MARTINSVILLE, Va. – AJ Allmendinger had a long way to go to get to the front in Monday’s postponed STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway, but once the JTG-Daugherty Racing arrived, he stayed put.
With qualifying snowed out Saturday afternoon, Allmendinger started Monday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race 25th based on owner’s points – but immediately from the drop of the green flag, the No. 47 Kroger ClickList Chevrolet went forward and Allmendinger spent more than 200 laps inside the top-10.
Allmendinger ran as high as fifth in the latter stages of Stage 2, but a 108-lap green flag finish to end the fifth Cup Series race of the season saw the Los Gatos, Calif. native earned a season-high eighth place finish ahead of Cup notables Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson.
“Yeah, it was just a solid day,” said Allmendinger who earned his seventh top-10 at the historic paperclip track.
“We were just missing just a little bit to go up there and run with the best of them. The last set of tires didn’t agree with the car, the car was bouncing around a lot. It’s unfortunate that our last set of tires were our worst, but that happens.
“We still got a top 10 out it, ran in the top 10 all day and was able to start 25th and pass a lot of cars.”
Monday’s performance was the boost that JTG-Daugherty needed after a rough stretch to start the 2018 season. Allmendinger earned his first top-10 of the year with a 10th in the Daytona 500, but a four-race stretch at Atlanta, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Auto Club with an average finish of 25.5 plummeted the likable driver from 15th to 25th in the standings.
Allmendinger knew that Martinsville was a place to get his team back on track and he wanted more when the checkered flag fell, he was still content with the team’s performance.
“Solid day, what we needed at one of our better racetracks,” he added. “These are the places we know that we have a better chance at and we have to take advantage of it. So, I would say I’m okay with eighth, I wish we could have got a little bit more at the end of the race there, but a solid day all around.”
His 53rd career top-10 rose him back inside the top-20 in points heading to Texas Motor Speedway on Apr. 8.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
