A.J. Allmendinger entered the NASCAR weekend at Iowa Speedway hoping to take home two trophies. However, his Goodyear tires had other plans, and they made for two short races for Allmendinger.
In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Allmendinger is battling for the series championship. While comfortably above the Xfinity Series playoff cutline, a win would lock him into the postseason and give him much needed playoff points.
Unfortunately, his race on Saturday came to an early end, as the No. 16 Camaro blew a right front tire and sent Allmendinger hard into the turn two wall on Lap 33. The crash relegated Allmendinger from 10th in the running order to a 37th place finish, 218 laps down.
Problems for the No. 16 exiting Turn 4. pic.twitter.com/XvTlspK0PO
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) June 15, 2024
Allmendinger sits 10th in the Xfinity Series' playoff standings after 15 races, 60 points above the cutline. There are 11 races remaining the Xfinity Series regular season.
On Sunday, Allmendinger had a chance at redemption in the NASCAR Cup Series race. Rolling off from the 18th starting spot, Allmendinger had slipped to 27th by Lap 50.
On Lap 52, however, the second caution of the race flew for Allmendinger, as the No. 16 Camaro had once more fallen victim to a tire failure which sent Allmendinger hard into the Turn 2 wall.
⚠️ Caution for the 16, he blew a right front and got into the wall
— Kaulig Racing (@KauligRacing) June 16, 2024
He’s bringing it back to pit road
With finishes of 37th and 36th in the weekend's races, Allmendinger scored a total of three points at Iowa. Of the 600 laps he was scheduled to run between the two events, he only completed 86, or about 75.25 miles of a planned 525 in total.
While the Cup Series result doesn't affect Allmendinger himself in the Cup Series points standings, it did send the No. 16 car down to 33rd in the Cup Series owner standings.
Allmendinger is aiming for a better result when he takes on the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series on Saturday. However, he will be relieved of double duty, as Ty Dillon will drive the No. 16 car in the Cup Series race.
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