Starting off his weekend at Kentucky with a third-place qualifying effort for the Meijer 300 presented by Ritz, Justin Allgaier and the No. 12 Verizon Wireless team displayed a confident aura as they prepared to take the green.

Fighting with a tight-handling car immediately following the beginning of the race, Allgaier lucked out when the caution flag was waved on the fourth lap. The crew's hard work paid off as Allgaier re-entered the race in third.

Gaining the lead when the remainder of the cars ventured down pit road, Allgaier and the always threatening Kyle Busch traded the lead five times over the course of the next seven laps. The driver of the No. 12 Dodge settled in the third position after the skirmish between him and the points leader.

As the young driver was exiting pit road on Lap 69, NASCAR hit the No. 12 team (among other leading teams) with a speeding penalty. Overcoming the punishment assessed due to the speeding, Allgaier quickly rejoined the leaders.

A wreck by Mike Bliss in the later stages of the event forced NASCAR to wave the caution flag for the final time to clean the debris. With a remainder of 22 laps in the race, Allgaier was able to hold his ground in third for six laps before being passed by Brad Keselowski and Brendan Gaughan. Stubborn to give up any more ground, Allgaier held his spot in fifth earning his third top-5 finish of the season.

Allgaier's top-5 effort bolted him up two spots in the series point standings to sixth, and assisted him in keeping the lead in the run for the 2009 Raybestos Rookie of the Year award.

Currently the highest ranked rookie thus far in the season, Allgaier has proven himself to be a consistent threat to anyone competing against him.

"I feel like we should've had a podium finish here tonight," stated Allgaier, "but we got another top-five, and that's a great result. It's a good points night." Allgaier gave credit to his team for the strong finish. "The guys worked their tails off this week, changing just about everything on the car - and it showed," added Allgaier. "We had a great qualifying run and the car was strong all night. Our stops were great too. I really have to give it to the Verizon Wireless crew."

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