Winner, Winner, Allmendinger.
With the NASCAR XFINITY Race in its closing stage, veteran road course driver A.J. Allmendinger had nothing to lose. So Allmendinger decided to go for it; and go for it, he did.
Allmendinger made a bold move for the lead over Christopher Bell on lap 48 of 67 and held on to the lead through three restarts to win the the Drive for the Cure 250 NASCAR XFINITY Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The 37-year-old California native picked up his third NASCAR XFINITY Series win driving for Kaulig Racing and car owner Matt Kaulig. At the end of the day, Allmendinger was excited with the win but visibly worn out from the heat.
“Whooo! I’m tired! Thank you everybody!” replied a relieved and exhausted Allmendinger “I can’t thank Matt Kaulig enough, first of all. He put his belief in me, wanting me to come here and help build this team and I also have to thank Tyler Reddick – he’s phenomenal. He told me when I got here I needed to get better on the road courses, because he out-qualified me in every race lately and even beat me in a couple.”
But Allmendinger knew the key to winning for him and his Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro was not only help from Reddick but clean air.
“I knew with him behind me (for the last two restarts), I could be defensive on the right side and give myself an angle, and Tyler wouldn’t shove down in there,” according to Allmendinger. “I appreciate that. I tried to change the restarts up enough each time, but you can only do so much. I knew once we got into clear air, this thing was good. In traffic, it was a struggle.”
In victory lane, the road course ringer got emotional upon celebrating, “It’s been a rough few years.”
Pole-winner Chase Briscoe led all 20 laps to win Stage One and finished in 9th but not before being bumped around on the track by Christopher Bell. After his spin on Lap 58, the Stewart-Haas Ford Mustang driver charged through the field to finish ninth heading to next week’s elimination race at Dover International Speedway. Briscoe currently stands sixth and 46 points behind Bell but 35 ahead of ninth-place finisher John Hunter Nemechek, who ran seventh Saturday.
Bell, who qualified for the next round of the playoffs after last week’s win at Richmond Raceway, the Joe Gibbs Racing/Rheem Toyota Supra driver recovered from a rear-of-the-field penalty to finish 12th and maintained a 10-point advantage over Cole Custer. Bell led 19 laps on the day.
Custer who finished eighth and won Stage Two of the day’s race, was involved in a spin in Turn 1 during a multi-car mashup on Lap 44. A day of highs and lows for Custer turned brighter at the end of the day as he clinched a spot in the Round of 8 on points.
Austin Cindric, who broke a rear shock and lost the runner-up position to Reddick on the penultimate lap. Cindric held third over Justin Allgaier, with Noah Gragson securing the fifth position after starting from the rear of the field in a backup car.
“I wish I had a chance to fight the 10 there at the end, but under caution I felt a shock mount break,” Cindric said. “The right-rear shock was clean off the race car before I even restarted the race, so I’m glad I didn’t wreck, and I’m glad I finished third.”
Cindric felt that his MoneyLion Ford Mustang had a good shot to win the race. “I felt like we had a good shot, especially if the thing would have gone green, to try to pressure him into a mistake or getting a good lunge.”
Nemechek is 11 points behind Michael Annett in eighth place, tied with Brandon Jones who finished 16th. Ryan Sieg finished 30th after suffering fuel pressure issues and enters the Dover race 37 points below the cutline. Justin Haley, Allmendinger’s Kaulig Racing teammate, broke a track-bar mount early in the race and finished 31st, six laps down and 39 points behind Annett.
The playoff field will be cut from 12 drivers to eight at Dover.
Drive for the Cure 250: Charlotte Motor Speedway
- AJ Allmendinger Chevrolet
- Tyler Reddick Chevrolet
- Austin Cindric Ford
- Justin Allgaier Chevrolet
- Noah Gragson Chevrolet
- Alex Labbe Chevrolet
- John Hunter Nemechek Chevrolet
- Cole Custer Ford
- Chase Briscoe Ford
- Ryan Truex Chevrolet
By Rod Mullins | Augusta Free Press
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