A veteran of all forms of racing, A.J. Allmendinger is skilled enough to keep visiting Victory Lane, savvy enough to persist through all types of circumstances and experienced enough to soak in every winning moment.
Allmendinger survived several early multi-car wrecks, hung on through two overtime restarts and powered his way to a victory in the Tennessee Lottery 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway.
Driving the No. 10 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing, Allmendinger collected his second Xfinity Series victory on the season and the 17th of his career. Allmendinger is starting 19th in the sold-out Ally 400 NASCAR Cup Series race.
“I’m kind of old for this,” the 41-year-old NASCAR Cup Series regular joked. “Got to thank all the men and women at Kaulig Racing.”
The 41-year-old California native started 11th and made his way through a race that had seven caution flags fly through the first 70 laps, and eight multi-car wrecks. The 11 caution flags tied a Nashville Superspeedway Xfinity Series record.
Allmendinger held the lead for the last 20 laps, including the two overtime restarts where he held firm on the bottom of the track as the field spread out three- and even four-wide behind him.
“I just needed to get through Turn 1 clean,” Allmendinger said of the final restart. “I love winning on ovals because people doubt me on ovals.”
Riley Herbst was 1.323 seconds behind in second, with Sam Mayer placing third, Austin Hill finishing fourth and Josh Berry taking fifth.
“This is one of those iconic trophies you want to win,” said Allmendinger, who led 25 laps overall, before lifting the traditional Nashville Superspeedway Gibson guitar in Victory Lane. “You never know when you’ll be back here again.”
Ty Gibbs (28 laps led) took Stage 1 before bowing out in a wreck on the first laps of Stage 2. Chandler Smith (race-high 74 laps led) won Stage 2 before finishing 12th.
Allmendinger completed the overtime-aided 196 lap/260 mile event in 2 hours, 40 minutes, 21 seconds, averaging 97.542 mph with 16 cars finishing on the lead lap. Eleven leaders exchanged the lead 17 times.
Fin | Str | Vehicle | Driver | Team | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 11 | 10 | AJ Allmendinger(i) | Bailey Zimmerman - Religiously Chevrolet | 196 |
2 | 5 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Monster Energy Ford | 196 |
3 | 34 | 1 | Sam Mayer | Huck's Market Chevrolet | 196 |
4 | 7 | 21 | Austin Hill | Bennett Transportation Chevrolet | 196 |
5 | 23 | 8 | Josh Berry | Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Chevrolet | 196 |
6 | 21 | 20 | John Hunter Nemechek | Pye Barker Fire and Safety Toyota | 196 |
7 | 6 | 28 | Zane Smith(i) | Blue Oval City Ford | 196 |
8 | 33 | 11 | Daniel Hemric | Cirkul Chevrolet | 196 |
9 | 1 | 0 | Cole Custer | HAAS Automation Ford | 196 |
10 | 10 | 31 | Parker Retzlaff # | FunkAway Chevrolet | 196 |
11 | 13 | 48 | Parker Kligerman | Spiked Light Coolers Chevrolet | 196 |
12 | 2 | 16 | Chandler Smith # | Quick Tie Products Inc. Chevrolet | 196 |
13 | 12 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Hawkins Homes Chevrolet | 196 |
14 | 26 | 25 | Brett Moffitt | SLTC/Lineworker.com Ford | 196 |
15 | 16 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | BRANDT Chevrolet | 196 |
16 | 20 | 26 | Kaz Grala | CRUSH Tropical Punch Toyota | 196 |
17 | 19 | 2 | Sheldon Creed | Whelen Chevrolet | 195 |
18 | 32 | 4 | Kyle Weatherman | Trophy Tractor Chevrolet | 195 |
19 | 14 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | CMRroofing.com Ford | 195 |
20 | 35 | 6 | Brennan Poole | Macc Door Systems Chevrolet | 195 |
21 | 17 | 38 | Joe Graf Jr. | G-Coin Ford | 195 |
22 | 24 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | All South Electric Chevrolet | 195 |
23 | 28 | 78 | Anthony Alfredo | DUDE Wipes Chevrolet | 195 |
24 | 15 | 9 | Brandon Jones | Menards/DuPont Air Filtration Chevrolet | 195 |
25 | 9 | 29 | Kyle Sieg | Peek Pool and Spas Ford | 195 |
26 | 27 | 2 | Blaine Perkins # | Our Motorsports Chevrolet | 194 |
27 | 30 | 45 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Roadrunner Markets/FL Chevrolet | 194 |
28 | 25 | 43 | Ryan Ellis | Keen Parts Chevrolet | 194 |
29 | 22 | 91 | Chad Chastain(i) | Use Your Melon Drive Sober Chevrolet | 194 |
30 | 36 | 35 | David Starr | Kales Truck and Heavy Equipment Chevrolet | 193 |
31 | 37 | 53 | Joey Gase | Sci-Aps Ford | 193 |
32 | 31 | 8 | Mason Massey | BRUNT Ford | 186 |
33 | 29 | 92 | Josh Williams | Dan-O's Seasoning Chevrolet | 111 |
34 | 3 | 18 | Sammy Smith # | Pilot Flying J Toyota | 68 |
35 | 38 | 24 | Connor Mosack | Toyota Genuine Parts Toyota | 61 |
36 | 8 | 77 | Carson Hocevar(i) | Premier Security Chevrolet | 53 |
37 | 4 | 19 | Ty Gibbs(i) | He Gets Us Toyota | 53 |
38 | 18 | 7 | Stefan Parsons | Nelson's Green Brier Chevrolet | 0 |
-- NashvilleSuperspeedway.com --
NASCAR Race Schedule and Tickets
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Sunday, June 25
Ally 400 NASCAR Cup Series race (sold out)
6 p.m. CT, NBC, PRN, Sirius NASCAR Radio
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About Nashville Superspeedway
Nashville Superspeedway, Middle Tennessee’s racing jewel, is a year-round family-friendly destination in one of the fastest-growing regions in the country. The 1.33-mile D-shaped track with 14 degrees of banking has hosted two NASCAR Cup Series races, 24 NASCAR Xfinity Series races, 16 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events and eight Indy Racing League contests. The largest concrete-only track in NASCAR, Nashville Superspeedway is owned by Speedway Motorsports LLC.