Justin Allgaier hit with brutal double speeding penalty filling in for Alex Bowman at Las Vegas

Justin Allgaier is behind the wheel of the No. 48 Chevrolet in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, filling in for Alex Bowman, who is sidelined with vertigo. Allgaier, the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series regular, is off to a rough start.

During the first cycle of green flag pit stops, Allgaier was assessed a speeding penalty. While serving his pass-through penalty, Allgaier was hit with another speeding violation.

Just like that, Allgaier is two laps down and in last place. He’ll have a difficult time getting back on the lead lap from here as the No. 48 team continues to struggle to open the season.

Those struggles existed with Bowman in the car. They carried over last week with Anthony Alfredo filling in at Phoenix Raceway and now, it’s Allgaier having a brutal first stage at Las Vegas.

“I mean… sorry. I don’t know how, on that last one, we were speeding,” Allgaier said on the radio, via Zach Sturniolo of NASCAR.com.

The No. 48 team is staying positive. They believe they can get back into the mix.

“Yeah we got our calls right so I don’t know,” spotter Kevin Hamlin replied to Allgaier. “… Blake [Harris, crew chief] is gonna get us back into it. Stay with it.”

Justin Allgaier, No. 48 suffer major setback at Las Vegas

Right now, nothing is going right for the No. 48 team. As for Bowman, there appears to be no concrete timeline for his return. Hendrick is giving him time to fully recover as he is still experiencing symptoms.

“Alex continues to work closely with doctors toward being medically cleared, but he’s still experiencing some lingering symptoms,” said Jeff Andrews, Hendrick president and general manager. “He’s put a lot into the recovery process, and we will continue to support him every step of the way. Our priority remains making sure Alex is fully ready before returning to the race car.”