Like Us
Follow Us
Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 Race Review - AJ Allmendinger
AJ Allmendinger started Sunday’s event at Pocono Raceway in the seventh position Allmendinger finished the event in 24th place The driver holds down the 22nd position in the NSCS driver point standings as the series heads to Watkins Glen
Race Summary: After a slight rain delay, AJ Allmendinger started Sunday’s event at Pocono Raceway in the seventh position. Allmendinger reported his No. 43 Insignia HDTV Ford Fusion was fighting a tight condition. Due to the morning rain, NASCAR scheduled a Lap 15 competition caution, which provided an early opportunity for crew chief Mike Shiplett and the Richard Petty Motorsports team to make air pressure adjustments and add four fresh tires and fuel.
After a solid stop, the field returned to green at Lap 19 with Allmendinger running in the 10th position. The driver was able to maintain his position in the top-15 for most of the next long green flag segment but relayed that his RPM Ford was still fighting some handling issues. Shiplett took the oppor-tunity over the course of several green flag pit stops to make additional adjustments to help alleviate the tight condition and the challenge Allmend-inger was reporting with front grip. At the 100-lap mark, Allmendinger was running in the 17th position.
The No. RPM 43 Ford Fusion sustained minor damage in the late-race accident at Lap 165 that also involved teammate Elliott Sadler. Following the accident, there was a 30-minute red flag period for safety crews to ensure the drivers involved were okay and that the track was clear to return to green flag racing. Just as the field was brought under yellow flag conditions, a light rain moved back over the track and brought out another red flag.
During the ensuing yellow flag period, Shiplett was able to bring his driver to pit road for further adjustments and to make the necessary repairs for the slight damage sustained in the accident. The race was brought back to green at Lap 179 with the No. 43 Ford slated in the 24th position. Allmend-inger fought hard to climb back into the top-20. At the end of the race, Allmendinger came across the line in 24th.
Allmendinger on the Pocono event: “Unfortunately, we fought the car being tight today and didn’t get the result we’d hoped for. We finished in the top-10 here in June and I really wanted to improve on that finish. I’m proud of (Mike) Shiplett and the guys. I know they’re all working really hard.”
