AJ Allmendinger Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After getting to enjoy a much needed week off, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is back in business with a little road course racing. This week, the series makes the trek out to California wine country to take on the 1.990 mile Sonoma Raceway, a 12-turn technical road course situated about 30 miles north of San Francisco. This week’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 consists of 110 laps, which calculates out to 218.9 miles, or 350 kilometers. Over the years, the course at Sonoma Raceway has goneRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer All eyes were on the new aero-package as it made its race debut in Saturday’s Monster Energy Open at Charlotte Motor Speedway and it didn’t disappoint, notably the third and final stage as A.J. Allmendinger held off Chase Elliott and Erik Jones to make his first Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race since 2015. After the race, Allmendinger said his mindset was to transfer into his fourth All-Star Race, not the racing package. “Yeah, I don’t care how many cars are in the field or ifRead More

By NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Clint Bowyer was so excited he started his celebratory burnout at the entrance to Turn 3 at Martinsville Speedway, flirting perilously with the outside wall. Bowyer had ample reason to start the party early, before he got to the frontstretch for a traditional smoke show. With his victory in Monday’s snow-delayed STP 500, he had just ended a winless streak in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series that had reached 190 races, dating to the fall race at Charlotte in 2012. The victory didRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor When it comes to certain tracks in AJ Allmendinger’s wheelhouse, everyone knows he is a force to be reckoned with at the road courses, but there are also some other tracks that the JTG-Daugherty Racing driver has shown speed at. One of those is Martinsville Speedway and Allmendinger displayed exactly why, driving from deep in the pack to score an eighth-place finish in Monday’s STP 500, marking top-10 finishes in four of his last five starts at the track. With qualifying snowed out, Allmendinger wouldRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer For the 2018 Mobil One 12 Hours of Sebring, the GTD class is the largest but loses only three cars from the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Let’s take a look at the GT3-based class. The GRT Grasser Racing Team will not be racing both of their Lamborghini Huracan GT3 machines as well as Manthey Racing’s Porsche 911 GT3 R and Risi Competizione’s Ferrari 488 GT3. However, CJ Wilson Racing will be competing with their Acura NSX GT3 machine. Now let’s look at the class by manufacturer.Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — In the final practice session ahead of Sunday’s 60th running of the Daytona 500, Darrell Wallace, Jr. took his No. 43 Chevrolet to the top of the board, posting the fastest time in the final hour of preparation before the Great American Race. Wallace turned in a time of 45.696 seconds, 196.954 mph, followed by Daniel Suarez, who was fastest in the two practice sessions on Friday, in second. With Richard Petty Motorsports’ new alliance with Richard Childress Racing and ChevroletRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer The largest class at the 2018 Rolex 24 at Daytona, GT Daytona (GTD) has 21 entries with no shortage of talent in GT3 machinery. The pro-am class mixes many seasoned endurance veterans with gentleman drivers looking to make their mark at the World Center of Racing. Let’s look at the GTD grid by manufacturer. Lamborghini The Lamborghini Huracan GT3 cars were devilishly quick at the Roar before the 24 and they have three cars at the Rolex 24 entered by GRT Grasser (two cars) and PaulRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a top-five run in the first practice session of the day, Ryan Blaney backed up the speed he had shown earlier on Friday by posting the fastest speed in the final practice session for Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Blaney topped the board with a time of 14.926 seconds, 128.554 mph and was followed by fellow young gun Kyle Larson, who timed in with a lap just .057 seconds slower. In four starts at Bristol, Blaney hasRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – At a track where his father raced, and a track where he was a “garage rat” as a child, Martin Truex Jr. won Sunday’s I Love New York 355 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race by slowing down over the closing laps. Truex let Brad Keselowski pass him for the lead on Lap 77 of 90. On instructions from crew chief Cole Pearn, Truex also let Ryan Blaney past his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota on Lap 83. All theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a trip to Pocono last weekend that saw Kyle Busch score his first win of the season, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series stays in the Northeast as they go road course racing this weekend in the I Love New York 355 at The Glen. The Cup Series raced at Watkins Glen in 1957, 1964, and 1965 before returning to the track full-time in 1986, utilizing the “short course” layout initially, but after a series of violent crashes at the end of the longRead More