Are the Stadium Super Trucks allowed to claim newly-crowned NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series champion Justin Allgaier if his only experience was a single practice session five years ago? Don’t care, we’re doing it anyway. Bollywood has the right to claim him too (they unfortunately won’t, but 19-year-old Allgaier having a cameo in Ta Ra Rum Pum is too good a factlet to pass up), and SST can do the same if Robby Gordon wishes.
Sheldon Creed basked in 131 Off-Road‘s limelight for much of the 2026 NASCAR campaign, and for good reason as the winningest SST driver and a Dakarian enjoying his breakout year in the O’Reilly Series. However, his main opponent for the championship is no stranger to the trucks either. Sort of.
It’s easy to think of Allgaier as solely a stock car guy since that makes up 98% of the racing he’s done throughout his 25-plus-year career. Still, he has occasionally dabbled in other disciplines too, such as the Porsche GT3 Cup Brasil in the late 2010s and—as you can probably guess—the Stadium Super Trucks.
During the summer of 2021, SST had two rounds at Mid-Ohio. The second, held on Independence Day weekend, was in support of the IndyCar Series. A month prior, the first took place alongside what was then the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The NXS’ B&L Transport 170 was sandwiched between the two SST races, while the latter’s practice and qualifying took place the day prior.
Allgaier met NASCAR alumnus and SST boss Gordon, who offered him an opportunity to run one of the backup trucks in qualifying. With Xfinity activities wrapped up for the day, he graciously accepted.
“So we’re at Mid-Ohio, obviously Xfinity Series race this weekend, but I’m getting to check off a bucket list item thanks to Mr. Robby Gordon,” Allgaier said in an Instagram Story prior to the session. “[…] Going to see how it goes, going to mix it up a little bit, have some fun. Huge thanks to Robby. These Stadium Super Trucks are awesome, so I’m excited.”
Creed, who was defending his Truck Series title at the time, took advantage of the downtime to return to SST at Mid-Ohio. It wasn’t the first time he and his future championship rival crossed paths as Creed had already done three Xfinity starts in 2017 and 2019, and was slated to make another entry at the end of 2021 before moving up full time in 2022.
While Allgaier had yet to win a series title at the time, he, Creed, and Gordon already made for a very decorated list of stock car accolades in the SST grid. To make it even sweeter, Greg Biffle was in the field too. The 2000 Truck and 2002 Busch Series champ returned for what would be his final SST weekend. With eight trucks qualifying, that meant half boasted NASCAR experience.
Matt Brabham, who’s expressed interest in trying NASCAR beyond a late model race for David Gilliland in 2015, topped the session ahead of Creed and Gordon. Biffle was fifth and Allgaier qualified sixth.
Due to Xfinity, however, Allgaier had to miss out on the SST points races. Considering how poorly the B&L Transport 170 went for him, finishing 35th, he probably would’ve rather done the trucks instead. Fittingly, Creed and Gordon split the SST races.
“You’re not going to get a smile on my face anytime in the near future,” Allgaier quipped to Dustin Albino (mirror). “First of all, hats off to Robby. This series has obviously grown in the last number of years and seeing what he’s been able to grow with this truck, but then two, to see just how much fun they are, that was an absolute blast.
“I’ve never really hit any jumps in anything in my recent career, at least not on purpose. To be able to jump and be comfortable with that and not really race anybody, but just be able to do it on my own pace is really cool. It’s definitely something that I checked the bucket list off, being able to drive an off-road truck today on a track like this. But now, I’ve got to work on trying to come back and race one of these because it was definitely that much fun.”
Over five years later, an actual race start tragically has yet to happen. Considering how Allgaier’s career has gone since, he probably isn’t complaining about sticking with stock cars.
Meanwhile, Creed finished fourth in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series standings.
2021 SST at Mid-Ohio NASCAR qualifying results
| Position | Number | Driver | Fastest Time | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 83 | Matt Brabham | 1:49.226 | Leader |
| 2 | 2 | Sheldon Creed | 1:49.602 | + .376 |
| 3 | 7 | Robby Gordon | 1:49.619 | + .393 |
| 4 | 28 | Robert Stout | 1:50.883 | + 1.657 |
| 5 | 16 | Greg Biffle | 1:51.899 | + 2.673 |
| 6 | 0 | Justin Allgaier | 1:52.525 | + 3.299 |
| 7 | 3 | Aaron Bambach | 1:52.568 | + 3.342 |
| 8 | 77 | Max Gordon | 1:53.576 | + 4.350 |
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Championship Race results
| Finish | Start | Number | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | 20 | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 200 | Running |
| 2 | 3 | 1 | Carson Kvapil | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 200 | Running |
| 3 | 5 | 19 | Brent Crews | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 200 | Running |
| 4 | 4 | 2 | Jesse Love | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 200 | Running |
| 5 | 6 | 99 | Parker Retzlaff | Viking Motorsports | Chevrolet | 200 | Running |
| 6 | 1 | 00 | Sheldon Creed | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 200 | Running |
| 7 | 11 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 200 | Running |
| 8 | 2 | 21 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 200 | Running |
| 9 | 12 | 41 | Sam Mayer | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 200 | Running |
| 10 | 9 | 18 | William Sawalich | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 200 | Running |
| 11 | 31 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | RSS Racing | Chevrolet | 200 | Running |
| 12 | 16 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing | Chevrolet | 199 | Running |
| 13 | 24 | 53 | Will Rodgers | Joey Gase Motorsports | Chevrolet | 199 | Running |
| 14 | 15 | 54 | Taylor Gray | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 199 | Running |
| 15 | 14 | 8 | Sammy Smith | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 199 | Running |
| 16 | 10 | 87 | Nick Sanchez | Peterson Racing | Chevrolet | 199 | Running |
| 17 | 18 | 48 | Patrick Staropoli | Big Machine Racing | Chevrolet | 198 | Running |
| 18 | 13 | 88 | Rajah Caruth | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 198 | Running |
| 19 | 20 | 96 | Anthony Alfredo | Viking Motorsports | Chevrolet | 198 | Running |
| 20 | 34 | 92 | Josh Williams | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 198 | Running |
| 21 | 29 | 45 | Lavar Scott | Alpha Prime Racing | Ford | 198 | Running |
| 22 | 21 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 197 | Running |
| 23 | 17 | 24 | Harrison Burton | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 197 | Running |
| 24 | 33 | 50 | Preston Pardus | Pardus Racing Inc. | Chevrolet | 197 | Running |
| 25 | 22 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing | Chevrolet | 197 | Running |
| 26 | 35 | 55 | Joey Gase | Joey Gase Motorsports | Ford | 196 | Running |
| 27 | 25 | 44 | Brennan Poole | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 196 | Running |
| 28 | 28 | 31 | Blaine Perkins | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 196 | Running |
| 29 | 32 | 02 | Ryan Ellis | Young’s Motorsports | Chevrolet | 195 | Running |
| 30 | 36 | 07 | Josh Bilicki | SS-Green Light Racing | Chevrolet | 195 | Running |
| 31 | 23 | 32 | Andrew Patterson | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 195 | Running |
| 32 | 27 | 42 | Brad Pérez | Young’s Motorsports | Chevrolet | 195 | Running |
| 33 | 19 | 26 | Dean Thompson | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 190 | Running |
| 34 | 7 | 17 | Corey Day | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 175 | Running |
| 35 | 38 | 47 | Dawson Cram | Mike Harmon Racing | Chevrolet | 149 | Suspension |
| 36 | 30 | 91 | Mason Maggio | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 95 | Engine |
| 37 | 37 | 0 | Garrett Smithley | SS-Green Light Racing | Chevrolet | 71 | Rear End |
| 38 | 26 | 38 | JJ Yeley | RSS Racing | Ford | 58 | Wheel Bearing |
Featured image credit: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images
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