Did Kelley Earnhardt Miller just confirm that Justin Allgaier will return in 2027?

JR Motorsports team co-owner and CEO Kelley Earnhardt Miller indicated that star driver Justin Allgaier is set to return for at least the 2027 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season.

In a SiriusXM NASCAR Radio segment, she was speaking with Larry McReynolds when she appeared to confirm that Allgaier will be back next year.

Allgaier is enjoying a dominant season with six victories so far — the most of his entire career. He is in complete control of the championship, and the 40-year-old is the clear favorite for the title. He secured his first NASCAR O’Reilly title in the 2024 season.

“He’s enjoying it, you know,” said Kelley. “And we don’t look at him as the 40-year-old veteran because he is having so much fun with it … Looks like they’ve named that he’s going to be the regular season champ. And he’s just kind of had a walk-off with it so far. And back to your point, Justin is just – he’s been on fire, and I’m so glad that we talked him into coming back for a couple more years and not retiring yet and continuing to see what they can rack up.“

Justin Allgaier, No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet

That got McReynolds’ attention, as there’s been no official confirmation at this point.

“Kelley, you said something that made old Larry Mac’s ears,” he quickly replied, asking for clarification. “We were at JR Motorsports for fan appreciation day and around Charlotte race week, and he had said he wasn’t 100 percent sure he was even going to come back this year for 2026, but he made the decision to do it. Did I just hear you say we might have him sticking around another year or two?”

Kelley then tried to thread the line a bit in her next answer, saying: “We might have him sticking around. I think you can count on him being with us and seeing him here at JR Motorsports in the future for sure. Now, you got me questioning whether we know that or not, whether we’re supposed to know that…”

Allgiaer has over 500 starts in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series and 34 career wins. He’s been driving for JR Motorsports since the start of the 2016 season, and even piloted the No. 40 Cup car in the team’s Daytona 500 starts over the past two years.

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