Allmendinger leaves frustration behind winning NASCAR pole at the Glen

WATKINS GLEN, NY - AUGUST 08: AJ Allmendinger, driver of the #47 Kroger/Bush's Beans Chevrolet, poses with Miss Coors Light Amanda Mertz and the Coors Light Pole Award decal after qualifying for the pole position for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Cheez-It 355 at Watkins Glen International on August 8, 2015 in Watkins Glen, New York. (Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)
WATKINS GLEN, NY - AUGUST 08:  AJ Allmendinger, driver of the #47 Kroger/Bush's Beans Chevrolet, poses with Miss Coors Light Amanda Mertz and the Coors Light Pole Award decal after qualifying for the pole position for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Cheez-It 355 at Watkins Glen International on August 8, 2015 in Watkins Glen, New York.  (Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)
WATKINS GLEN, NY – AUGUST 08: AJ Allmendinger, driver of the #47 Kroger/Bush’s Beans Chevrolet, poses with Miss Coors Light Amanda Mertz and the Coors Light Pole Award decal after qualifying for the pole position for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Cheez-It 355 at Watkins Glen International on August 8, 2015 in Watkins Glen, New York. (Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)

AJ Allmendinger overcame a frustrating Friday with a fast run Saturday. A day after his team struggled to find speed in the practices Friday, Allmendinger put down a lap of 127.839 miles per hour, 1:8.993 in the second of two rounds of qualifying Saturday to win the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup CHEEZ-It 355 at the Glen.

“We can lead to Turn 1 at least,” Allmendinger said. “I’m just proud of all my guys; I was frustrated yesterday and I probably wasn’t helping. I was overdriving trying to get more than what we there and I didn’t do a good job yesterday. They saved me. They gave me a good race car. So, going into tomorrow, I feel happy with what we’ve got. But, we’ll see. It’s a tough race.”

It was Allmendinger’s fourth career pole and his second of the year; he also won the pole at the Sprint Cup series other road course at Sonoma in June.  Martin Truex Jr. will start second, Tony Stewart third, Kevin Harvick fourth and Jeff Gordon fifth. MORE>>>

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.