How many times have you watched something transpire and say to yourself... how could that happen... that guy is such a &(^%(&$@^%$ and he is so not deserving of that glory...... how many times does it seem like the best things happen to the worst people..... well, let me reassure you, sometimes great things happen to the good guys!

   One needs only to look at the weekends events at the Toledo Speedway in Toledo, Ohio as the ARCA ReMax Series rolled into town for their final event of the 2008 touring schedule. The hottest driver of the year, with the previous two event wins under his belt and an impressive season record of 5 wins,  13 top 5 finishes and 15 top 10 finishes in 20 events was sitting third in series points due to several DNF's (DID NOT FINISH). Having nothing to lose and everything to gain, Justin Allgaier planned to drive his family owned JAM Motorsports, AG-TECH, Hoosier Tire Midwest, Auto Express Chevrolet #16 for all it had and try to win the race, letting the points settle out however they may. When the day ended, Justin Allgaier was crowned the 2008 ARCA ReMAX Series CHAMPION after finding himself make a  visit to Victory lane, capturing the win in the final event.

   A real Cinderella story, I'm confident that Allgaier and the entire team are still pinching themselves, trying to reassure themselves that this is  fact not a dream but a dream that has come true! What a heartwarming story of how perseverance can payoff and having that never give up attitude, this is like the story of the little engine that could.

    Being close to the situation as the General Manager of a company owned by Justin's family, I have observed the day to day operations of this venture. Like any other team, there have been ups and downs, team employees getting under each others skin, a crew chief departure mid-season which would have put most teams behind the eight ball enough to have seen them derail, the infusion of a new crew chief who resides 1000+ miles away form the teams shop and met up with the team each race at the track, a constant struggle to meet the financial demands of fielding a front running team and all that requires, yet somehow this family put together a plan and have seen it come to fruition. Call it blind luck, a miracle, divine predestination, call it whatever you wish, I prefer to think of it as a mixture of all the above, but the one thing it absolutely is... reaffirmation that great things do occasionally happen for the really good guys.... Justin Allgaier has a very bright career ahead of him as he recently signed on with Penske Racing to drive a Nationwide entry for them with his first start coming this weekend as well at the LOWE'S Motor Speedway. While Justin's luck in that event wasn't quite what one would have hoped, he did make the show in commanding fashion and was running well before getting caught up as an innocent bystander in an accident of someone else's making.

   Justin was noticed by all who watched the race and received many compliments on a job well done. I am sure that if Roger Penske was able to catch the ARCA coverage today, he had to watch Justin after the race and smile to himself knowing that his team had made a wise choice signing Justin to a contract. This kid will make Roger Penske proud, as he has been raised by his parents Mike and Dorothy to develop and grow to be "ONE OF THE NICE GUYS". Today showed one additional life lesson would be reaffirmed, occasionally NICE GUYS DO FINISH FIRST!

   Congratulations to Justin, Ashley, Mike, Dorothy and the entire crew under the direction of Jim Pohlman who took over the reigns as Crew Chief after the departure of the previous crew chief, and Congratulations as well to former crew chief Larry Moore who played an integral part in the early days of JAM Motorsports and bringing the team and Justin to a place where he realized he could be a winner.