{"id":400,"date":"2011-06-10T08:00:46","date_gmt":"2011-06-10T12:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/?p=400"},"modified":"2011-06-05T19:26:29","modified_gmt":"2011-06-05T23:26:29","slug":"nascar-nationwide-series-driver-justin-allgaier-on-starting-young-marrying-his-childhood-sweetheart-and-dealing-with-the-dangers-of-stock-car-racing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2011\/06\/nascar-nationwide-series-driver-justin-allgaier-on-starting-young-marrying-his-childhood-sweetheart-and-dealing-with-the-dangers-of-stock-car-racing.html","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Justin Allgaier on starting young, marrying his childhood sweetheart and dealing with the dangers of stock car racing"},"content":{"rendered":"

FRIDAY FEATURE: Justin Allgaier<\/p>\n

Justin Allgaier turned 25 earlier this week but he doesn\u2019t look a day over 16. Maybe that\u2019s why uninformed onlookers might be surprised to see the baby-faced NASCAR driving strapping into his #31 Turner Motorsports Chevrolet and hitting the track at speeds in excess of 180 miles per hour.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Justin Allgaier<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With two wins under his belt, including last weekend\u2019s STP 200 at Chicagoland Speedway, Allgaier is on a fast track to significant success. I had a chance to catch up with Allgaier at a race in Texas and here\u2019s what the 2009 Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year had to say about his upbringing, marrying his childhood sweetheart and dealing with the dangers of stock car racing:<\/p>\n

Bonham: Growing up, you spent a lot of time around racing due to your dad\u2019s work with Hoosier Tire Distributors. Is that ultimately how you got your start in racing?<\/p>\n

Allgaier: Yeah, I started when I was five years old. My dad (Mike) was on the road a lot, so my mom (Dorothy) was always looking for things for me to do that would excite me. I always wanted to be with my dad. I always wanted to be at the racetrack. She knew that wasn\u2019t a possibility. We went to a quarter midget racetrack and a friend of mine was racing. We watched him race and I fell in love with it. My dad called home that night and said there was no way I was going to race quarter midgets. We went around and around for five or ten minutes until I said, \u201cBut mom said.\u201d Needless to say, I\u2019ve been racing ever since. My dad didn\u2019t want me in the racing business, but he said if I wanted to do it, he wanted to give him every opportunity to succeed. So we went out and raced hard and we did it right. That\u2019s what got us to this point. I\u2019ve got great parents and I respect them a lot for what they\u2019ve done for my career. I can\u2019t imagine doing anything else. It\u2019s really cool that my dad had enough insight and know-how to give me every opportunity to make it at the next level.<\/p>\n

Bonham: Tell me a little bit about your faith background.<\/p>\n

Allgaier: I grew up attending Riverton Christian Church. It was a big part of my life. When you\u2019re traveling and when you\u2019re racing a lot, it\u2019s tough. When you sit down at one church, it\u2019s tough to be there every week. We were very fortunate that most of the series that we raced in had a chaplain. But the Riverton church was always my home base and I still go back there when we go back to Illinois. I owe a lot to that church. I couldn\u2019t imagine growing up any other way.<\/p>\n

Bonham: What are some of the challenges that come with the NASCAR lifestyle?<\/p>\n

Allgaier: Every day in life there are challenges; whether you\u2019re an accountant, a race car driver or whatever you do. Obviously in this sport, there are more challenges than maybe others but I\u2019ve just had to put my faith in God. This is the person I am and I\u2019m not going to shy away from it. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve changed as a person from early in my career when I was able to be in church every Sunday morning to now. It\u2019s really great for us because we have (Motor Racing Outreach). But it\u2019s tough. There are days you find yourself saying things or doing things you wish you hadn\u2019t done. But I hope that I\u2019ve done a good enough job so that when people look at me they automatically know that\u2019s the kind of person I am.<\/p>\n

Bonham: What biblical principle most guides your life?<\/p>\n

Allgaier: Luke 9:23. That basically says (people need) to follow Jesus and not me. Even though I feel like I want people to understand who I am and what I\u2019m about, I still understand that I\u2019m not perfect. It\u2019s tough because it\u2019s so easy to get caught up in everyday life and not care any more. But that\u2019s a principle that\u2019s stuck in my head. Another thing is that you can\u2019t judge people. Unfortunately, there are people here who aren\u2019t Christian and judge people really bad. That\u2019s one thing that’s kind of my pet peeve.<\/p>\n

Bonham: Are you comfortable in a role that requires you to be the personality behind a race team?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Allgaier drives a practice lap in the #31 Brandt Chevrolet (Photo courtesy of NASCARmedia.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Allgaier: It\u2019s not just the driver. It\u2019s the car. It\u2019s the resources. I\u2019m only as good as the guys around me. I don\u2019t put much faith in me as a race car driver. I\u2019m glad that I have the talent to go out and be competitive and run out front. But at the end of the day, I know that it\u2019s not me that\u2019s doing it. That\u2019s basically how I have to look at it.<\/p>\n

Bonham: What do you take away from the experience of racing against Sprint Cup drivers on a regular basis in the Nationwide Series?<\/p>\n

Allgaier: It\u2019s very educational. You can learn a lot from them. There are some extremely talented race car drivers over there. At the end of the day, I have to look at it like they\u2019re no better than I am. We\u2019re all at God\u2019s mercy. We all have to give it 110 percent. There are days that I\u2019ve gone out and said, \u201cThere\u2019s no way I can go out and beat these guys\u201d and then gone out and drove circles around them. And there\u2019s been days I\u2019ve thought I was the greatest race car driver in the world and they drive circles around me. So you have to put that part of it in perspective.<\/p>\n

Bonham: What do you think about what Morgan Shepherd is doing in the Nationwide Series with his #89 Faith Motorsports team?<\/p>\n

Allgaier: To come out here and travel and do the things that he has to do, I don\u2019t know how he does it. I don\u2019t think I would want to put myself through that kind of stress. But I think that shows dedication. This isn\u2019t an easy sport whether you\u2019ve got the most money and the best equipment in the world or whether you\u2019re in Morgan\u2019s situation. So to go out and do what he does, I\u2019ve got to give him credit for that for sure. He would have quit 10 or 15 years if \u201cRacing with Jesus\u201d had not been on the car. He feels like that\u2019s a good way to get the message out. Racetracks are places where people tend to come to lose their inhibitions a little bit and let loose and relax. It\u2019s probably not always a good thing. So for him, it\u2019s a good way to get people to just think. Most people don\u2019t think about (God) until they see something or they hear something. And then they think, \u201cWait, maybe this isn\u2019t the right way to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bonham: How has being married, especially at such a young age, impacted your racing career?<\/p>\n

Allgaier: I grew up extremely fast. I was racing at the age of five. I was racing on a semi-national level by the time I was 16. It makes you grow up fast. I met my wife when we were 15 years old. I knew within 15 minutes of meeting her, that\u2019s who I wanted to marry. There are days that its tough, but she\u2019s able to travel with me to all the races. When you\u2019re away from home 35 weekends a year, she\u2019s very supportive of my racing and she\u2019s my best friend and my worst critic. When I don\u2019t do things right, she\u2019s the first one to tell me about it. When I do things right, she\u2019s the first one to praise me for it. I\u2019m very glad she\u2019s able to be a part of what I do. That makes it a lot easier.<\/p>\n

Bonham: How long do you see yourself doing this?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Allgaier celebrates his STP 300 victory at Chicagoland Speedway on June 4, 2011 (Photo by Jonathan Daniel\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Allgaier: You look at what Mark Martin has been able to do in his career and I hope I\u2019m still as competitive as he is at 50. But I\u2019ve always said I want to do this while its fun and I want to do it as long as I can be competitive. When I\u2019m not competitive anymore, I don\u2019t want to put time, people and resources to base use if I can\u2019t get the job done. Even now, if I\u2019m not getting the job done, something\u2019s got to be changed. I feel very strongly about that. I hope that I am still racing at 50, as long as I can get out of bed. I don\u2019t even know how (Mark) gets out of bed some mornings. He took hits all those years without the best safety equipment and the softer walls.<\/p>\n

Bonham: How do you internally deal with the inherent dangers that come with this sport?<\/p>\n

Allgaier: Its just part of the sport. I\u2019ve wrecked my fair share of cars. I\u2019ve had my fair share of injuries. If you put too much focus on it or you really worry about it, it\u2019s going to consume you. That\u2019s never good. There\u2019s always a chance that I might not walk away from a racetrack. I don\u2019t ever want to think about that, but I\u2019m prepared if something happens. I hope that nothing ever does. That\u2019s definitely a risk. My wife understands that. I\u2019m definitely at peace with what God wants me to do. I have a lot of faith in that.<\/p>\n

Have a great weekend! Check back next week for interviews with Davone Bess, Clint Hurdle and Richard Petty.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FRIDAY FEATURE: Justin Allgaier Justin Allgaier turned 25 earlier this week but he doesn\u2019t look a day over 16. Maybe that\u2019s why uninformed onlookers might be surprised to see the baby-faced NASCAR driving strapping into his #31 Turner Motorsports Chevrolet and hitting the track at speeds in excess of 180 miles per hour. 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