TOLEDO OH (3-2-10) - 2008 ARCA Racing Series champion and 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year Justin Allgaier made a guest appearance Tuesday afternoon at Toledo Speedway, speaking at the annual Toledo/Flat Rock Speedways press conference.

Allgaier, currently third in Nationwide Series points in the no. 12 Penske Racing Verizon Dodge, fielded questions from the audience and interviewed with the local media including the Toledo Blade, Detroit Free Press, Monroe Evening News as well as local TV affiliates ABC and Fox.

The Toledo half-mile track is where Allgaier secured the '08 ARCA title after the Riverton, Illinois driver capitalized on the misfortunes of title contenders Scott Speed and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., both of whom ultimately wrecked each other out of competition.

"I still think about that day a lot," said Allgaier. "I still get to race with Ricky, and I see Scott all the time. I always wonder what it would have been like had it not turned out the way it did. End of the day, it couldn't have worked out any better. Being that I was in the series for so long, it probably meant more to us than it would have for them. It still showed that the little guy can win, not just the big teams. Not the way we did it anyway by scraping every nickel and dollar together that we could."

Allgaier also talked about the value of ARCA in regards to the series being the right stepping stone for his career path.

"No question that ARCA was instrumental in helping me get where I am. Everything about ARCA makes sense if you're trying to get to that next level. The cars are similar, the tracks are the same. There's so much that carries over. ARCA is home for me. I grew up here so maybe this place is more special to me than it might be for someone else. But regardless of whether you consider it home or not, it's the best choice for drivers who aspire to climb up through the ranks. It makes perfect sense. Worked for me."

In the first three Nationwide races of the season, Allgaier has not yet finished out of the top-10 with finishes of fourth at Daytona, ninth at Auto Club and most recently seventh at Las Vegas. He currently sits third in points behind Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski.

From the Toledo press conference, Allgaier flew home to the Charlotte area before his five o'clock wakeup call comes Wednesday morning, in time to catch his flight to Talladega Superspeedway.

"We're going to Talladega tomorrow to do a media advance for the track. I've got some Verizon obligations on Thursday and Friday. I was going to go to Atlanta this weekend but decided against it. We're not racing this weekend, so I plan to relax at home with my wife, and it's my anniversary Thursday, so I'm sure we'll celebrate that."

Actually, Allgaier will have two consecutive weekends away from the track with no Nationwide races on the schedule.  

"I know I'm testing next week at Gresham, getting ready for Bristol."