LAS VEGAS, Nev – AJ Allmendinger is off to the best start of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career.
But it didn’t come without its hurdles this weekend at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway.
Not only did Allmendinger battle with the handling of his No. 47 Clorox Chevrolet throughout, but he also persevered through a stomach virus.
Struggling with the handling of his JTG-Daugherty Racing machine, the team turned to their alliance with Richard Childress Racing, where they were able to embrace the setups of “technical partners” Ryan Newman (No. 31) and Martin Truex Jr. (No. 78).
Allmendinger’s car reacted well to the changes, allowing him to climb from his 22nd place starting position to finish sixth, recording his second consecutive top-10 run this season.
Before the race though, Allmendinger spent Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning in complete isolation after a trip to the infield care center for antibiotics.
Not exactly feeling 100 percent at race time, the Los Gatos, California native gutted through 400 miles at 1.5-mile speedway to earn his 37th career to-10 Sprint Cup finish.
The 33-year old contributed to more than just their alliance with RCR for their efforts Sunday.
“Vegas has never been a great racetrack for me, especially if you look at my stats,” Allmendinger said. “It’s always been a tough racetrack. I haven’t had a lot of fond memories about it.
“To come out here, we got to do the test, the Goodyear tire test in January, I thought that helped us out a little bit, but ultimately I was really happy as the weekend progressed. We kept on getting a little bit better and better, weren’t as good as we wanted to be kind of over the course of the weekend, but I think the RCR Alliance really helped.
“Obviously the 31 and the 78 cars were really fast, and we kind of second practice yesterday switched over to more their setup, and that really kind of woke the car up and got us in a good place. So having that alliance, and you see our power and everything we get with Chevy really, really helped this Clorox Chevy throughout the course of the day.”
The strong performances in back-to-back races keep the JTG-Daugherty Racing alive and running and hopeful for a second chance in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Last season, a victory on the road course at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International in August propelled the single-car team into the championship playoffs. While eliminated early from the Chase, Allmendinger remains confident that a team effort can thrust them back into a familiar scenario.
“It was awesome to make the Chase, and with this format, you win one and obviously you get in right away, and that helps,” Allmendinger said. “But if you look at overall points, we were a 22nd place team through the course of the year, and we ran better in the Chase and had a shot at a top ten in points, but I felt like we were a 20th place car, 22nd place car most of the year.
“It’s just the stuff we are doing right now. That’s what I want to do is just keep consistently having top 15 runs, and when we nail it like we did today, get inside the top 10 and get close to the front. We’ll have certain races that we know we can be a car that can go out there and win a race, but just the stuff we’re doing right now, just getting better each weekend. I love what the guys are doing back at the shop. The race cars that we’re putting out are so nice. They’re really pumped up about them. I think we’re all getting better, and that’s what we all need.”
Despite a 20th place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500, Allmendinger sits fifth in championship standings, 34 points behind Kevin Harvick.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
