NASCAR: Justin Allgaier to replace Jimmie Johnson at Indy

Hendrick Motorsports have confirmed that Justin Allgaier is set to replace Jimmie Johnson for this Sunday’s Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Nobody except for seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson has driven the #48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet since Johnson began competing full-time at NASCAR’s highest level back in the 2002 season.

Johnson’s start in this past Sunday’s race at Pocono Raceway was his 663rd consecutive start going back to the 2002 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

But he will not make his 664th straight start, as he tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss this Sunday’s Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

More from NASCAR Cup Series

Justin Allgaier is set to replace him and become the first driver other than Johnson to pilot the #48 car since Trevor Boys drove the #48 Pontiac for Hylton Motorsports in one race during the 1993 season.

Allgaier, who competes for JR Motorsports, the Xfintiy Series team co-owned by Hendrick Motorsports team owner Rick Hendrick, is the designated relief driver for Hendrick Motorsports and is set to compete alongside teammates Chase Elliott, William Byron and Alex Bowman in Sunday afternoon’s 160-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) oval in Speedway, Indiana.

He has never previously driven for the team.

Johnson had drawn the fourth starting position for Sunday’s race, but because of the driver change in his car, Allgaier is set to start from the rear of the field.

The #48 team, which sit in 12th place in the owner standings thanks to Johnson’s results throughout the season’s first 15 races, will accrue owner points in this race, but the points Allgaier earns will not be credited to Johnson.

Johnson, who sits 63 points above the playoff cut line, is has been granted a playoff waiver, regardless of the number of races for which he remains sidelined.

Allgaier has not competed in a Cup Series race since he drove at Bristol Motor Speedway for HScott Motorsports in August of 2016 as the replacement for Michael Annett, now one of his teammates at JR Motorsports. Allgaier had spent the 2014 and 2015 seasons driving full-time for the team.

Next. Top 10 NASCAR drivers of all-time. dark

The 34-year-old Spaulding, Illinois native is also set to fulfill his full-time duty and compete in tomorrow’s Xfinity Series race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. He is set to start this race, the Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard, in fifth place in his #7 Chevrolet. This race is set to be broadcast live on NBC beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET, while Sunday’s Cup Series race is set to be broadcast live on NBC beginning at 4:00 p.m. ET.

Home/NASCAR Cup Series