Getty AJ Allmendinger celebrates his ninth road course win.
Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger won the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 30. This win extended his record that no other driver will likely break.
The Dinger entered the race weekend at IMS with eight road course wins in the Xfinity Series. This was already the record considering that Marcos Ambrose and Austin Cindric were the closest with five road course wins each. Allmendinger added his ninth win — fourth in the past five road course races — and further extended his record.
The only active Xfinity Series drivers within reach of Allmendinger are Justin Allgaier and Ty Gibbs, who each have three road course wins in their careers. Barring any unexpected streaks, it remains unlikely that either will chase down Allmendinger. Gibbs will be full-time in the Cup Series in the near future while Allgaier hasn’t won at a road course since the 2018 season.
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Allmendinger Can Join a Historic List
GettyAJ Allmendinger (front) leads at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Now that Allmendinger has kissed the iconic bricks for the first time in the Xfinity Series, he can pursue a different objective. He will have the opportunity to join Joey Logano on a historic list by winning the Cup Series race.
Allmendinger, who won the Cup Series race at the IMS road course in 2021, will pull double-duty in 2022. He will take over the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro in the Cup Series race, and he will try to become the second driver to sweep a road course weekend.
Logano is the last driver to achieve this goal. He drove the No. 12 Team Penske Ford during the Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen International on August 8, 2015. Logano started on the pole, led 39 laps, and held off Brad Keselowski to secure the win.
One day later, Logano returned to the track. He drove his No. 22 Team Penske Ford from the 16th position, and he only led one lap before beating Kyle Busch and the rest of the Cup Series drivers to capture his second trophy of the weekend.
Allmendinger Secured Crucial Playoff Points
GettyKaulig Racing celebrates a win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Whether Allmendinger sweeps the weekend remains unknown, but he has already achieved an important goal. He won his third race of the weekend and added more playoff points to his total.
Allmendinger entered the weekend with the points lead, but he had fewer playoff points than Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson, and Josh Berry. However, he moved up the leaderboard with his third win of the season.
Allmendinger secured five more playoff points, which took him to 17 overall. He is four playoff points behind Allgaier while Gragson and Gibbs both sit in a tie with 23 playoff points each.
The veteran driver will now have another opportunity to add more playoff points to his total. There is one more road course race in the regular season — August 20 at Watkins Glen International — and he will enter the weekend as one of the favorites along with Gibbs.
Once the playoffs begin, Allmendinger will look forward to another road course on the schedule. The Xfinity Series heads to the Charlotte Roval on October 8 for the fourth time, and Allmendinger will once again be the favorite. He is the only Xfinity Series driver to reach Victory Lane at the Charlotte road course.
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AJ Allmendinger Extends Unbreakable Record at IMS