AJ Allmendinger continues his road course domination in the Xfinity Series. He led 42 of the 62 laps in Saturday’s Pennzoil 150 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, and even a disastrous 25-second pit stop midway through couldn’t keep him away from the front for long, as he drove from 13th to retake command of the race.
“God, I love this place,” Allmendinger yelled after getting out of his car. “We gave up stage points a little bit there as well, to the guys we’re fighting for points” he added. “But you know what? Points don’t mean a thing—we’re kissing the bricks!”
It’s Allmendinger’s third win this season, and all of those victories have come on road courses. He’s won four of the last five times the series has visited such a track. He also won at the Indy Road Course in the Cup Series last season, a victory he’ll defend driving for team owner Matt Kaulig on Sunday.
One driver did have the equal pace at the end, though, and Allmendinger will be seeing a lot more of Alex Bowman on Sunday in the Cup Series race. Though Allmendinger drove away after a short fight at a mid-race restart, Bowman spent the final laps cutting into his lead, with an eventual margin of just 2.084 seconds.
“I probably was a little too nice on that last restart,” said Bowman, who was running his first Xfinity Series race since 2018. “I knew he was going to be better than us firing off… At the end, we were definitely running him down—just not enough laps.”
Justin Allgaier led home Cup Series regular Ross Chastain, finishing third and fourth respectively, and fellow Cup driver Chase Briscoe rounded out the top five.
The Xfinity Series returns for the New Holland 250 at Michigan International Speedway on August 6th.
Photos: NASCAR on the Indianapolis Road Course Sat., July 30, 2022
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Results Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course
Indianapolis, Indiana
Saturday, July 30, 2022
1. (1) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 62.
2. (4) Alex Bowman(i), Chevrolet, 62.
3. (10) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 62.
4. (18) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 62.
5. (6) Chase Briscoe(i), Ford, 62.
6. (3) Riley Herbst, Ford, 62.
7. (5) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 62.
8. (2) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 62.
9. (9) Austin Hill #, Chevrolet, 62.
10. (7) Noah Gragson, Chevrolet, 62.
11. (11) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 62.
12. (14) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 62.
13. (12) Sage Karam, Chevrolet, 62.
14. (8) Josh Berry, Chevrolet, 62.
15. (36) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 62.
16. (17) Brett Moffitt, Chevrolet, 62.
17. (30) Santino Ferrucci, Toyota, 62.
18. (26) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 62.
19. (29) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 62.
20. (27) Ty Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 62.
21. (34) Bayley Currey, Chevrolet, 62.
22. (16) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 62.
23. (15) Sheldon Creed #, Chevrolet, 62.
24. (19) Miguel Paludo, Chevrolet, 62.
25. (22) Andy Lally, Ford, 62.
26. (20) Austin Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 62.
27. (31) Ryan Sieg, Ford, 62.
28. (35) Patrick Gallagher, Ford, 62.
29. (23) Preston Pardus, Chevrolet, 62.
30. (28) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, 62.
31. (32) Scott Heckert, Chevrolet, 62.
32. (24) Kaz Grala(i), Chevrolet, 61.
33. (25) Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, 61.
34. (38) Brandon Brown, Chevrolet, Suspension, 58.
35. (13) Bubba Wallace(i), Toyota, Engine, 28.
36. (33) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, Accident, 17.
37. (37) Parker Kligerman(i), Toyota, Accident, 11.
38. (21) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, Track Bar, 0.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 77.825 mph.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 56 Mins, 35 Secs. Margin of Victory: 2.084 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 4 for 11 laps.
Lead Changes: 8 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders: A. Allmendinger 1-15;T. Gibbs 16;N. Gragson 17-22;A. Bowman(i) 23-24;J. Allgaier 25-28;A. Allmendinger 29-37;J. Berry 38-42;A. Bowman(i) 43-44;A. Allmendinger 45-62.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): AJ Allmendinger 3 times for 42 laps; Noah Gragson 1 time for 6 laps; Josh Berry 1 time for 5 laps; Justin Allgaier 1 time for 4 laps; Alex Bowman(i) 2 times for 4 laps; Ty Gibbs 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 9,31,17,7,98,54,8,2,16,1
Stage #2 Top Ten: 8,36,48,45,91,6,4,23,34,38
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