NASCAR star Justin Allgaier secures first Chase spot with seven races to spare

NASCAR O'Reilly Series star Justin Allgaier has officially punched his ticket to the Chase with seven regular season races to go.

The JR Motorsports veteran won his fifth race of the year on Saturday at Pocono to become the first driver in any of NASCAR's three national series to qualify for the revamped postseason.

That win, combined with early exits from Jesse Love and Corey Day, puts Allgaier 250 points clear of his nearest challenger at the top of the standings and a scarcely believable 413 points clear of the playoff cut-line.

While the eagle-eyed among you will spot that 413 points can just about be overhauled in seven races, there isn't a scenario in which all 12 drivers behind Allgaier can amass enough points to pass him, with NASCAR confirming that Saturday's result guarantees him a postseason berth.

Allgaier: We'll celebrate this one

A chaotic race saw the caution flag fly ten times over the 100-lap distance, including the final one which set up a two-lap shootout at the end for the victory.

“First of all," Allgaier said after the race, "I’ve got to say thank you to William Byron because without his shove at the end of the race, it was probably game over."

He continued: “This season has been special with [crew chief] Andrew Overstreet and this whole number seven team and this pit crew right here. We’re going to go celebrate this one for sure.”

NASCAR O'Reilly Series standings after Pocono

Pos	Driver	Manufacturer	Points (Stage)	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s
1	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	842 (241)	5	12	14
2	Jesse Love	Chevrolet	592 (149)	0	6	10
3	Corey Day	Chevrolet	575 (99)	2	6	12
4	Sheldon Creed	Chevrolet	569 (96)	1	7	11
5	Brandon Jones	Toyota	547 (126)	0	4	10
6	Austin Hill	Chevrolet	523 (83)	1	4	7
7	Carson Kvapil	Chevrolet	523 (125)	0	4	9
8	Sammy Smith	Chevrolet	504 (59)	0	5	9
9	Sam Mayer	Chevrolet	459 (107)	0	5	8
10	Parker Retzlaff	Chevrolet	446 (57)	0	2	7
11	William Sawalich	Toyota	445 (72)	1	4	7
12	Brent Crews	Toyota	432 (91)	0	6	9
13	Taylor Gray	Toyota	429 (81)	1	2	6
14	Rajah Caruth	Chevrolet	424 (83)	0	1	6
15	Ryan Sieg	Chevrolet	395 (35)	0	1	6
16	Brennan Poole	Chevrolet	328 (0)	0	0	1
17	Anthony Alfredo	Chevrolet	319 (23)	0	0	3
18	Dean Thompson	Toyota	306 (14)	0	0	2
19	Jeremy Clements	Chevrolet	284 (19)	0	1	2
20	Jeb Burton IV	Chevrolet	262 (13)	0	0	1
21	Blaine Perkins	Chevrolet	254 (12)	0	0	1
22	Harrison Burton	Toyota	247 (13)	0	0	0
23	Patrick Staropoli	Chevrolet	233 (0)	0	0	0
24	Austin Green	Chevrolet	205 (5)	0	0	2
25	Josh Bilicki	Chevrolet	199 (0)	0	0	0
26	Lavar Scott	Chevrolet	198 (0)	0	0	0
27	Kyle Sieg	Chevrolet	189 (0)	0	0	0
28	Ryan Ellis	Chevrolet	166 (0)	0	0	1
29	Josh Williams	Chevrolet	119 (0)	0	0	0
30	Joey Gase	Chevrolet	113 (0)	0	0	0
31	Nick Sanchez	Chevrolet	95 (6)	0	1	1
32	Garrett Smithley	Chevrolet	93 (0)	0	0	0
33	J.J. Yeley	Ford	79 (0)	0	0	0
34	Mason Maggio	Chevrolet	65 (0)	0	0	0
35	Alex Labbe	Chevrolet	62 (0)	0	0	0
36	Nathan Byrd	Chevrolet	61 (0)	0	0	0
37	Andrew Patterson	Chevrolet	49 (0)	0	0	0
38	Myatt Snider	Chevrolet	35 (0)	0	0	0
39	Jordan Anderson	Chevrolet	33 (0)	0	1	1
40	Lee Pulliam	Chevrolet	32 (0)	0	1	1
41	Luke Fenhaus	Ford	31 (0)	0	0	0
42	David Starr	Chevrolet	31 (0)	0	0	0
43	Dawson Cram	Chevrolet	31 (0)	0	0	0
44	Blake Lothian	Toyota	27 (0)	0	0	0
45	Preston Pardus	Chevrolet	26 (0)	0	0	0
46	Carson Ware	Chevrolet	28 (0)	0	0	0
47	Will Rodgers	Chevrolet	17 (0)	0	0	0
48	Brad Perez	Chevrolet	17 (0)	0	0	0
49	Logan Bearden	Chevrolet	17 (0)	0	0	0
50	Gray Gaulding	Chevrolet	9 (0)	0	0	0
51	Alex Guenette	Chevrolet	9 (0)	0	0	0
52	Dexter Bean	Chevrolet	7 (0)	0	0	1
53	Glen Reen	Toyota	7 (0)	0	0	0
54	C.J. McLaughlin	Chevrolet	7 (0)	0	0	0
55	Cleetus McFarland	Chevrolet	7 (0)	0	0	0
56	Derek White	Chevrolet	5 (0)	0	0	0
57	Austin Hill	Chevrolet	4 (0)	0	0	0
58	Sage Karam	Toyota	2 (0)	0	0	0
59	Matt Wilson	Chevrolet	1 (0)	0	0	0
60	Baltazar Leguizamon	Chevrolet	1 (0)	0	0	0