Friday’s qualifying session got washed away by rain, making Justin Allgaier the pole-sitter for Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Martinsville Speedway. The news surfaced through a recent post by JR Motorsports on X.

Allgaier, a former O’Reilly series champion, drives the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro for the Mooresville-based organization. Besides Allgaier, JRM fields Sammy Smith, driver of the No. 8, as its second full-time wheelman for the 2026 season. JRM also owns three other entries, all of which are part-time rides known to have backed drivers like Carson Kvapil, Connor Zilisch, Ross Chastain, Jake Finch, Shane van Gisbergen, and Rajah Caruth.

Taking to social media on Friday, JR Motorsports announced:

“As a result of qualifying being rained out and per the metric, @J_Allgaier will roll off P1 in tomorrow’s race.”

In the post, JRM also explained why Justin Allgaier would roll off P1 in Saturday’s O’Reilly Series event. Allgaier currently tops the championship points standings, with 306 points to his name, besides four top fives, five top-10s, and a pair of dominant wins. Other JRM drivers, such as Caruth, Kvapil, Smith, and Lee Pulliam, will start P2, P5, P9, and P12, respectively.

Justin Allgaier’s most recent victory came at Darlington Raceway last week. Named the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200, the 147-lap event marked the sixth race of the year and the series’ first visit to “The Lady in Black” in the 2026 season. The series will pay another visit to Darlington for the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Fall Race on September 5.

Justin Allgaier reflects on his upcoming ‘double-duty’ at Martinsville

For Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville, Justin Allgaier will drive the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, which is usually driven by Cup Series regular Alex Bowman. Bowman remains sidelined from this race and a few others due to his ongoing battle with vertigo.

Which means Allgaier has a double duty to pull off. However, he wants Bowman to get well soon and take over the No. 48 Hendrick car. Allgaier said in a statement:

“Obviously, the goal is to get Alex back into the car as soon as possible. That’s the main thought, and transitioning from there, how do we strengthen the 48 program? The hard part for me is, obviously, I want to do the best job I can for both parties, and I also don’t want to hold anyone back.”

Needless to say, all eyes are on Saturday’s NFPA 250 at Martinsville. Fans can watch the race live on CW, starting at 3:30 pm ET. The Cup race, scheduled for the next day, March 29, will be televised live on FS1, with live radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.