Murphy’s law was working overtime against Justin Allgaier. Even though the veteran racer led 99 out of the first 153 laps at Texas Motor Speedway, he was forced to settle for his first DNF of the season, a heartbreaking outcome for the No. 7 team. For the most part, the JR Motorsports driver put on a fantastic show at Andy’s Frozen Custard 300, keeping the likes of Kyle Larson at bay during the opening stages.

However, even though ‘Yung Money’ ended up in Victory Lane when the checkered flag was waved, it was somewhat of a bittersweet moment for Dale Jr’s team. Allgaier was forced to watch his ‘teammate’ from the sidelines after being sidelined in a wreck with Kris Wright. The incident made plenty of fans furious, and many took to social media to criticize the Our Motorsports racer.

Justin Allgaier takes responsibility for the wreck

Expectations were high for Justin Allgaier going into the Xfinity Series race in Texas. After all, the reigning champion has led a staggering 575 laps at ‘The Great American Speedway’, the third-most by any driver in NASCAR’s second tier. Having qualified in second place, the racer showed lightning-fast pace across the 1.5-mile track, dominating the early stages until he was overtaken by Kyle Larson. Determined to make amends, the No. 7 Chevy tried to run down the No. 88, but the charge lasted only two laps as Allgaier made contact with Kris Wright in Turn 4 on Lap 157.

Wright, who appeared to be struggling in his No. 5 Chevy, was multiple seconds slower than the leaders. It looked like he failed to hold his line through the turn, leading to Allgaier running into the back of him, as the latter couldn’t react in time. Reflecting on the wreck, Justin Allgaier said, “He (Kris Wright) had a tough time holding a line, kept moving lanes, and I tried going to the bottom and realized it was going to be a bad situation.” Taking responsibility for the wreck, the JR Motorsports driver said, “Ultimately it falls on my shoulders, right? I think they had some damage, so [Wright] was having a little bit of a tough time with his race car.”

It was evident that Kris Wright was well off his pace today. The Our Motorsports driver finished 9 laps off the leaders, while Allgaier, because of the double overtime finish, ended up more than 50 laps down after retiring early. It was the reigning champion’s first DNF of the season, and the fourth time that the No. 7 Chevy has led the most laps in the opening 12 races.

Speaking to Frontstretch, Justin Allgaier lamented not being able to make the most of a great day at Texas, saying, “To be as good as we were, it’s hard to be sitting here and not still out on the racetrack. But hopefully we can go back to the drawing board and figure out what we need to do different and show up in a couple of weeks and be better.” Even though the veteran already has two wins and eight top-five finishes this year, he will look back on the result at Texas Motor Speedway as a missed opportunity. However, despite the frustrating outcome, all he can do is move on under the circumstances. This result keeps his lead on 2nd place Austin Hill at 50 points as the Xfinity Series enters its two-week break.

Allgaier is ready to put this behind him. However, it seems like fans won’t be forgetting the wreck anytime soon. Many took to social media to express their disappointment at the incident, with Kris Wright getting the brunt of the blame even though Allgaier publicly took responsibility.

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NASCAR fans bash Kris Wright for reckless racing

As expected, it didn’t take long for NASCAR fans to voice their displeasure against Kris Wright after a Lap 157 incident forced Justin Allgaier to retire early. With just one top-10 result in the opening 12 races, one fan questioned his place in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, boldly writing, “What the hell is Kris Wright still doing here?” Echoing that sentiment, another motorsports enthusiast felt that Wright being involved in an on-track incident is nothing new, having already endured three DNFs this season. The X user wrote, “It’s the same guy crashing every week. He has no business being out there.”

Another fan recalled Katherine Legge’s crash with William Sawalich at Rockingham Speedway, when the Joe Gibbs Racing driver hit her Chevy’s rear in Lap 52. Comparing the two situations, the fan couldn’t help but say, “Worse than Legge two weeks ago.” Noticing that Wright was driving visibly slower than Allgaier, probably because of the damage to his car, one X user raised a question on social media, asking, “Kris moved up in front up him going 20 mph slower. What is he doing?”

An X user felt that the wreck between Justin Allgaier and Kris Wright was completely avoidable if the Our Motorsports driver had shown more responsibility on the racetrack. Considering that both the racers are experienced, watching them wreck in such a circumstance was bizarre, which is why the fan wrote, “Another example of trying to be nice causing the accident. If Wright would have just held his line, Justin would know where we was going be.” The Xfinity Series champion will probably agree to that sentiment privately, even though Wright declined to comment.

At the end of the day, social media was backing Dale Jr.’s driver, and Kris Wright has not been spared from the criticism. Allgaier seems to empathize with the latter, but only time will tell if NASCAR fans get around to Kris Wright’s antics.