Allmendinger Wins Thriller At The Glen

AJ Allmendinger celebrates in victory lane. [Joe Jennings Photo]

Watkins Glen, N. Y. – A. J. Allmendinger won a thriller at Watkins Glen International on Sunday. Before a capacity crowd on a warm day in the Finger Lakes, the winner made his way into the record books with his first NASCAR Sprint Cup victory and as a bonus he secured one of the coveted spots in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

The Cheez-It 355 at the Glen was an intense one throughout the 90-laps around the 2.45-mile road course. And it turned out to be a long day as the race had to be stopped to allow for clean-up after two major crashes.

Kicking off his victory celebration, the colorful Californian started off with a series of burnouts followed by a jubilant victory lane ceremony. In the victory lane, he was greeted by numerous supporters, including car owners Roger Penske and Richard Childress.

Team co-owner and former NBA great Brad Daugherty literally tossed Allmendinger through the air.

The winner drove the Scott Products Chevrolet co-owned by Tad and Jodi Geschickter along with Daugherty.

Allmendinger’s run to victory was anything but easy as he had to survive a hard-fought battle with runner-up driver Marcos Ambrose, who had gone into the race as the favorite.

The pair swapped the lead on numerous occasions and at times, they bounced off each other and took turns going through the grass in the turns. They also endured three restarts in the final laps, exchanging the lead at least twice.

At no point did either driver yield to the other, but at the checkered flag, Allmendinger held a 1.160 second advantage.

Said the happy winner, “This win is important to this race team and to be able to share it with everybody is what rolling into victory lane meant with my family (to include team owners, his parents and girlfriend among others). That’s what it is all about, and I will never forget everyone that came out in victory lane.”

Addressing the race, he stated, “I don’t believe Marcos (Ambrose) is one of the best in the U. S., I believe he is one of the best in the world. To go with him 1:1, he could have moved me out of the way and wrecked me and made it into the Chase, but he didn’t. He leaned on me, and I leaned on him, but we have a mutual respect and know what the limit is. We took it to the edge of the limit and for me, it will be so memorable as to how it ended. A very memorable day for me, and it is pretty awesome.

“On the last two restarts, I knew I had to pull every trick out of the bag. He’s so good and so good at maneuvering his race car. We bounced off each other and went flying through the grass. On last restart, I held on the outside and made him drive in deep, and I could make the corner and he messes up, I have a good shot at this one. On that last lap when I saw Marcos and him (Kurt Busch) side by side, that was the most perfect sight I had ever seen. This is a dream come true.”

“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” noted crew chief Brian Burns. “When I wake up tomorrow, it will probably hit me.”

“We were on our game this week,” Jodi Geschickter said. Added spouse Tad Geschickter, “This is such a great sport, and I have such a belief in it. Today, A. J. showed what a great talent he is, and it means the world for me to see him get this win.”

“I have been saying we are a top-20 race team, but we haven’t been able to prove it. We didn’t back into this one. He got up on the wheel, and I think he is one of the best road racers on the planet,” commented co-owner Daugherty. “A great day for us!”

Although frustrated with second place, Ambrose was calm in defeat and accepted the outcome.

“I knew what was at stake, and I had a great race car, led a lot of laps but I came up short,” Ambrose said.

Addressing the late-race lead exchanges, he stated, “My tires were really hot, and I slid off the last turn after I got the lead and he got back by me. That was probably the difference between winning and losing the race. If I could have held the lead when the caution came out, I could have done better on the restart. I did take a couple of chances but they didn’t work. It is just racing, and that is what it is all about.”

Kurt Busch sat in the cat-bird seat in the final laps, looking to pounce if the two heavyweights knocked each other out.

Said Busch, “It was a heckuva race for us, and we were in position all day. We ran in top-five and executed well in the pits. I thought our strategy played out well. I knew Allmendinger held his serve and I knew he was a force to be reckoned with. He deserves this one. I had hoped the two would wipe each other out, and we could get to victory lane. There were a lot of things to overcome, and I just tried to stay focused.”

Rookie Kyle Larson advanced from 23rd to garner fourth place. He gained three spots in the final seven laps.

Sonoma winner Carl Edwards finished fifth with Joey Logano in sixth.

Seventh through 10 were Kevin Harvick, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Brian Vickers.

New point leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. gained 11th place.

Numerous drivers didn’t fare well including Jimmie Johnson (28th), Jeff Gordon (34th) and Kyle Busch (40th).

Regan Smith subbed for Tony Stewart and having never driven the car until the race started, he held his own until crashing out of the race in the late going when struck by Johnson.

Three vicious crashes took place with two of them causing the race to be stopped. In total, the stops consumed one hour and 42 minutes.

In the first crash, Cole Whitt went headlong into the first-turn tire barrier. It happened after his brakes failed.

The second major crash on lap 56 was the most brutal, and it started when Biffle went off the track and Ryan Newman crashed hard, collecting Michael McDowell. The latter slammed into guard-rails on both sides of track, tearing off wheels in the process. Alex Bowman and Danica Patrick were also involved. The accident occurred shortly after the exit of turn 5.

Although there were no injuries, the ARMCO guard-rails were damaged extensively, forcing officials to stop the race for repairs. The race was red flagged at this point for one hour and 21 minutes.

Newman blasted the safety shortcomings of the track, indicating the guard-rails he hit were antiquated.

In a late-race incident, Denny Hamlin slammed into the sand barrels at the entrance to pit lane, tossing sand and pieces of the barrels in every direction. For the last time, the race had to be stopped, so repairs could be made.

Pole winner Gordon led the opening 29 laps but his potent Chevrolet lost power on the 52nd lap, triggering a yellow flag. After a prolonged stop, Gordon returned to finish 34th, four laps behind the winner.

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