Run-ins with Cup stars becoming commonplace for Justin Allgaier

Before Justin Allgaier and Kyle Larson battled for the win in Saturday's Andy's Frozen Custard 340 at Texas Motor Speedway, the two made contact earlier in the race under caution. 

In Stage 1 of Saturday's NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race, Larson, who was second to Allgaier at the time, appeared to crowd Allgaier during caution laps. The cause both drivers to make contact as they warmed up their tires. 

Larson, who was preparing to restart on a slick and dirty outside lane, seemed to just be trying to keep as much grit and grime off of his tires as possible. 

"I'm disappointed, because he's completely below the pace car," Allgaier told the CW regarding his contact with Larson under yellow. "It's his right to go down there. It's my right to stay up there. We made contact in the middle."

Eventually, Larson held off Allgaier to score the win in Sunday's race. Ironically, Larson and Allgaier were teammates for Saturday's race, with Larson, a full-time driver for Hendrick Motorsports in the Cup Series, piloted a JR Motorsports Chevy on Saturday.

"I think he knew the top was dirty at that point," Larson said. "He did it to me and Connor [Zilisch] and just kind of left us out in the marbles there. I was just trying to give myself a lane. He was, like, three lanes up."

Not the first time Justin Allgaier has had similar run-in

Saturday wasn't the first time Allgaier had a somewhat controversial run-in with a Cup Series star who happens to drive for Hendrick Motorsports. It's not even his first get-together with Larson in the O'Reilly Series.

At Indianapolis in July 2025, Larson and Allgaier made contact late in the race, which resulted in Allgaier finishing 36th. Larson, meanwhile, escaped with a fourth-place result. 

At Pocono in June 2025, Allgaier and Chase Elliott made contact on a late-race restart, with Allgaier drifting up the track in turn 1 and forcing Elliott to fall back. Elliott bounced back to finish fourth, while Allgaier fell to 10th. 

"I have a lot of respect for Justin," Elliott told Yardbarker following that incident. "We've always raced each other with a lot of respect. I don't have any ill will against him."

Interestingly, Connor Zilisch won both of those races. But the more important trend is that Allgaier seems to occasionally be involved in somewhat controversial incidents with some of the biggest names in racing and, all three times, has come out on the worse end.