“I was upset”: Justin Allgaier opens up on yelling at former JRM teammate Sam Mayer after Martinsville race

NASCAR Xfinity Series defending champion Justin Allgaier was featured in an interview with stock car analyst Bob Pockrass ahead of the Championship 4 race. During the interaction, he revealed the reason for yelling at Sam Mayer after the Martinsville Speedway race held last Sunday.

The situation arose when Mayer initially picked a fight with his former JR Motorsports teammate, Allgaier, during the first stage of the race. The duo wrestled each other throughout the race on multiple occasions. Following that, the Haas-Factory team driver intentionally wrecked Jeb Burton during the cooldown lap after the race was over.

After the crash, Burton wanted to fight with Mayer, but the team owner calmed him down and confronted the #41 driver for his actions. Reflecting on that, Justin Allgaier also confronted his former JRM teammate for his acts. During the interview, the JR Motorsports driver claimed he feels responsible for the drivers graduating from the team and stated [00:05 onward]:

“It started with me, and then I had 60 laps to watch everything else that transpired. And look, Sam and I have had a good relationship, right? I feel like, as drivers go away from JR Motorsports, I still feel responsible for the kind of drivers they grow into, and I want to see them succeed. “I hold the drivers who leave JR Motorsports to a higher standard than maybe someone else in the sport because I know what the expectations are in our shop and what they have been taught," he concluded.

JRM driver Justin Allgaier was disappointed in Sam Mayer, and later, the governing body suspended him from the NASCAR Xfinity Series title race. Although the team was not happy with the suspension, they opted not to appeal the penalty issued to the #41 Ford driver.

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"I don't know what the long-term of that looks like": Justin Allgaier got candid about his future in NASCAR

In June 2025, the 2024 Xfinity Series champion, Justin Allgaier, sat down with former NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace and opened up about his future in stock car racing. Allgaier's father owns a tire business, and the Xfinity Series champion wants to be a part of the family business in Illinois.

This decision might stand in the way of the JR Motorsports driver breaking Wallace's 547 Xfinity Series start record. Moreover, the #7 Chevy driver wants to spend time with his kids and see them grow up. He further explained:

"I just don't know what the long term of that looks like. I feel like, for me, my kids are growing up… I'm watching them grow up, and I'm watching them get older. I don't want to miss it, you know? I don't want to not be there for it." "I still love the sport. I still love what I do… I wouldn't change it for the world. But I also feel like there's a lot of other stuff that I can accomplish in this world outside of being behind the wheel," he concluded.

Justin Allgaier will compete for the Xfinity Series championship against his JR Motorsports teammates Connor Zilisch and Carson Kvapil, alongside the Richard Childress Racing driver Jesse Love, on November 1, 2025, at Phoenix Raceway.

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Edited by Karan Yadav