JR Motorsports team co-owner and CEO Kelley Earnhardt Miller appears to have confirmed that Justin Allgaier will return to the team for 2027.
The 40-year-old O'Reilly Series star has openly admitted that he was contemplating retirement at the end of this season, but has since walked that back – saying in late May 'we’re working on making that [retirement] not happen'.
Earnhardt-Miller has now appeared to confirm that an imminent retirement is off the cards, revealing to Larry McReynolds on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Thursday that Allgaier will be coming back to the team 'for a couple more years'.
The veteran is the runaway points leader in the O'Reilly Series this year, with his six wins putting him 240 points clear of reigning champion Jesse Love in second place as the Chase approaches.
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Kelley Earnhardt-Miller: I'm so glad we talked him into coming back
"He's enjoying it, you know. And we don't look at him as the 40-year-old veteran because he is having so much fun with it ... Looks like they've named that he's going to be the regular season champ. And he's just kind of had a walk-off with it so far.
"And back to your point, Justin is just – he's been on fire, and I'm so glad that we talked him into coming back for a couple more years and not retiring yet and continuing to see what they can rack up."
When asked to clarify her words, she backtracked a little from her apparent certainty – hinting that she might've inadvertently leaked a forthcoming announcement, saying: "We might have him sticking around.
"I think you can count on him being with us and seeing him here at JR Motorsports in the future for sure. Now, you got me questioning whether we know that or not, whether we're supposed to know that..."
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