Coming off an impressive first season at JR Motorsports in 2016, Justin Allgaier is looking to pick up where he left off, competing for the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) championship. The driver of the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro tied his previous career best effort of third in the NXS point standings last season, accumulating 13 top-five and 27 top-10 finishes along the way.

The Riverton, Illinois native has a seven-year history of competing in the NXS. During that time, he’s earned three wins, 42 top-five and 111 top-10 finishes in 207 starts. In his first full-time NXS season in 2009, Allgaier earned rookie of the year honors. He followed that up with his first series win (Bristol Motor Speedway) and a fourth-place finish in the championship point standings in 2010, the highest among NXS regulars.

Away from the track, Allgaier enjoys dirt racing, graphic design, RC cars like Traxxas TRX 4, hunting and spending time with his wife Ashley and their daughter Harper Grace.

Art Eddy: Has becoming a father changed the way you look at your career as a driver in NASCAR?

Justin Allgaier: It is funny I think being a dad has made me a better race car driver. A lot of times in the old days they used to tell you don’t get married and don’t have kids. If you are going to be a race car driver you shouldn’t do any of that.

That was before families could travel and experience the lifestyle of what we do on the NASCAR side. When my wife and daughter were able to travel with me it changed my focus to I am not racing for me anymore. I am racing to make sure I get food on the table for her. I am racing to be at a point where she is proud of what I do. I want my daughter to love this sport and to be proud of what her dad does. If she wants to get into NASCAR and be part of the sport on her own I would love that too. It has been fun seeing her grow and seeing her enjoyment of being at the race track. She loves to sit in the cars and talk to the other driver’s kids. It makes her really happy.

AE: What are some of the core values you look to instill in your daughter as she grows up?

JA: For me I am a person of faith. I want to instill a Godly principle in my daughter’s life. Our society has changed and evolved. Even when I was a young child up until now you see the progression. There are a lot of things that have been a good change. Then there are things that maybe haven’t been necessarily a good change.

For me just trying to help her navigate and make good decisions for herself. At the end of the day as individuals if I give her the best parenting I can possibly give her and teach her the things that I think is important it will be great. She is going to go on and have her own ideas and focus in on what she wants. For me it is just about being a good person. I hope she carries on that Christian value. That is what we are instilling in her at the moment. She is going to be the one who will have to make her own choices. I want to give her every opportunity to make the right choices. Hopefully you have instilled enough good qualities in her that she is excited about in her future.

AE: What advice do you have for new dads?

JA: I think the biggest thing is to just enjoy the moment. For me even though I drive fast and in racing everything happens fast too so my schedule is always on the go. So with Harper I was like I wish she could just grow a little bit. I wanted her to go to the next milestone. I wanted her to be fastest kid in the neighborhood. Then we hit about the two year old mark and I was like man I want her to go back to being a baby. I wanted her to go back to being six months old and not being able to move on her own.

I think the hardest challenge especially for young parents with their first child is not being used to the lack of sleep and all of those things the best advice I can give them is to enjoy the moment. You are never going to get those moments back. You can have more kids, but every child is different. All of our friends who have three, four, or five kids we ask what do you instill? They tell me each kid is totally different. Every experience is different. I think for us that is the hard part. Make sure that you live in that moment and not wish life away.

Life of Dad Quick Five

AE: Do you guys have a favorite family movie that you all love to watch together?

JA: Right now it is probably still Frozen. She still is a Frozen fan. We have all the movies, but it is either Frozen or Minions. Minions is a bit easier for mom and dad to watch than Frozen. She loves movies so that is a good thing.

AE: Do you guys have a favorite song that you all like to sing to or dance to as a family?

JA: Ring Around The Rosie. My daughter wants everyone to drop. So when she says fall down everyone within a 100 feet should drop. That is probably our favorite song to sing together.

AE: Describe the perfect family vacation.

JA: At home sitting on the couch with all of us together. We travel so much. I know it sounds dumb saying to sit on the couch, but just sitting on the couch with the fireplace on and just bundled up. That would be the perfect family vacation.

AE: The first car you purchases was?

JA: The first car that I bought was a 1995 Chevy Camaro Z28. I bought it at an auction. That was the wrong car to buy for a 16 year old. (Both laugh.)

AE: What track would you suggest to a NASCAR fan who hasn’t been to a track yet?

JA: All of them. For me I am a Bristol fan. I am a huge Bristol fan. I have always been a big Bristol fan. I went there as a fan to watch. From my standpoint I think everyone should experience as many as you can because you will find certain thing you will like about each race track. Amenities, racing, the people. Depending on where you are from or where you want to go it could vary from track to track.

Follow Justin on Twitter at @J_Allgaier