Getty Justin Allgaier will pass Kevin Harvick & Kyle Busch in 2022.
The 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season begins on February 19 with the Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. 300 at Daytona International Speedway. This race will mark the beginning of Justin Allgaier’s 12th full-time season, and it will put him on the path to passing two active drivers on the all-time completed laps leaderboard.
Allgaier will enter the 2022 season with 64,133 completed laps in the Xfinity Series. He is currently fourth all-time behind Jeremy Clements (65,177), Kevin Harvick (64,924), and Kyle Busch (64,725). These four drivers are the only ones in Xfinity Series history with more than 60,000 completed laps. Recently-retired driver Michael Annett is the closest with 54,478 laps.
With Harvick only making three Xfinity Series starts in 2021 and Busch walking away from the series after reaching 102 career wins, Allgaier will quickly move up the leaderboard. He will simply have to complete the first four races of the season to pass Busch. Completing the fifth race — Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 19 — will move Allgaier past Harvick.
Passing Clements Will Not Be an Option
GettyJeremy Clements (top) and Justin Allgaier (bottom) race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
While Allgaier will pass both Harvick and Busch early during the 2022 season, he will not have the opportunity to chase down Clements. The active completed laps leader has already confirmed that he will be back in the No. 51 for his 17th Xfinity Series season, 12th as a full-time driver.
First Pacific Funding, a key partner of Jeremy Clements Racing, announced on November 10 that the No. 51 already has a full season’s worth of sponsorship. There are 11 new companies that will join Clements and the No. 51 team while First Pacific Funding and All South Electric will combine for 17 races.
Barring any unforeseen changes, Clements will continue to maintain his lead over Allgaier and every other active driver. He will likely add 5,000-plus laps to his total and will fight for another trip to the playoffs.
Busch Has 2 Unbreakable Records
While Clements and Allgaier will likely end the 2022 campaign in the top two spots on the completed laps list, neither will come close to two of Busch’s records. The two-time Cup Series champion holds the all-time record for laps led and wins in the Xfinity Series.
Busch currently has the most wins in series history after reaching Victory Lane 102 times. He first won in 2004 and captured the checkered flag five separate times. This season kicked off a run in which Busch has won at least one race every single year with the exception of 2012. He also posted three seasons with double-digit wins (2008, 2013, and 2016.
The closest driver to Busch in terms of victories is Harvick, who only reached Victory Lane 47 times during his Xfinity Series career. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is third with 24 wins while Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell each have 17.
Along with his wins record, Busch also sits atop the list of most laps led. He has a staggering 20,088 laps led in his Xfinity Series career, which is by far the most in NASCAR history. The only driver within reach is Harvick, who led 9,706 laps.
With Allgaier (3,970 laps led) holding the third spot on the all-time list, it’s very unlikely that anyone will ever break Busch’s record. Any driver that can consistently lead laps and fight for wins in the Xfinity Series will inevitably receive an opportunity to go compete in the Cup Series. Once they reach this top level, the NASCAR rules will limit the number of starts that they can make in the Xfinity Series.
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