Allmendinger Nets Top 10 at Watkins Glen

The No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Kroger ClickList Chevrolet SS rolled off for the I Love New York 355 At the Glen from the 7th position. Driver AJ Allmendinger was looking to find a place in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs by winning a race where he was one of the favorites and had taken the checkers before.
From the drop of the green flag it looked as though this might not be the day the team had hoped. By the end of lap 1, the No. 47 had been shuffled out of line and had to settle back in to the 23rd position. Hard racing and hard work found Allmendinger back up into 8th at the end of stage 1.
Pit stop strategy put them back further in the running order, but the Kroger ClickList Chevrolet SS worked its way back up to 10th by the end of stage 2, earning the team some stage points.
Crew Chief Ernie Cope kept the No. 47 out for the start of the final stage, forgoing a pit stop during the caution period. This kept Allmendinger in 10th at the restart. The No. 47 machine got as high as 8th before pitting one last time for 4 tires and fuel.
Moving steadily through the field, Allmendinger got the No. 47 up to 12th position with 32 laps remaining. Saving fuel would cost a couple of spots and then gain them a couple of spots as fuel strategy began to play out in the closing laps.
Some of the drivers inside of the top 10 began to pit for fuel inside of 10 laps to go, gaining Allmendinger spots inside the top 10 as they did. Although it was not the victory that the JTG Daugherty Racing team had hoped for, they did come home with a solid 9th place finish.
From Watkins Glen, it is on to Michigan for the Pure Michigan 400 at 3pm EDT where the No. 47 team looks to find a win and find their way into the MENCS playoffs.

Shane Burton
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