Allmendinger Bests Byron for Second COTA Triumph

Photo Credit to Logan Riely/Getty Images for NASCAR

NASCAR

Allmendinger Remains King of the Road in COTA

AUSTIN, Texas – Starting from the pole, AJ Allmendinger was heavily favored coming into the COTA Xfinity race. The defending Pit Boss 250 winner, AJ was aiming for another win with Kaulig Racing in the No. 10. The winningest road course racer in NASCAR history put on a clinic, recovering from a mid-race setback to beat William Byron to the checkers.

The polesitter left little doubt to who everyone else needed to beat in the early laps. Allmendinger led wire-to-wire in Stage 1, opting to pit afterwards. An immediate caution would bury the 10 in the running order though, with the restart seeing another setback. On the run into turn one, a spin happened ahead of Allmendinger, forcing him to stop. This only sent the 10 even further back, putting him on the offensive for the remainder of the race.

Stage 2 would go to Sheldon Creed, with the 2 flexing his muscles as a new contender. Allmendinger eventually caught Creed for the lead with 14 laps to go, and things got physical. Racing through the stadium section, the 10 got into the 2, spinning Creed out. This gave Allmendinger the lead once again narrowly over the 17 of William Byron.

Despite matching him blow for blow and being on his bumper at the white flag, Byron couldn’t get by Allmendinger. Through the esses for the final time, the 17 got loose and lost time, sealing another road course win for AJ. This win adds to Allmendinger’s already-impressive road course resume, as his 11th Xfinity Series victory.

“William Byron might be one of the best in the sport right now,” Allmendinger said. “We see that, with all of the Cup races he’s won. I knew it was going to be tough, just trying to fight to get back up to the front. I hate that we had contact with Sheldon (Creed), I just got under him, I felt like I was there, he turned and I was trying to stay off of him. I hate that happened, but so proud of everyone at Kaulig Racing. The Celsius Chevy was really hooked up. All of the damage we had definitely hurt the car.”

“I spent a lot of years not winning anything. I’m going to celebrate every one like it’s my last one, you never know. As much pressure that I put on myself, I’m always going to try to live up to it. We fought hard today, this was such a team effort. My pit crew was awesome, just so proud of everybody. I’m so lucky to be a part of this Kaulig Racing team.”

Behind Allmendinger and Byron, the top-10 were: Ty Gibbs, Sammy Smith, Justin Allgaier, Daniel Hemric, Sam Mayer, Josh Berry, Sheldon Creed, and Riley Herbst. Smith, Allgaier, Hemric, and Mayer all qualified for next week’s Dash4Cash race, one of them will win $100,000 thanks to Xfinity.

Up next for the Xfinity Series is the short track in the Commonwealth, Richmond Raceway. Coverage of the Toyota Care 250 begins Saturday at 1:00 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Last year this race saw teammates tangle on the last lap, can we see similar drama again? 

Written by Peter Stratta

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Photo Credit Logan Riely/Getty Images for NASCAR