AJ Allmendinger was as cool as the other side of the pillow at Bristol. (Photo: Kevin Ritchie | The Podium Finish)
BRISTOL, Tenn. – After clinching the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season championship with a top 10 finish on Friday night, AJ Allmendinger continued his stellar ways during Saturday night’s Bristol Night Race.
Rolling off the grid from 13th, Allmendinger placed 14th in Stage 1 and 16th in Stage 2.
Throughout the wild and frantic Bristol Night Race, Allmendinger scooted past some multicar incidents involving the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs contenders.
In this case, Allmendinger used some steady wheelman skills in his No. 16 Action Industries Chevrolet Camaro to race into the top 10 in Stage 3, particularly by Lap 379.
Remarkably, the 40-year-old Los Gatos, California native had one of the few cars that looked in showroom condition after 500 laps.
Moreover, Allmendinger kept his Kaulig Racing entry inside the top 10 for the remainder of the race.
When all was said and done, the two-time Cup race winner earned a strong seventh place finish.
Allmendinger’s No. 16 car did not get into too much action at Bristol. (Photo: Kevin Ritchie | The Podium Finish)
“I’m happy to run 500 laps at Bristol anytime I can do that,” Allmendinger said. “That’s a good night. I was pretty happy with our No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL1.”
For all the renowned reputation that Allmendinger earns as an excellent road course racer, he’s shown he can hold a pretty wheel on the ovals.
Much like his strong performance at Gateway, he noted how his No. 16 team is moving closer to a truly formidable Cup program that can contend against the top, elite teams.
“We just needed a little bit more I think to get to the next level,” he observed. “But (I’m) really happy when we can run anywhere from about seventh to 10th all night.
“We had good strategy, and our pit stops were really good. So overall, I’m just really, really happy with the night.”
