Allgaier Thinks RCR 'Picked Right Guy' For Busch's Next Crew Chief

On Thursday, Richard Childress Racing announced Jim Pohlman, the current crew chief for Justin Allgaier and the No. 7 JR Motorsports NASCAR Xfinity Series team, as the crew chief for Kyle Busch and its No. 8 NASCAR Cup Series team beginning with the 2026 season.

While losing Pohlman next season will be a tough hurdle for Allgaier, who is currently in a Playoff battle, which he hopes ends with a second NASCAR Xfinity Series championship, the veteran racer explained in a media scrum on Saturday morning that he feels RCR got the right guy for the job of turning things around for Busch.

"I think it's really cool that somebody like him is getting the opportunity to go do that, and I think that they picked the right guy," Allgaier stated.

Why does Allgaier feel Pohlman is the perfect match for Busch, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion who finds himself in a career-long losing skid?

"Number 1: work ethic," Allgaier said. "I've never seen somebody with a work ethic -- if Jim was around in the '70s and '80s as a crew chief, I think he's a 10-time champion, right? I just feel like his work ethic, and how hard he puts effort in, and just the analytic side of it, of how deep he thinks into these cars and how A affects B, and you know his processes."

And as for how Pohlman pairs up with Busch, specifically, Allgaier feels Pohlman's ability to dive into the analytics of driver feedback, and his intensity to simply win races, will be the biggest thing that he brings to the No. 8 team next season.

"Listen, I've been around Kyle a lot. Kyle is very analytical and understands his race cars very well. You know, I think what he's willing to put in, Jim will match or exceed," Allgaier predicted. "I think they're going to have to figure that out, but I know Kyle was involved pretty heavily in making that decision of who he wanted. I think if you sit down with Jim for more than 15 minutes, you'll understand really quickly his intensity to go win races, and I think that's something that Kyle was looking for."

Allgaier said Richard Childress Racing's acquisition of Pohlman came about over the last few weeks, and over that time, as the pending move to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2026 has weighed on Pohlman, Allgaier has noticed his longtime crew chief dig in deep to score one more championship on his way out.

Allgaier explained, "Jim and I have been friends since I was a little kid, and I've known Jim my whole life. I've been lucky enough now to win a championship with him in the ARCA Series, and obviously last year in the Xfinity Series. One of the things that I think is prevalent, in my mind, is I can see when this started weighing on him; he focused on getting us where we needed to be."

The driver continued, "There's nobody who wants to win the championship as much as he does. And so, I think that helps me. It gives me that comfort. We're not in a lame-duck situation where he's going to another Xfinity Series team or going to work with another Xfinity Series driver. You know, he's 100% committed to going and winning a championship this year. That's encouraging for me, and we all want to send him off with that championship as well."

As for the crew chief search for the 2026 season, Allgaier said he asked to wait until after Phoenix to figure it out because JR Motorsports has a lot of crew chief talent in-house, which allows them to bide their time more than if they were solely committed to making an external hire.

While Allgaier and JR Motorsports will begin seeking a new crew chief for the No. 7 team after the championship race in Phoenix next month, Allgaier knows that his crew chief will not be Rodney Childers, who was added to the JR Motorsports roster for the 2026 season.

"He was hired specifically for the No. 1 car. So, that's not an option," Allgaier explained. "There [are] a lot of things in place at our shop that won't be changed, and that's fine. I'm okay with that."

Will Pohlman be the guiding light that can turn things around for Kyle Busch in 2026? That remains to be seen, but a change was definitely needed as Busch is just three races away from his second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series season without a victory.