NASCAR
AJ Allmendinger Triumphant on Charlotte Roval as Playoff Upset
CONCORD, N.C. – Still unsure about his driving future, AJ Allmendinger is back in Cup Series victory lane. The Kaulig Racing No. 16 team put an exclamation point on a dominant second-half run at the Charlotte Roval, earning Allmendinger’s third career win. In the midst of Playoff elimination drama, it was a non-championship team taking home the trophy.
Tyler Reddick led the entirety of Stage 1, vaulting above the tentative cut line after starting on pole. His teammate Bubba Wallace followed him to the first race break caution flag.
Road course ace Chase Elliott would soon find the lead in Stage 2 and build a commanding nine-plus second lead. The 9 would win the Stage under caution, after Elliott narrowly avoided pitting right after a yellow flew.
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In a must-win scenario, Kyle Busch started Stage 3 on point but soon lost the top spot to AJ Allmendinger. The Kaulig Racing No. 16 soon built up their own large lead, and never relinquished it on track. Aside from green flag pit stops, Allmendinger led the remainder of the race from lap 58 onwards. The 16 retook P1 on lap 77 and even five restarts could not keep him at bay.
Kyle Busch and William Byron both threw everything they had at Allmendinger, but the renowned road course veteran never stumbled.
The final green flag flew with 10 laps to go, pitting Allmendinger and Busch door-to-door again. The 8 had a hard time firing off, ceding the runner-up spot to William Byron. As hard as he drove those final laps in the No. 24, Byron’s seventh win of the season was not to be. Rather, it was AJ Allmendinger taking Kaulig Racing back to victory lane for his third career triumph.
“I hate crying right now, but it’s a fricking Cup race man!” Allmendinger said. “You never know when it’s going to happen again. Let’s go!!! Come on! This is why you do it. This is the only reason you do it. You fight. All the blood, sweat, tears, everybody at Kaulig Racing has just been such… I’d say a down year, but up-and-down year. It’s our second year in the Cup Series.”
Allmendinger winning on the Roval is far from a new occurrence; he’s won the last four Xfinity Series races on the Charlotte track. Five consecutive years have now seen Allmendinger take home a trophy in either Roval Playoff elimination race. 2023 now has him play postseason upset by snatching the checkers away from the 12 contenders.
Behind Allmendinger and Byron, the top-10 finishers were Busch, Ty Gibbs, Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, Chris Buescher, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain. Hear from some of these drivers below.
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Failing to capitalize in his do-or-die scenario, Kyle Busch is one of the four eliminated from the Playoffs after the Roval. Brad Keselowski, Ross Chastain and Bubba Wallace join him on this list. See the reseeded points for the Round of 8 here.
The Round of 8 begins next week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The South Point 400 will go green Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. One driver’s hand of cards will come up a winner, putting them within reach of the 2023 championship.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Peter Stratta/TSJSports
