AVONDALE, Ariz. — Justin Allgaier won his first NASCAR Xfinity season championship Saturday night at Phoenix Raceway, making a stunning comeback after falling a lap down midway through the race.

Allgaier worked his way back through the field and passed Austin Hill and Cole Custer on an overtime restart with two laps remaining. Allgaier’s No. 7 Chevrolet took four tires during his pit stop before overtime, including two new ones on his right side, before shooting past Hill and Custer on the restart.

After Allgaier made the pass, a crash ensued, bringing out another caution, but the JR Motorsports driver survived the final restart to take home a long-awaited title.

“This is mind-blowing, it really is,” Allgaier said. “We tried to give it away every way we could.”

Allgaier, 38, finished second in the race Riley Herbst, but it didn’t matter because he beat the other three championship finalists: Custer finished eighth, AJ Allmendinger was ninth and Hill 10th.

It’s a big moment for Allgaier, who had won 25 Xfinity races in his career, but had never won a championship despite making the final four seven times over the past nine years. He finished in second in 2020 and 2023.

Allgaier had an eventful night, starting from the back of the field after switching to a backup car because of a crash during Friday’s practice. Regardless, he quickly shot up the leaderboard early in the race and it took him just 26 laps to enter the top 10.

But Allgaier got into trouble midway through the race when his back left tire started losing air following contact with Herbst. Allgaier lost a few positions, but was able to make it to the end of the second stage in 10th place.

His championship hopes looked as if they were dashed on the ensuing restart, when he received back-to-back penalties for an improper restart and then speeding on pit road. That dropped him to a lap behind the field, but he got back onto the lead lap after a well-timed caution when Anthony Alfredo crashed into the wall.

Given new life, Allgaier methodically worked his way back through the field before the crucial pass of Hill and Custer with two laps to go.

Allmendinger also started from the back of the field because he changed brakes after qualifying. He moved up to the middle of the pack fairly quickly, but struggled with his car for much of the night. Custer was in position to win back-to-back Xfinity titles for much of the night, but he couldn’t hang with Allgaier’s speedy car in the final laps.

Herbst also won the first two stages, which were both 45 laps.

Custer and Allmendinger are both moving up to the Cup Series next season.

Bobby Allison, founder of racing’s “Alabama Gang” and a NASCAR Hall of Famer, died Saturday. He was 86.

NASCAR released a statement from Allison’s family that said he died at home in Mooresville, North Carolina. A cause of death wasn’t given, but Allison had been in declining health for years.

Allison moved to fourth on NASCAR’s Cup Series victory list last month when chairman Jim France recognized him as the winner of the Meyers Brothers Memorial at Bowman Gray Stadium in North Carolina in 1971. The sanctioning body updated its record books to reflect the decision, giving Allison 85 wins and moving him out of a tie with Darrell Waltrip.

France and longtime NASCAR executive Mike Helton presented Allison with a plaque commemorating the victory. With it, Allison trails only fellow Hall of Famers Richard Petty (200), David Pearson (105) and Jeff Gordon (93) in Cup wins.

Allison was inducted into NASCAR’s second Hall of Fame class in 2011. He was the 1983 NASCAR champion, finished second in the series title race five times and won the Daytona 500 three times.

“Bobby was the ultimate fan’s driver,” Allison’s family said in a statement. “He thoroughly enjoyed spending time with his fans and would stop to sign autographs and have conversations with them everywhere he went. He was a dedicated family man and friend, and a devout Catholic.”

He helped put NASCAR on the map with more than his driving. His infamous fight with Cale Yarborough in the closing laps of the 1979 Daytona 500 served as one of the sport’s defining moments.

“Cale went to beating on my fist with his nose,” Allison has said repeatedly, often using that phrase to describe the fight. “Cale understands like I do that it really was a benefit to the interest of racing. It proves that we were sincere.”

Born in Miami in 1937, Allison started searching for more racing opportunities outside the Sunshine State. He landed in central Alabama, where he found a number of small, dirt tracks.

He returned to Florida to get brother Donnie and close friend Red Farmer. They set up shop in Hueytown, Alabama, and dominated regional races throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. They were later joined in the Alabama Gang by Jimmy Mears, Neil Bonnett and Bonnett’s and Allison’s sons Davey and Clifford.

Allison retired in 1988 following a crash at Pocono that nearly killed him. He was initially declared dead upon reaching a local hospital but was later resuscitated.

He eventually regained his memory, relearned everyday activities and attempted a comeback. But a series of tragedies led Allison to retire. His son, Clifford, was fatally injured during a crash in practice for the second-tier Busch Series at Michigan International Speedway in 1992. A year later, son Davey was killed in a helicopter crash at Talladega.

Three years after that, Bobby and wife Judy divorced. They reconnected four years later at their daughter-in-law’s wedding and were remarried in 2000. They remained together until Judy’s death in 2015.

Allison was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1992 and into the NASCAR Hall of Fame along with Ned Jarrett, Bud Moore, Pearson and Lee Petty.

“Bobby Allison personified the term ‘racer,'” France said in statement. “Though he is best known as one of the winningest drivers in NASCAR Cup Series history, his impact on the sport extends far beyond the record books.”

Allison is one of 10 drivers to have won NASCAR’s career “grand slam” that includes the Cup Series’ most iconic races: the Daytona 500, the Winston 500, the Coca-Cola 600 and the Southern 500.

Allison made six IndyCar Series starts for Roger Penske, including a pair of Indy 500s.

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Martin Truex Jr., who is retiring from full-time NASCAR competition after Sunday’s season finale, won the pole for the championship-deciding race at Phoenix Raceway.

Truex turned a lap at 134.741 mph Saturday to earn the top starting spot. He plans to run a handful of races in 2025.

“I don’t really know the significance of it — I guess it hasn’t really sunk in yet, but I’m excited for the weekend,” Truex said. “We’ll see how it goes. I’m not sure it’s really sunk in yet and I’m not sure really the emotions. I’m not super emotional I guess, so we’ll see what happens after the race. I’m looking forward to having a fun weekend and hopefully a great day.”

Truex will start ahead of title contender Joey Logano, who is trying to become the only active three-time Cup champion in NASCAR in a Ford for Team Penske.

“Yeah, we’ve got ’em where we want ’em,” Logano said. “We just gotta put our foot on their throats from here.”

Ross Chastain, the defending race winner at Phoenix, qualified third in a Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing. Last year he became the first nontitle contender to win the finale in this format.

Kyle Larson qualified fifth and was followed by Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott in a pair of Chevrolets.

Ty Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing was sixth in a Toyota and followed by teammate Christopher Bell.

William Byron, who is one of the championship contenders, qualified eighth in a Hendrick Chevy and was followed by Harrison Burton, who is in his final race with Wood Brothers Racing.

Tyler Reddick, with the 23XI Racing team owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, qualified 10th as he races for his first Cup title. Jordan was on pit road watching qualifying.

Reigning NASCAR champion Ryan Blaney was the lowest qualifying driver of the title contenders at 17th. He’s seeking to become the first driver to win back-to-back titles since Jimmie Johnson won five straight from 2006 to 2010. He and Logano have the chance to give Roger Penske three consecutive Cup titles.