. Would I love an opportunity on the Cup side in good equipment? Yeah, absolutely. But if I look back at my career, I wouldn’t have changed anything I’ve done from then to now."

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