WATKINS GLEN, N.Y.: AJ Allmendinger was trying to be the cagy veteran who wanted to spoil Connor Zilisch’s impressive debut in Saturday afternoon’s Mission 200 at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.
Allmendinger, though, found himself having to fend off a hungry hound of competitors in a second NASCAR Xfinity Series overtime and praying his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet had enough fuel to roar back to the finish line.
Fortunately for Allmendinger, he did not have to power at full song coming to the checkered flag after a massive crash erupted on the frontstretch, triggering the caution flag and freezing the field.
Allmendinger and Sheldon Creed both followed Zilisch back to the start-finish line to sweep the podium in the penultimate NASCAR Xfinity Series race of the regular season.
The finish was an extremely nice rebound for the Xfinity Series Championship 4 hopeful. While running inside the top-10 in Stage 3, Allmendinger had to pit for a flat tire after the left front valve stem was knocked out.
With 33 laps to go, Allmendinger restarted deep in the field in 29th but with fuel and tires to his advantage.
Over the final laps of the race, he continued to march forward and landed back in the top-10 with 26 laps to go. Continuing to inch forward through the field, with 15 laps to go, the former NASCAR Cup Series Watkins Glen was back inside the top five.
Over the final stint of the race, Allmendinger survived two NASCAR overtimes to earn his fifth top-five finish of the season.
“We never really had the speed to win the race with the Celsius Chevrolet,” admitted Allmendinger after the race.
“But I felt like Alex Yountz and all the men and women at Kaulig Racing we did everything we could to try and maximize it. Those restarts are just kinda luck of the draw. I felt like taking the inside on every restart was probably a safer play instead of getting booted out of the corners, and it was just chaos from there on out.”
Despite not winning, Allmendinger’s 13th top-10 finish of the season was enough to leave the Kaulig Racing veteran somewhat satisfied with his performance, especially all things considered and the back pain that he began to suffer late in the race.
“Good day,” added Allmendinger. “I wish I could have said I was really happy with it, but we just never had the speed to go win the race, but we did everything we could to make the best of it, and I felt like we did.”
After the race, Allmendinger briefly mentioned his back pain but said he plans to address it before Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen.
“Really sore back,” mentioned Allmendinger. “It’s just getting to 43 years old and sitting in race cars all day. I’ll be fine; I’ll ice up, take some aspirin, and be ready to go for the Cup race tomorrow.”
Before the NASCAR Xfinity Series race, Allmendinger qualified his No. 13 Chevrolet Camaro sixth for the 90-lap event.
Bristol Motor Speedway awaits the Xfinity Series team for the final race of the regular season on Fri., Sept. 20 live on The CW.
Allmendinger sits fifth in the championship standings, 24 points behind Austin Hill.
Follow Chris Knight on X (Twitter) @Knighter01 or email at [email protected].
