Allmendinger Wins at Watkins Glen, Makes Chase

Credit - Tom Pennington, Getty Images

WATKINS GLEN, NY - RIS - A.J. Allmendinger held off Marcos Ambrose to win the Cheez-It 355 on Sunday at Watkins Glen International.  The victory paid huge dividends for Allmendinger and his single-car JTG Daugherty Racing team.  Finishing third was Kurt Busch.  Rookie Kyle Larson finished fourth and Carl Edwards rounded out the top five finishers.

The win is Allmendinger’s first in NASCAR’s premier Sprint Cup Series and all-but ensures his career-first spot in the Chase and chance to win the series championship.The win also served as redemption of sorts for the native of Los Gatos, Calif., who lost a top-level ride at Team Penske in 2012 after he was indefinitely suspended by NASCAR for violating its substance abuse policy.

Allmendinger,32, completed NASCAR’s Road to Recovery program and returned to racing months later.

“I knew Marcos was going to try to move me out of the way if he had the opportunity. To his credit he didn’t wreck me,” Allmendinger said. “He just moved me like he should have.@

“That was just a fun race. Thanks to the fans for enduring two red flags, the track workers for putting the track back together a couple of times. Everybody at home, if you didn’t love that you are not a fan of racing.”

The victory did not come easy for Allmendinger, nor quickly.

The race was stopped three times for a total of more than an hour and 40 minutes for track repairs, first to walls after a five-car wreck and then replacing sand barrels at the entrance to pit road that were wiped out in a spin by Denny Hamlin.

Allmendinger took the lead for the first time on Lap 61 of 90 and led the final 30 laps but twice swapped the lead with Ambrose during the course of a single lap.

“I left nothing on the table. I tried to rattle his cage and couldn’t shake him,” said Ambrose, who won Saturday’s Nationwide Series race at the track. Ambrose has won four Nationwide and two Cup races at the Glen in his career.

The race was difficult on NASCAR's major teams.  Pole winner Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson both finished poorly.  Hendrick Motorsport's highest finisher was Dale Earnhardt, Jr in 11th place.  Earnhardt did take the point lead away from Gordon and now leads by five points. Johnson finished 28th after a late crash, and Gordon finished 34th.

Unofficial Results:

 Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps
1 6 47 AJ Allmendinger Scott Products Chevrolet 90 48 5 129.9 $214,173 Running 1 30
2 2 9 Marcos Ambrose Stanley Ford 90 43 1 130.9 $192,745 Running 1 19
3 5 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 90 41 117.2 $133,450 Running
4 23 42 Kyle Larson # Target Chevrolet 90 40 80.0 $142,470 Running
5 16 99 Carl Edwards Kellogg's/Cheez-It Ford 90 40 1 98.9 $127,150 Running 1 3
6 11 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 90 38 89.1 $133,906 Running
7 4 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Chevrolet 90 37 94.5 $128,598 Running
8 28 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford 90 36 89.5 $127,715 Running
9 8 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota 90 35 102.5 $130,801 Running
10 12 55 Brian Vickers Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota 90 34 91.7 $117,865 Running
11 7 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard Chevrolet 90 33 101.3 $92,040 Running
12 30 5 Kasey Kahne Farmers Insurance Chevrolet 90 33 1 84.4 $98,065 Running 1 3
13 25 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Chevrolet 90 31 74.7 $109,448 Running
14 14 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald's Chevrolet 90 30 92.6 $113,354 Running
15 22 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 90 29 76.0 $104,523 Running
16 31 3 Austin Dillon # Dow Chevrolet 90 28 66.4 $123,451 Running
17 15 51 Justin Allgaier # Brandt Professional Agriculture Chevrolet 90 27 60.9 $101,048 Running
18 27 43 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 90 26 70.2 $114,926 Running
19 26 34 David Ragan Dockside Logistics Ford 90 25 58.7 $97,773 Running
20 21 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford EcoBoost Ford 90 24 55.4 $114,340 Running
21 43 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet 90 23 51.7 $84,965 Running
22 33 38 David Gilliland Long John Silver's Ford 90 22 58.3 $94,162 Running
23 39 36 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 90 21 45.4 $76,290 Running
24 17 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota 90 20 74.9 $84,015 Running
25 34 32 Boris Said Genny Light Ford 90 19 42.0 $76,390 Running
26 32 77 Nelson Piquet Jr. WORX Ford 90 18 47.0 $72,640 Running
27 24 15 Clint Bowyer RK Motors Charlotte Toyota 90 17 71.5 $110,406 Running
28 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's Chevrolet 90 17 1 95.5 $126,201 Running 1 6
29 41 40 Landon Cassill(i) Newtown Building Supplies Chevrolet 89 0 35.4 $74,590 Running
30 40 66 Joe Nemechek(i) Land Castle Title Toyota 89 0 32.3 $81,440 Running
31 42 7 Michael Annett # Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet 88 13 38.1 $71,790 Running
32 20 27 Paul Menard Splash/Menards Chevrolet 87 12 37.7 $98,779 Running
33 38 33 Alex Kennedy MediaCAST Chevrolet 86 11 41.0 $71,415 Accident
34 1 24 Jeff Gordon Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet 86 11 1 114.8 $129,426 Running 1 29
35 9 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford 85 9 76.6 $116,548 Running
36 36 23 Alex Bowman # Dustless Blasting Toyota 85 8 30.4 $70,960 Running
37 13 14 Regan Smith(i) Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Chevrolet 81 7 51.6 $104,983 Accident
38 37 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet 78 6 28.9 $65,830 Running
39 35 83 Ryan Truex # Burger King Toyota 69 5 44.2 $61,830 Suspension
40 19 18 Kyle Busch M&M's Toyota 69 4 65.0 $105,671 Running
41 10 31 Ryan Newman Caterpillar Chevrolet 55 3 69.0 $61,830 Accident
42 29 95 Michael McDowell K-Love Ford 55 2 55.7 $49,830 Accident
43 18 26 Cole Whitt # Bully Hill Vineyards Toyota 9 1 34.3 $46,330 Accident 

Ron Fleshman

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the midle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2014, Issue 8, Posted 11:20 PM, 08.10.2014