Saturday, July 30th, 2022
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, Speedway, IN
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 though 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 (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, IMS Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“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.
ENTRY | # | DRIVER | HOMETOWN | DOB | AGE | MAKE | SPONSOR | TEAM | CREW CHIEF |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Los Gatos, CA | Dec 16, 1981 | 42 | Chevrolet | Nutrien Ag Solutions | Kaulig Racing | Bruce Schlicker |
2 | 08 | Andy Lally | Northport, NY | Feb 11, 1975 | 49 | Ford | TicketSmarter / Special Report | SS-GLR w/Jeff Lefcourt | Jason Miller |
3 | 66 | JJ Yeley | Phoenix, AZ | Oct 5, 1976 | 48 | Ford | Elliott's Trailers & Carts | Motorsports Business Management | George Church |
4 | 10 | Landon Cassill | Cedar Rapids, IA | Jul 7, 1989 | 35 | Chevrolet | StormX | Kaulig Racing | Jason Trinchere |
5 | 68 | Austin Dillon | Lewisville, NC | Apr 27, 1990 | 34 | Chevrolet | Maestro's Classic | Brandonbilt Motorsports | Doug Randolph |
6 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | Riverton, IL | Jun 6, 1986 | 38 | Chevrolet | BRANDT/Precision Build | JR Motorsports | Jason Burdett |
7 | 35 | Parker Kligerman | Westport, CT | Aug 8, 1990 | 34 | Chevrolet | Pro Master | Emerling Gase Motorsports | Rick Bourgeois |
8 | 17 | Alex Bowman | Tuscon, AZ | Apr 25, 1993 | 31 | Chevrolet | Hendrickcars.com | Hendrick Motorsports | Kevin Meendering |
9 | 02 | Brett Moffitt | Grimes, IA | Aug 7, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | Half Off Wholesale | Our Motorsports | Kris Bowen |
10 | 6 | Ty Dillon | Lewisville, NC | Feb 27, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | Black Hole Ammunitions | JD Motorsports | Kase Kallenbach |
11 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Halifax, VA | Aug 6, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | Ergodyne Work Gear | Our Motorsports | Chad Walter |
12 | 44 | Ryan Ellis | Torrence, CA | Nov 29, 1989 | 34 | Chevrolet | KeenParts.com | Alpha Prime Racing | Michael Brandt |
13 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Tucker, GA | Jun 20, 1987 | 37 | Ford | CMRroofing.com\ A-game | RSS Racing | Kevin Starland |
14 | 92 | Ross Chastain | Alva, FL | Dec 4, 1992 | 31 | Chevrolet | Farmer's Promise | DGM Racing | Mario Gosselin |
15 | 18 | Bubba Wallace | Mobile, AL | Oct 8, 1993 | 31 | Toyota | DoorDash | Joe Gibbs Racing | Jason Ratcliff |
16 | 34 | Kyle Weatherman | Wentzville, MO | Aug 28, 1997 | 27 | Chevrolet | Equity Prime Mortgage | Jesse Iwuji Motorsports | Dan Stillman |
17 | 11 | Daniel Hemric | Kannapolis, NC | Jan 27, 1991 | 33 | Chevrolet | AG1 - Athletic Greens | Kaulig Racing | Alex Yontz |
18 | 4 | Bayley Currey | Driftwood, TX | Oct 29, 1996 | 27 | Chevrolet | Hy-Vee | JD Motorsports | Wayne Carroll Jr |
19 | 48 | Kaz Grala | Boston, MA | Dec 29, 1998 | 25 | Chevrolet | Ruedebusch.com Big Machine | Big Machine Racing | Patrick Donahue |
20 | 36 | Alex Labbe | Saint-Albert, Canada | Apr 29, 1993 | 31 | Chevrolet | Can-Am | DGM Racing | Nathan Kennedy |
21 | 21 | Austin Hill | Winston, GA | Apr 21, 1994 | 30 | Chevrolet | Bennett Transportation | Richard Childress Racing | Andy Street |
22 | 47 | Brandon Brown | Woodbridge, VA | Sep 14, 1993 | 31 | Chevrolet | Mike Harmon Racing | Mike Harmon Racing | Ryan Bell |
23 | 19 | Brandon Jones | Atlanta, GA | Feb 18, 1997 | 27 | Toyota | Menards\DuPont Air Filters | Joe Gibbs Racing | Jeff Meendering |
24 | 07 | Chase Briscoe | Mitchell, IN | Dec 15, 1994 | 29 | Ford | Production Alliance Group | SS-GLR w/Jeff Lefcourt | Joe Williams |
25 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Spartanburg, SC | Jan 16, 1985 | 39 | Chevrolet | Wings Etc Grill & Pub | Jeremy Clements Racing | Mark Setzer |
26 | 78 | Josh Williams | Port Charlotte, FL | Aug 3, 1993 | 31 | Chevrolet | ALLOY EMPLOYER SERVICES | BJ McLeod Motorsports | Mike Tyska |
27 | 31 | Myatt Snider | Charlotte, NC | Dec 30, 1994 | 29 | Chevrolet | Louisiana Hot Sauce | Jordan Anderson Racing | Shane Whitbeck |
28 | 9 | Noah Gragson | Las Vegas, NV | Jul 15, 1998 | 26 | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops TrueTimber BRCC | JR Motorsports | Luke Lambert |
29 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Las Vegas, NV | Feb 24, 1999 | 25 | Ford | Monster Energy | Stewart-Haas Racing | Richard Boswell |
30 | 23 | Anthony Alfredo | Ridgefield, CT | Mar 1, 1999 | 25 | Chevrolet | K&L Ready Mix | Our Motorsports | Pat Tryson |
31 | 91 | Preston Pardus | New Smyrna Beach, FL | Feb 15, 1997 | 27 | Chevrolet | Chinchor Electric/Danus | DGM Racing | Dan Pardus |
32 | 5 | Scott Heckert | Ridgefield, CT | Nov 21, 1993 | 30 | Chevrolet | Malco | BJ McLeod Motorsports | David Ingram |
33 | 38 | Patrick Gallagher | Thornville, OH | Oct 6, 1992 | 32 | Ford | Belle haven | RSS Racing | Steve Addington |
34 | 2 | Sheldon Creed | Alpine, CA | Sep 30, 1997 | 27 | Chevrolet | Whelen | Richard Childress Racing | Jeff Stankiewicz |
35 | 8 | Josh Berry | Hendersonville, TN | Oct 22, 1990 | 33 | Chevrolet | Jarrett Industries | JR Motorsports | Mike Bumgarner |
36 | 88 | Miguel Paludo | Nova Prata, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil | Jul 26, 1983 | 41 | Chevrolet | BRANDT | JR Motorsports | Jason Stockert |
37 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Charlotte, NC | Oct 4, 2002 | 22 | Toyota | Monster Energy | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chris Gayle |
38 | 26 | Santino Ferrucci | Woodbury, CT | May 31, 1998 | 26 | Toyota | Screamin Sicilian / Kroger | Sam Hunt Racing | Allen Hart |
39 | 1 | Sam Mayer | Franklin, WI | Jun 26, 2003 | 21 | Chevrolet | Huck's Market | JR Motorsports | Taylor Moyer |
40 | 45 | Sage Karam | Nazareth, PA | Mar 5, 1995 | 29 | Chevrolet | Market Rebellion | Alpha Prime Racing | Frank Kerr |
41 | 13 | Brad Perez | Hollywood, FL | Jan 21, 1997 | 27 | Toyota | APEX Coffee Roasters | Motorsports Business Management | Jason Houghtaling |
42 | 90 | Mason Filippi | Alamo, CA | Apr 23, 1998 | 26 | Chevrolet | OpenFender.com/Motorized Shade | DGM Racing | Mike Garvey |