SPEEDWAY, Ind. — AJ Allmendinger redeemed himself for last year’s misfortune in the Penzoil 150, by winning the same race a year later on Saturday.
Allmendinger won the Cup Series race on Sunday last year, making today’s win his second ever at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“There’s just nowhere better. For me at least, there’s no place better to win than Indy,” Allmendinger said. “I don’t care if it’s IMSA, Xfinity, IndyCar, Cup, I don’t care if it’s Summer Shootout — You can’t beat winning a race at IMS.”
Cup Series drivers Alex Bowman and Justin Allgaier came home second and third.
Allmendinger ran into some trouble early in the race with a bad pit stop costing him lots of positions. Coming from as low as 24th, Allmendinger fought back through the field to eventually retake the lead and never relinquish it.
The win is Allmendinger’s third this season and his ninth win on a road course at any level in NASCAR. He also extends his lead in the regular season points standings.
Allmendinger is one of eight drivers who raced in the Penzoil 150 that will also race in the Verizon 200 on Sunday.
“No matter what happens tomorrow, this is awesome,” he added. “But we’ll wake up tomorrow and try to win a Cup race.”
