AJ Allmendinger plays spoiler, wins the Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway
With NASCAR Playoffs drivers on his tail, AJ Allmendinger kept his cool. The Dinger played the spoiler and took the win at the Roval. William Byron couldn’t make the pass at the end of the race. Kyle Busch couldn’t get close enough to make a move.
An aggressive move on Kyle Busch during a final stage restart gave AJ Allmendinger the lead. From there, he didn’t look back. He was hit with pressure from Ty Gibbs, Byron, Busch – restart after restart, and Allmendinger gets the win.
The track where he dominated so long in the Xfinity Series, AJ Allmendinger now has a win at the Roval in the Cup Series. A fantastic final run from Allmendinger and Kaulig Racing is back in victory lane.
AJ Allmendinger was solid all day long, but patient. He kept his cool as the race played out in the first two stages. He stayed right where he needed to be and then made his move when he had the track position to do so.
This wasn’t a race that went green too long and Allmendinger led the entire time. He had to earn this one with restart after restart. As far as the playoffs were concerned, Allmendinger kept a playoff driver from advancing automatically to the Round of 8. However, it wasn’t too much of a spoiler victory.
AJ Allmendinger blocks Kyle Busch from the Round of 8
It felt like we were going to see two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch make a champion-type move, but it didn’t happen. Busch gave it his all in this race and had a good car to help him. It was just too late. Mistakes earlier in the round couldn’t be made up at the Roval.
Then again, William Byron was really fast at the end of this race. If Byron wanted to push the issue and give Allmendinger a bump, he could have. Byron didn’t need a win and was only looking for extra playoff points if the opportunity popped up to take the lead.
While Byron raced hard, he didn’t force anything. AJ Allmendinger earned the right to be raced cleanly and that’s what Byron did. The thing is, that’s a win and two P2 finishes in a row for the 24 Chevy. He is likely the championship favorite.
With AJ Allmendinger taking the win, Kyle Busch is eliminated. Brad Keselowski, Ross Chastain, and Bubba Wallace were also eliminated in the process.
The Round of 8 (not in points order) will include William Byron, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson, Chris Buescher and Christopher Bell.