Lang: An ‘overwhelmed’ Harper Allgaier sheds tears of joy after her father wins NASCAR Xfinity title

AVONDALE, Ariz. — In his short 11 years, Harper Allgaier has only known disappointment and pain when it came to the NASCAR Xfinity championship race for his father Justin.

Two years ago, she cried after he led late in the title race before finishing third while Ty Gibbs won the championship.

Saturday night, Harper cried again. The tears came after she ran to her father and hugged him by his car.

They were happy tears.

Allgaier had just won his first Xfinity Series championship in his seventh appearance in the title race.

“I was just so happy and overwhelmed that it just came,” Harper told NBC Sports.

She had never cried happy tears before.

“Tonight was so cool because I think she saw a side of me that she’s never seen,” Allgaier told NBC Sports. “I feel like when she’s older, those are the moments that I think are going to really mean something to her, and it was cool to be able to celebrate that with her.”

Allgaier’s journey to Saturday night’s championship has been a family one with wife Ashley and daughters Harper and Willow.

“Family is what started this sport for me,” Allgaier said of his parents Mike and Dorothy. “That’s what carried the sport for me. That’s what I always want to come back to. They’re the most important piece.

“To have them all here tonight and to celebrate and be a part of it … there are no words.”

Allgaier won the championship wearing a helmet designed by Harper. She has been helping to design his helmets since she was 4 years old.

The first one had her handprint in pink. She had a message on the back of his helmet that read, “Get up on the wheel, Dad. Love, Harper.”

This year’s helmet featured a horseshoe which had a special meaning. Justin’s grandfather always had a horseshoe in his pocket.

“When my grandpa passed away, we actually made a little memorial for my grandpa and it was literally that horseshoe and I ran it on all my race cars,” Justin said prior to the helmet’s playoff debut. “… (Harper) knows my relationship with my grandfather, how much he meant to me and my racing career, and how much I miss him.”

Harper continued the tradition of putting a message on his father’s helmet. She added her younger sister, 3-year-old Willow, to it this year.

The message:

This is your lucky year. Have fun and win some races! Love Harper and Willow

But it looked like this year’s race would also end in disappointment for Allgaier and his daughter.

Allgaier crashed in practice on Friday after just three laps when another competitor’s blown engine put fluid on the track and sent several cars into the wall. Allgaier had to go to a spare car, forcing him to start at the back of the 38-car field on Saturday.

Allgaier’s title chances appeared to be over after he was penalized for a restart violation on lap 100 and then penalized for speeding on pit road as he served the first penalty. He dropped to 35.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who owns the JR Motorsports team with sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller and Rick Hendrick, who Allgaier drives for, can relate to what Harper has been through in the past.

As Earnhardt held an 8-foot flagpole bearing the champion’s banner, the 50th was transported back in time to 40 years ago and reminded of his father racing in Bristol.

“Dad led the race,” Earnhardt said. “Something happened where he was turned around on the front immediately and he spun. I was sitting on top of a van, dead in the middle of the infield race track. I could see him spinning and I’m like, ‘It’s okay,’ but his tires were flat and he couldn’t get going and they shot him.

“I was old enough to realize what was going on and my heart was so broken. … It scarred me.”

There would be no such pain for Harper tonight.

The race changed when Anthony Alfredo wrecked to bring out the caution 45 laps from the scheduled distance. It came in the middle of a green-flag pit cycle, allowing Allgaier to get back into the lead.

Allgaier climbed through the field and finished second behind Riley Herbst, who was not racing for a championship, in overtime. Allgaier was the highest contender for the title.

Allgaier was a master.

And a daughter couldn’t get to her father fast enough.