AJ Allmendinger and his No. 16 Kaulig Racing team earned a gallant fourth at Texas. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
FORT WORTH, Texas – All things considered, AJ Allmendinger had about the best race day of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff contenders outside of Noah Gragson.
Saturday’s Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 at Texas Motor Speedway featured a flurry of multi-car accidents, including one that Allmendinger was involved in on Lap 112 near Turn 3.
As the field prepared for a frantic restart, Allmendinger had plentiful steam in his No. 16 Andy’s Frozen Custard Chevy Camaro. Suddenly, all hell broke loose on the exit of the backstretch into Turn 3.
“I’m just frustrated a little bit myself,” Allmendinger said. “I knew I should have took the bottom on the restart there. And I took the high line and got shoved there and kind of had the 68 (Brandon Brown) in the middle. And he moved up, trying to block me. And I tried to check up and just touched him a little bit.
“And then we got just run through after that, as everybody started checking up. So disappointed in that. But the team put the car back.”
Once Allmendinger got his car back under control, he was understandably upset about the incident and damage to his car. However, his keen Kaulig Racing team, particularly Chris Rice, kept him focused.
Moreover, the No. 16 team repaired Allmendinger’s car in relatively tip top shape with the damage on the front clip and left side door.
The battle scars of Texas did not stop Allmendinger and his No. 16 Kaulig Racing team. (Photo: Sean Folsom | The Podium Finish)
“I thought we had a lot of damage, honestly, when I got hit. And they put it back together. And it was pretty good,” he observed. “We were just a little bit tighter than we had been. But just proud of everybody. Andy’s Frozen Custard being on the car, I thought maybe we had a really good shot to win the race.
“Even then with the damage, we were caught on a different strategy, because we’d run so long under yellow, and we had more fuel. So we tried to run it long and just got tight there and really used up the tires.”
The unique pit sequence strategy, couple with the late race cautions that led to the final 69 green flag lap run, put Allmendinger in a golden opportunity for a potential win.
Perhaps making it sweeter was this solid run, despite the Lap 112 crash, taking place at Texas, a track that challenged Allmendinger and his team.
“Yeah, I thought everybody at Kaulig Racing, we brought a really good race car,” he shared. “This is probably our worst mile and a half racetrack that, at least over the last couple of years that we’ve been to and struggle at, I thought we had really good speed.
“Daniel (Hemric), winning the first stage and I was able to get that second stage win and run up front. What it could have been… it could’ve been a really good day. It could have been a really bad day and turned out to be a pretty good day.”
Given the on track skirmishes that involved plentiful drivers, the heat and humidity did not make things easy on Saturday afternoon.
Still, Allmendinger attributed the rash of incidents more on the Playoff field trying to find every inch of real estate on the track given what’s looming on Saturday, Oct. 1.
The action was a bit intense for a Playoff opener at Texas. (Photo: Sean Folsom | The Podium Finish)
“No. I think it’s just a matter of everybody… I wouldn’t say it’s desperate. But we’re all pushing,” he remarked. “We know what the next race is. It’s Talladega.
“You want to give yourself a points gap. And everybody’s so close right now in the Xfinity Series. It’s like if you can get get a good restart and get out to clean air, it really makes a difference. So that’s the Xfinity Series. We’re all aggressive.”
In spite of Talladega’s looming presence and the Charlotte ROVAL closing out this leg of the Playoffs, Allmendinger is optimistic in his team’s chances down the stretch.
A fast Camaro off the truck at an intermediate might bode well in the Round of 8, particularly if the regular season champion continues his overall season title hunt.
“Yea, I mean, it’s stuff we learned for sure that we can go to Vegas and Homestead and hopefully feel a little bit better about,” Allmendinger said. “Obviously, it’s a completely different racetrack. But speed is speed. And if you can have it at one racetrack, you can bring it to the next, so we’ll keep digging.”
