It's official: AJ Allmendinger is no longer the Xfinity Series road-course king

It seems Father Time - or in this case, Shane van Gisbergen - has finally claimed one of NASCAR's best road-course racers, marking the end of an era in which AJ Allmendinger couldn't be beat in the Xfinity Series on road courses. 

Known as a road-course ace, all three of Allmendinger's Cup Series wins have come on road courses. In the Xfinity Series 11 of his 17 victories have come on road courses and he's usually the outright favorite whenever NASCAR turns both right and left. Shane van Gisbergen's upset win in Chicago last summer, however, has seen a changing of the guard of sorts in the Kaulig Racing stable – and Allmendinger's slow decline has many believing that the 42 year-old has lost his touch on road courses. 

It's not as if Allmendinger has regressed at a quick clip – he won the Cup Series race at the Charlotte Roval last fall and currently sits sixth in Xfinity Series points standings – but seeing a man who was once invincible on road courses become vulnerable is a shocking sight for fans accustomed to watching Allmendinger in victory lane. 

van Gisbergen's meteoric rise to NASCAR superstar has seemingly come at the expense of Allmendinger, as the only road-course race that Allmendinger has bested SVG in was Circuit of the Americas in March, where Allmendinger's 10th place effort only trumped van Gisbergen due to a post-race penalty that relegated the latter to the back of the pack. At Portland one week ago, Allmendinger watched as van Gisbergen drove to victory, having to settle for a fourth-place finish himself. 

At Sonoma, Allmendinger ran inside the top five for much of the night, before a spin off the front bumper Sheldon Creed sent him back as far as 23rd. He eventually recovered to 17th, but it was small consolation in a race that Allmendinger never once grabbed control of. 

While just three races may not be the best judge of who the king of the road is in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, it's clear to everyone that a change of command is at least in the offing, if not already complete.