13 Arca Toldeo 101208 Moment 2
Justin Allgaier does a burnout in his No. 16 Hoosier Tire Midwest/AG Tech/Auto Xpress Chevrolet after winning the 2008 Hantz Group 200 by Belle Tire & Federated Car Care at Toledo Speedway.

Looking Back: Wild Finale Nets Justin Allgaier 2008 ARCA Championship

www.arcaracing.com April 10, 2020

Justin Allgaier’s father, Mike, summed up the 2008 ARCA Menards Series finale in Yogi Berra fashion.

“It’s not over until it’s over, so don’t ever ask anything until the race is over,” said the elder Allgaier moments after the race’s conclusion. “This is unbelievable. I don’t even know how to say it. You know I’m not at a loss for words usually, but it’s pretty amazing.”

Mike Allgaier picked up his first ARCA owners championship when his then 22-year-old son won the final race of the season at Toledo Speedway on Sunday, October 12, 2008. And, if anything, he was understating what happened at the Ohio half-mile that day.

RELATED: Setting The Scene: 2008 ARCA Finale at Toledo

To recap:

Scott Speed began the 2008 Hantz Group 200 by Belle Tire & Federated Car Care with a 90-point lead on Ricky Stenhouse Jr., while Justin Allgaier was 110 points behind and eight-time defending champion Frank Kimmel was 150 back. Speed started third, Stenhouse fourth and Allgaier ninth.

Speed and Stenhouse made contact early battling for a top-five spot, but a caution for Dexter Bean, who started second, interrupted them on Lap 13.

When racing resumed, so did the battle between Stenhouse and Speed. It all came to a head on Lap 38 when Stenhouse dove instead of Speed’s No. 2 Red Bull Toyota to try to take the second spot away, and the contact sent Speed spinning into the wall.

When racing resumed, Speed came back out on the track and was limping his car around the track. Moments after going another lap down to the leaders, Speed let Stenhouse go by and then got his revenge.

The then-25-year-old Speed was unapologetic after climbing out of his wrecked race car and speaking with pit reporter Adam Alexander.

ARCA parked Speed for the day, resulting in a 34th-place finish. Stenhouse stayed in his car, while the team frantically worked on the car. The damage was done, though, as Allgaier suddenly found himself in the lead.

The constant turn-of-events didn’t end there, though.

Frank Kimmel, in his first year with his family-run team after eight straight titles with Larry Clement, was still in outside contention. His day took a turn when he was forced to come down pit road after contact with Matt Kurzejewski on Lap 144. Kimmel would rally to finish third.

David Ragan led 48 laps after starting in the rear. Ragan had flown in after running in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway the day before. His shot at the win, though, ended on Lap 168 with a flat tire. That handed the lead to Speed’s Eddie Sharp Racing teammate, Justin Lofton, who led a race-high 75 laps.

Lofton’s final lead lasted just three laps before he too suffered tire issues.

Suddenly, Allgaier not only had the championship lead, he had the race lead.

While he briefly lost the top spot to Matt Carter, who had newer tires, Allgaier got back in front and led the final 12 laps en route to the checkered flag.

In the end, Allgaier won the final three races of the season – and six victories overall – to edge Kimmel by 50 points for the title. Carter finished third, 85 back, and also took home the 2008 rookie of the year honors.

RACING-REFERENCE: 2008 Hantz Group 200 by Belle Tire & Federated Car Care | 2008 ARCA Standings

Stenhouse wound up fourth (105 back) and Speed fifth (110 behind Allgaier).

It was Allgaier’s last career ARCA start, as he moved to Penske Racing and the NASCAR Xfinity Series the following season in a deal that had been in motion before his championship finale.

Allgaier finished sixth in the Xfintiy Series in 2009 and won the series’ rookie of the year, marking the first of 10 seasons in the top 10 in points. It was interrupted in 2013-14 for a two-year stint in the NASCAR Cup Series for H Scott Motorsports.

Likewise, Stenhouse made the jump to the NASCAR Xfinity Series with a limited schedule in 2009. He went on to win back-to-back championships in 2011-12 before graduating to the NASCAR Cup Series, where he’s had two wins and made 255 starts since 2013.

Speed was two years removed from becoming the first American driver to race in Formula One in 13 years when he ran a mix of stock car series in 2008. In addition to the ARCA season, he made six Cup starts and 16 races in what was then the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series – including a win at Dover International Speedway.

Speed would go on to run 113 more Cup races, last competing in 2012. His potential never fully translated, with just one top five and four top 10s. Speed has continued to find racing success, however, outside of NASCAR. He won an X Games gold medal in rallycross in 2013, and three straight Global Rallycross titles (2015-17) with Andretti Autosport.

RACING-REFERENCE: Justin Allgaier | Ricky Stenhouse Jr.| Scott Speed

Kimmel went through five straight years finishing in the top five in points before finally securing his 10th ARCA Menards championship in 2013 at age 51.

Carter made two more ARCA starts in 2009 as well as 44 starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series between 2009-14.

And Lofton, who started on the pole and finished 12th at Toledo, came back in 2009 and won six times en route to the ARCA Menards title. He ran three full seasons in the NASCAR Truck Series, winning at Charlotte in 2012.

RACING-REFERENCE: Frank Kimmel | Matt Carter | Justin Lofton

13 Arca Toldeo 101208 Moment
Justin Allgaier talks to SPEED in Victory Lane following his win in the 2008 ARCA finale at Toledo Speedway.