NASCAR: Allmendinger defeats Bowman in Indy Xfinity race

The NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff is still six races away, but AJ Allmendinger has already clinched one title.

With his victory in Saturday‘s Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard, the driver of the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet is the undisputed King of the Road.

Allmendinger was an irresistible force at the 2.439-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. He led 42 of the 62 laps and overcame a fraught 25-second pit stop that dropped him from the lead to 13th for a restart on Lap 19.

The victory was Allmendinger‘s third of the season — all on road courses — and his fourth win in the last five Xfinity Series races on circuits that turn right as well as left, dating to his triumph in last year‘s fall event at the Charlotte Roval.

Allmendinger passed runner-up Alex Bowman for the lead after a restart on Lap 45, staying alongside Bowman‘s No. 17 Chevrolet through Turn 1 and pulling clear through Turn 2. Allmendinger crossed the finish line 2.084 seconds ahead of the Hendrick Motorsports driver.

“God, I love this place,” exclaimed Allmendinger, who won last year‘s NASCAR Cup Series race at the vaunted Brickyard and will defend that victory in Sunday‘s Verizon 200.

“I knew Bowman was really good at the long runs, and so I tried to gap him as much as I could. God, I love Indy!”

Allmendinger lost track position on the Lap 16 pit stop when his crew had difficulty changing the right rear tire. But the 40-year-old driver from Los Gatos, Calif., fought through traffic and advanced to third for a restart on Lap 29.

He went three-wide to the inside on that restart and had the lead as he exited Turn 1.

“We gave up stage points a little bit there as well, to the guys we‘re fighting for points,” Allmendinger said. “But you know what? Points don‘t mean a damn thing — we‘re kissing the bricks. Hell, yeah!”

Bowman began to cut into Allmendinger‘s lead late in the final 18-lap run green-flag run but ran out of time.

“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 passed Ross Chastain on the final lap to secure third place, with Chastain holding fourth. Chase Briscoe came home fifth, followed by Riley Herbst, Sam Mayer, Ty Gibbs, Austin Hill and Noah Gragson.

Gragson won the first stage of the race and fellow JR Motorsports driver Josh Berry claimed victory in Stage 2.

Race Results

Fin Str No. Driver Team Laps Status Led
1 1 16 AJ Allmendinger Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet 62 Running 42
2 4 17 Alex Bowman(i) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 62 Running 4
3 10 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT/Precision Build Chevrolet 62 Running 4
4 18 92 Ross Chastain(i) Farmer’s Promise Chevrolet 62 Running 0
5 6 7 Chase Briscoe(i) Production Alliance Group Ford 62 Running 0
6 3 98 Riley Herbst Monster Energy Ford 62 Running 0
7 5 1 Sam Mayer Huck’s Market Chevrolet 62 Running 0
8 2 54 Ty Gibbs Monster Energy Toyota 62 Running 1
9 9 21 Austin Hill # Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 62 Running 0
10 7 9 Noah Gragson Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber/BRCC Chevrolet 62 Running 6
11 11 10 Landon Cassill StormX Chevrolet 62 Running 0
12 14 36 Alex Labbe Can-Am Chevrolet 62 Running 0
13 12 45 Sage Karam Market Rebellion Chevrolet 62 Running 0
14 8 8 Josh Berry Jarrett Industries Chevrolet 62 Running 5
15 36 19 Brandon Jones Menards/DuPont Air Filters Toyota 62 Running 0
16 17 2 Brett Moffitt Half Off Wholesale Chevrolet 62 Running 0
17 30 26 Santino Ferrucci Screamin Sicilian/Kroger Toyota 62 Running 0
18 26 23 Anthony Alfredo K&L Ready Mix Chevrolet 62 Running 0
19 29 51 Jeremy Clements Wings Etc Grill & Pub Chevrolet 62 Running 0
20 27 6 Ty Dillon(i) Black Hole Ammunitions Chevrolet 62 Running 0
21 34 4 Bayley Currey Hy-Vee Chevrolet 62 Running 0
22 16 11 Daniel Hemric AG1 – Athletic Greens Chevrolet 62 Running 0
23 15 2 Sheldon Creed # Whelen Chevrolet 62 Running 0
24 19 88 Miguel Paludo BRANDT Chevrolet 62 Running 0
25 22 8 Andy Lally TicketSmarter/Special Report Ford 62 Running 0
26 20 68 Austin Dillon(i) Maestro’s Classic Chevrolet 62 Running 0
27 31 39 Ryan Sieg CMRroofing/A-Game Ford 62 Running 0
28 35 38 Patrick Gallagher Belle Haven Ford 62 Running 0
29 23 91 Preston Pardus Chinchor Electric/Danus Chevrolet 62 Running 0
30 28 34 Kyle Weatherman Equity Prime Mortgage Chevrolet 62 Running 0
31 32 5 Scott Heckert Malco Chevrolet 62 Running 0
32 24 48 Kaz Grala(i) Ruedebusch.com/Big Machine Chevrolet 61 Running 0
33 25 31 Myatt Snider Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet 61 Running 0
34 38 47 Brandon Brown MIke Harmon Racing Chevrolet 58 Suspension 0
35 13 18 Bubba Wallace(i) DoorDash Toyota 28 Engine 0
36 33 44 Ryan Ellis KeenParts.com Chevrolet 17 Accident 0
37 37 35 Parker Kligerman(i) Pro Master Toyota 11 Accident 0
38 21 27 Jeb Burton Ergodyne Work Gear Chevrolet 0 Track Bar 0

 

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