AJ Allmendinger heads to Road America looking for road course trifecta in 2022
The acknowledged road-course ace of the NASCAR Xfinity Series, AJ Allmendinger, has done nothing to diminish his reputation this season.
The driver of the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet fashioned a 2.039-second victory over Austin Hill when the series traveled to Circuit of The Americas in March. In the series‘ debut at Portland International Raceway on June 4, Allmendinger started from the rear of the field and won a wet-weather race by 2.879 seconds over Myatt Snider.
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Allmendinger, who is running for the Xfinity Series championship, is racing in both the Xfinity and Cup Series at Road America. But his primary focus will be on Saturday‘s Henry 180 (2:30 p.m. ET on USA, NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
A victory in that race would give Allmendinger three straight Xfinity road-course wins and would keep him in the series lead. He currently holds a 25-point edge over second-place Ty Gibbs.
Allmendinger would also become the first repeat winner at the track. The first 12 races at Road America have produced 12 different winners, including Allmendinger, who scored his first Xfinity Series win there in 2013.
“You have everything on that race track, long straightaways and really fast corners,” Allmendinger said. “The carousel is incredibly fast; Turn 1 is incredibly fast. But you also have big brake zones, like into Turn 5 (and) into Canada Corner.
“It‘s easy to use up the tires there. It‘s easy to make mistakes. But there‘s also a lot of passing opportunities if you get in the back of the field. I love the race track. I think Xfinity always puts on a great race. I think with the Next Gen cars, they are really going to put on a great race in the Cup race on Sunday. I‘m happy that I get to be a part of both.”
