LEXINGTON — Justin Allgaier didn’t have the fastest car, but the XFINITY Series veteran had the freshest tires.
Allgaier passed pole winner Austin Cindric with three laps to go and held on for his third victory of the season in the Rock N Roll Tequila 170 Presented by Amethyst Beverage at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday.
Allgaier came in for four tires on the race’s final caution with eight laps remaining. The call by crew chief Jason Burdett worked to perfection.
“Jason made a great call,” Allgaier said. “He made the call to come down and put four tires on and that was the call.
“I knew the last restart was going to be pivotal and it was.”
Cindric, who grandfather, Jim Trueman, owned Mid-Ohio before his death, was in command for virtually the entire race. He led for 59 of the 75 laps
“It’s too bad we couldn’t capitalize on a dominant car,” Cindric said. “It’s a bummer because this place means a lot to me.
“When I was a little kid, every year I would go to the Indy 500 and I would go to Mid-Ohio. This place, obviously I’ve got a pretty strong family history here.”
The 19-year-old Cindric liked the road course to a short track after winning the pole earlier in the afternoon. He said he expected a lot of bumping and rubbing when the race went green.
Allgaier’s final pass came after he and Cindric exchanged the front position a couple of times. Allgaier won by more than two seconds.
“I had every opportunity to shove him off the track, but I didn’t need the win that bad,” Cindric said.
Daniel Hemric was third, while Hinckley native Matt Tifft was fourth. Ryan Truex rounded out the top five.
