WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – When it comes to road course racing in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, AJ Allmendinger is always a sentimental favorite.
Honing his craft on the left and right turns of NASCAR has always produced excitement from the JTG-Daugherty Racing driver – but entering Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, Allmendinger is trying to keep his expectations in check.
After all, the open-wheel veteran is a former winner at The Glen winning in 2014.
“I think over the past couple of years it has gotten a little bit more difficult,” he said Friday morning.
“I think the field is spread out more. We’ve seen it this year, the three fastest guys (Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr.) are usually the three fastest guys every weekend. It doesn’t matter what track we go to, unfortunately, they’re good everywhere.”
Allmendinger enters this weekend 23rd in points and likely his only way to make the Playoffs will be to win on Sunday.
“In the end, I can just do my best,” Allmendinger said. “I’ve come here and put a lot of pressure on myself. We all know what the ultimate goal is when we show up here.”
Of course, in June, the Los Gatos, Calif. native saw an opportunity for victory go up in smoke after Allmendinger missed a shift and blew the engine at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. A mistake that is still bothering him to this day.
“I’m not over it, yet,” Allmendinger admitted.
“I’m a perfectionist,” he said. “The road course races I really, truly try to be a perfectionist. It’s not going to bother me here. It’s still in the back of my mind. It still annoys me because I was disappointed for the race team that I let them down and we didn’t get a good finish.
“I don’t think we were going to win that race. I don’t think that cost us a playoff spot there. I thought we were at least going to have a top-three, top-four finish and it annoys me.”
Whether he’s contending for a win or his fourth top-10 finish of the year, the 36-year-old says it’s important for him not to get overwhelmed in expectations others may have for him.
“I just come here and do my best and try to get everything out of it,” Allmendinger said. “I think sometimes people look at it as if we don’t win it’s a full disappointment of the weekend. If we come here and we run top five all weekend and you get a top-five finish, that’s still tough to do and that’s still a good day. If there’s a chance to win, we’ll take the chance. If not, we’ll just get the best that we can.”
Allmendinger will have a busy weekend at The Glen.
In addition to Cup duties, he’ll make his first Xfinity Series start since 2013 – winning both races at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Road America driving for Team Penske.
The Californian says GMS Racing asked him to come race and he gladly accepted.
“GMS Racing asked me to be in it. And it’s a race; at Watkins Glen,” Allmendinger mentioned. “I mean, why not? I haven’t done an Xfinity race since Team Penske at Road America and Mid-Ohio. I felt fortunate. They came to me and asked me if I wanted to do this race with them and I said, for sure. I love this place.
“Any type of race car that you get to be in around here is an awesome thing. It’s enjoyable. They’ve got a great team. They’ve already got a win this year. For a second year Xfinity team. I think we’ve got a lot of speed in the car and more importantly, I thought it was a competitive car and I could go out there and run up front in.
“So, it was exciting for me. Any time a race team wants you to drive a race car, especially for me, it means a lot.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
