AJ Allmendinger survives chaos, carnage to win NASCAR Cup race on IMS road course
INDIANPOLIS — A new era was ushered in at Indianapolis Motor Speedway when AJ Allmendinger took the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Cup Series’ first race on the road course that no one will forget.
Allmendinger, a former open-wheel driver who ran his lone Indianapolis 500 in 2013, had his chance to win that race dashed when he was forced to pit late with a loose seat belt. On Sunday, however, the 39-year-old, in a one-off Cup entry for Kaulig Racing, survived the carnage of the final laps to avenge his misfortune eight years earlier and win the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard.
Chaos in the final laps and overtime led to the opportunity for Allmendinger to take the race win. He was in third place when leaders Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe tangled following the second overtime restart, and Allmendinger took the lead for good when Briscoe was penalized for driving through the grass shortly before he spun out Hamlin as they raced for the lead.
Saturday’s Xfinity race and finished second to Austin Cindric.
Points leader Kyle Larson finished third, followed by Chase Elliott and Matt DiBenedetto.
Allmendinger described Sunday’s race as “survival of the fittest.”
“We probably had like an eighth-, 10th-place car, sped on pit road. I thought we were going to finish 12th to 15th, and then those restarts were just insane. It’s great when you have a car owner that just says, ‘Go get me trophies.’ He doesn’t care if that thing is torn up.”
Verizon 200 at the Brickyard results
Sunday from the 2.44-mile road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway:
1. (8) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 95 laps, 0 points.
2. (16) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 95, 35.
3. (4) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 95, 36.
4. (3) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 95, 35.
5. (15) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 95, 38.
6. (20) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 95, 31.
7. (28) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 95, 37.
8. (29) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 95, 0.
9. (13) Austin Cindric, Ford, 95, 0.
10. (32) Ryan Newman, Ford, 95, 27.
11. (22) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet, 95, 37.
12. (19) Chris Buescher, Ford, 95, 25.
13. (27) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 95, 24.
14. (25) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 95, 23.
15. (6) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 95, 22.
16. (26) Corey Lajoie, Chevrolet, 95, 25.
17. (24) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 95, 20.
18. (36) Josh Bilicki, Ford, 95, 19.
19. (18) Aric Almirola, Ford, 95, 18.
20. (21) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 95, 17.
21. (11) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 95, 36.
22. (38) Quin Houff, Chevrolet, 95, 15.
23. (14) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 95, 14.
24. (31) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 95, 18.
25. (10) Cole Custer, Ford, 94, 12.
26. (2) Chase Briscoe, Ford, garage, 94, 13.
27. (40) Timmy Hill, Toyota, 94, 0.
28. (39) Garrett Smithley, Ford, 94, 0.
29. (9) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 93, 8.
30. (12) Michael McDowell, Ford, accident, 88, 16.
31. (23) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, accident, 88, 23.
32. (34) James Davison, Chevrolet, accident, 80, 5.
33. (1) William Byron, Chevrolet, accident, 77, 4.
34. (7) Joey Logano, Ford, accident, 77, 3.
35. (30) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, accident, 77, 16.
36. (17) Christopher Bell, Toyota, accident, 77, 1.
37. (5) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, accident, 77, 1.
38. (33) Anthony Alfredo, Ford, suspension, 68, 1.
39. (35) Andy Lally, Ford, reargear, 55, 0.
40. (37) Cody Ware, Ford, accident, 46, 0.