After 471 races and 14 full-time seasons in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Justin Allgaier can finally call himself champion.

The 38-year-old Allgaier and No. 7 JR Motorsports driver was first to the start/finish line on Saturday evening in the Xfinity Series finale, prevailing for the title over fellow Championship 4 drivers AJ Allmendinger, Cole Custer and Austin Hill.

RELATED: Unofficial results | Justin Allgaier driver page

The journey has been a long and winding one for the Spaulding, Illinois native, who began his NASCAR career in 2005 and jumped into the full-time Xfinity pool in 2009. And, aside from a two-year stint as full-time Cup Series driver from 2014-15, Xfinity has remained Allgaier‘s bread and butter.

Allgaier‘s office since 2016 has been with JR Motorsports, and his tenure as driver of the No. 7 Chevy has been an exceptional one. Heading into Saturday night‘s race, Allgaier has 22 Xfinity Series wins in that number and never finished lower than seventh in the final championship standings.

A championship had evaded Allgaier in his quest to seize Xfinity title No. 1. That is, until now.

Although Allgaier clinched his Xfinity Series Playoffs berth relatively early — via a Darlington Raceway win in the 11th contest of the season — inconsistent results were an on-and-off nuisance, as shown by nine finishes of 25th or worse.

Nevertheless, experience and talent still played in Allgaier‘s favor, including an eight-race stretch from June 22 (New Hampshire) to Aug. 31 (Darlington) that resulted in one win, three top fives and eight top-10 finishes.

Four straight top-10 finishes from the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval in the Round of 12 finale through the entirety of the Round of 8 led Allgaier to Phoenix, which acted as an avenue to seize a title and squash past heartbreak. After all, it was at Phoenix where an overtime restart in the 2023 Xfinity Series Championship resulted in a deflating title defeat. Add in the fact the veteran had to go to a backup car for the 2024 title race after a wreck in practice, and the same story looked to be written once again.

This time, however, was different. This time, it was Allgaier who, after years of Xfinity Series racing, summited the mountaintop to become a NASCAR champion.

And who knows — with Allgaier returning to the JR Motorsports fold next season, perhaps a title defense is in order for a driver who finally overcame the championship hurdle.

This story will be updated.