Each week, The Athletic asks the same 12 questions to a different race car driver. Up next: O’Reilly Auto Parts Series points leader Justin Allgaier, who has already clinched the regular-season championship with two races still remaining before the Chase begins. Allgaier, a six-time race winner this season, drives for JR Motorsports. This interview has been edited and condensed, but the full version is available on the “12 Questions Podcast.”1. Do you typically arrive for things early, late or on time, and why?So I hate being late, but I’m more of an on-time, skid-in-at-the-last-second type of person. A lot of that comes down to the fact that I tend to overcommit, so I don’t really leave enough buffer time in between things.Now if there’s nothing else going on, I’m going to be early. But normally I’m committed right up until the last second, and then I go.2. What is the pettiest thing that annoys you during a race weekend?It has to do with practice. Practice is going to be crowded, especially when it starts (and all the cars leave pit road at once). But the one thing that kills me is when you leave pit road, instead of people (leaving gaps) because you know you’re going to have to merge at some point, you see people swerve to the left on pit road and try to jump a few rows.Then as soon as they pull onto the racetrack, instead of leaving a gap to the car in front of them, it’s just wide open trying to get to the car they want to be behind.Corey Heim wins 2026 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway What’s the code there? Are you allowed to cut in line?There’s no rule against it …But all the other drivers are thinking, “What the hell are you doing?”Yes. Absolutely. Especially with the way it is now, where you’re parked on pit road by team. There are drivers who maybe aren’t in the points position they want to be in, but they feel like they’re still above some of the guys ahead of them, so they do whatever they can to get track position.I get it, but at the same time, you’re probably better off waiting. That’s what we tend to do a lot. Then you’re not dealing with it. You can leisurely go and do your own thing and not have to worry about it.3. What is something you’ve learned to stop explaining to people?That the O’Reilly Series is still NASCAR. The question becomes, “When are you going to drive NASCAR?”People say that to you?Yeah, all the time. … We’ll do an autograph session at the apparel trailer, and fans will come up and say, “When are you going to go back to NASCAR?” or “When are you going to jump up to NASCAR?”You’re like, “You are literally at a NASCAR event. All three series are here.”4. If you could go back to the early days before you reached NASCAR, what is one different decision you wish you had made?Honestly, none. If I look back at my career before NASCAR, I was so blessed. Looking back now, I had no idea how everything fell into place the way it did. I could never have scripted it.We didn’t have the budget to go racing. Nowadays, I would’ve never had an opportunity because we didn’t have anywhere near the budget we needed to do what we were doing. As a whole, we took every opportunity that was given to us and maximized it.5. What is it like to be in a debrief after a bad race?At JR Motorsports, it hasn’t been uncommon for us to have some JRM-on-JRM crime at the track. Those are really tough Monday morning meetings.But sometimes, you just missed it. Indianapolis is a great example a couple years ago, when we first went back to the oval. We came here with a thought process and mindset, and we just missed it. We unloaded and weren’t good. We raced and weren’t good. It was one of those really bad weekends where everybody was at each other’s throats, and nothing went well.Then you get to the Monday meeting and you’re like, “Alright, we’ve done everything we can to get this out of our system.”“Looking back now, I had no idea how everything fell into place the way it did,” Justin Allgaier says of his career. “I could never have scripted it.” (Sean Gardner / Getty Images)6. I’m asking each driver a pair of wild-card questions. In 2012’s 12 Questions interview, your question for the next person was: “With all the people you interact with on a weekly basis, how do you decide who gets more time?” I’d like to ask you to answer your own question now.Especially in 2026, that’s probably the hardest thing to do in our sport. There are more demands. There are more things you’re doing every week to prepare for races. There’s more simulator time. You’re watching more footage.… My schedule is really goofed up between what we do here on the O’Reilly Series side, taking care of our No. 7 team and helping other drivers in our garage with what they need. There are our partners and whatever they need during the week. There’s Chevrolet wheel force testing, testing the Cup car, being at the track and in the simulator for that. Then there’s helping with the family business (Hoosier Tire Midwest) back in Indiana and Illinois. My oldest (daughter) does every sport known to man, and my youngest is starting sports too.Time is of the essence, and people are the biggest struggle with that. I’m doing my best. I just don’t know that I’m doing the best job.7. In 2011 during the 12 Questions interview, you said, “People say after awhile, you lose your drive. But mine has a way of re-energizing itself every week.” After all these years, does your drive and motivation still come back every week?It does. It’s weird; being at the racetrack and being in the race car will never not give me that want and drive. I can tell you races where I’ve been completely out of it and still found motivation. Atlanta is a great example (last month). We probably shouldn’t have finished the race, let alone won it, and we were able to do that. I don’t know why I’ve been lucky enough to keep wanting to show up at the racetrack and be good.But with life, there are other factors. Once you’re removed from the racetrack, it’s easy to go, “I could do this instead. I could be more available to my family. I could have less stress.” I’m 40; I look at what post-career life looks like. We have the family business at home in Illinois. Can we sustain that? Is that the next goal? That’s arguably my short-term answer.… But once I get to the racetrack and put a firesuit on, I don’t know that any of these 18- or 20-year-old kids have as much motivation as I do to run well. That’s the crazy part.8. If you could get any driver’s helmet in the history of motorsports, whose would it be?There are probably two. One is closer to home, and that would be Ken Schrader. Kenny was a close family friend and somebody I looked up to a lot. He had a very iconic helmet paint scheme, and I always loved his helmet. That would be one I could maybe realistically get at some point.The other is kind of a left-field one, but it’s Ayrton Senna. As somebody who has gone to Brazil and raced at Interlagos, when you go there and see the murals and all the things painted in tribute to him, there’s a certain feeling if you’re not a fan.“I can tell you races where I’ve been completely out of it and still found motivation,” Justin Allgaier says. “Atlanta is a great example (last month, which he won).” (Sean Gardner / Getty Images)9. When things are not going well, do you prefer people leave you alone or check in on you?The balance of this question is really difficult. As humans, we all want togetherness. We crave interaction. That’s why social media is so popular. You can get interaction with multiple people in seconds. In that regard, your body naturally says, “I want somebody to be part of this.”But at the same time, for me, there’s a lot of good that can come from silence. Sometimes just being in your own thoughts is valuable. If I feel like things aren’t where I want them to be, I’ll go to prayer a lot. Whether I want the answer or not, sometimes it’s about finding peace.Life isn’t supposed to be easy. … Sometimes the moments of struggle are the ones where you understand that this is growing you into a better position or a greater place.That’s where the value of alone time comes from for me. You can grow spiritually and mentally as much in those alone times as you can with people around you.10. What is something about yourself that would surprise people who think they know you?I am very uncomfortable in public settings. I don’t love public speaking. I don’t love being in big crowds. That’s really 180 degrees from what most people assume.I would rather be more private. But at the same time, I understand that doesn’t work in this sport. To do this sport well, you need to be a public person, so I force myself to do it.But in all reality, I’m not a people person. I love people, but I could sit at home and not do anything and be perfectly happy.11. What is something you laugh about now that was absolutely not funny at the time?Noah (Gragson) and I had an issue at Bristol one year as teammates. It got fairly heated at the shop. In the moment, I was really, really angry. Since then, I’ve had time to let things pass. That’s one I laugh about now because at the time it meant everything and felt like the end of the world. When it was all said and done, it didn’t mean a whole lot. It was the difference between winning and not winning, but you get into those moments where it feels like the world is going to end. Then the sun still comes up tomorrow, and you move on.Another one would be losing the championship in 2023. It seemed like the world was ending when we didn’t win it. I remember Dale (Earnhardt Jr.) coming over and there’s a photo of Dale and me together. He’s not really consoling me, but you can tell we’re both super dejected.Now I look back and think, “If I’d known 2024 was going to happen (when Allgaier won the championship), 2023 wouldn’t have been that big of a deal.” You have to look back at all the failures in your career and say they all pointed you in a better direction at some level. And they’re all funnier when you look back on them.12. Each week, I ask a driver to give me a question for the next interview. Brad Keselowski was the last one and he wanted to ask you: “What makes a race car driver good?”Everything. Each driver has positives and negatives. We all have things we’re really good at and we all have things we lack. I don’t know that any driver has every piece of the puzzle. Nobody is at 100 percent.I think about sports video games, where every team and player gets a rating. When you look at those charts showing where somebody is good and where they’re bad, it’s important to try to top off every level as much as you can because you’re never going to be full in all of them. The more you can raise the low areas, even if it comes at the detriment of some of the higher ones, the better.For me, the most important piece is being the most well-rounded person you can be behind the wheel. You can teach somebody the things they need to be better at, but very rarely does anybody have all of it. If you look at the Cup Series right now, I’d say Denny (Hamlin) is doing the best job. He has evened himself out. He’s taken away his negatives.Speaking of Denny, the next interview is with him. Do you have a question I can ask him?Denny has done a great job with the podcast (“Actions Detrimental”). He talks about things that are real and important, and he doesn’t sugarcoat them. How does he manage that? For example, he was very critical of Carson (Hocevar) at Atlanta about not needing drafting help and said that’s why he didn’t win the race.How does he find the line where he can have those conversations, be real and not skirt around important things, but still have drivers on the racetrack willing to give him leniency, grace or help? … And how does he keep NASCAR happy?