'Not So Fast...': Brandt Exec Denies Phoenix Purchase

FOX Sports has reported that Springfield-based Brandt Consolidated, which sponsors Riverton native and NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Justin Allgaier, is part of a partnership to purchase NASCAR team Phoenix Racing.

Brandt Chief Marketing Officer Karl Barnhart denied on Tuesday that Brandt is purchasing or has purchased Phoenix Racing. He said Brandt has no plans to make a formal announcement in relation to NASCAR in the coming days.

“We are incredibly happy with our NASCAR Nationwide program,” he said. “We are concentrating on winning a championship this year.”

Fox Sports reported Brandt, a crop, fertilizer and agricultural services company, and Harry Scott, co-owner of Turner Scott Motorsports, would partner to buy Phoenix Racing from James Finch. Allgaier currently drives for Turner Scott.

Finch confirmed he has sold his two-car team, which competes in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide series, but declined to name the purchaser. According to Finch, the deal includes the race team’s assets, employees and shop in Spartanburg, S.C. Phoenix Racing has competed in NASCAR since 1989.

Phoenix Racing has 13 Nationwide Series wins. Its sole Sprint Cup Series victory came in 2009 at Talledega with Brad Keselowski. The lack of a full-time sponsor contributed to Finch’s decision to sell.

According to NASCAR.com, Finch will continue running Phoenix Racing through the beginning of September with the new buyers taking over just prior to the Sept. 14-15 race weekend at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet.

Regan Smith, A.J. Allmendinger, Austin Dillon, Bobby Labonte and Jacques Villeneuve have all been behind the wheel of Phoenix Racing’s No. 51 Chevrolet in the Sprint Cup Series in 2013. The team has fielded a car in three Nationwide Series events this year.

Brandt has sponsored Allgaier in the Nationwide series since 2011 when the 27-year-old moved from Penske Racing to Turner. Brandt broke into NASCAR in 2010 when it sponsored Peyton Sellers in a Nationwide race at Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison.

According to Fox Sports, Allgaier said his name had been brought up for potential Sprint Cup rides in 2014, but he would not elaborate. A Fox Sports report said Allgaier is “expected to drive the No. 51 Chevy over the final 10 races of the season.”

Allgaier, a three-time winner, has raced in the Nationwide Series since 2008, but has never competed in Sprint Cup. He raced in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2005, 2006 and 2008. Allgaier has 10 top-10 finishes in 18 races and is ranked fifth in the Nationwide driver’s standings this season. He placed second at Road America last month and won the pole at Bristol in March.