Bristol II Race Recap

AJ ALLMENDINGER
No. 43 Valvoline Ford Fusion

· AJ Allmendinger started Saturday's event at Bristol Motor Speedway from the 10th spot
· Allmendinger finished the night in the 31st position
· The driver holds down 22nd place in the point standings as the series returns to Atlanta Motor Speedway

Race Summary: AJ Allmendinger lined up his No. 43 Valvoline Ford Fusion in the 10th position for the start of Saturday night's event at Bristol Motor Speedway, his fifth top-10 qualifying effort of the season and third in four weeks. Almost immediately after the drop of the green flag, he radioed to crew chief Mike Shiplett that the car was extremely loose.

Allmendinger remained in the top 15 as the first caution flag of the evening flew at Lap 57. Shiplett called his driver into the pits for four fresh tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment and the crew sent him back out to the track for the Lap 62 restart in the 16th spot after several teams opted for only two fresh tires.

Allmendinger continued to struggle with his race car and sustained damage to the rear of the car just past the halfway point. Extra time in the pits was needed to repair the damage and Allmendinger went one lap down during the process. At the halfway point of the race, the No. 43 machine stood in the 29th position. Shiplett and his Valvoline crew never gave up and worked hard to get the handling of the car more to Allmendinger's liking throughout the remainder of the race, but could never quite get it to where it needed to be.

When the checkered flag flew after a long night at Bristol Motor Speedway, Allmendinger held down 31st place. The driver remains in the 22nd place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings heading to Atlanta Motor Speedway in two weeks.

Credit - Richard Petty Motorsports PR