Ignoring heightened expectations, AJ Allmendinger treating Sonoma like any other race

With what a potential victory could signify, you’d think AJ Allmendinger and JTG Daugherty Racing would have Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Sonoma Raceway circled on its calendar.

And yet, even though Allmendinger is perhaps NASCAR’s best current road course racer and a win would virtually secure him a second straight Chase for the Sprint Cup berth, there is no calendar bearing a giant circle.

Even if the last time NASCAR’s top division took to a road course, it was Allmendinger, earning he and JTG Daugherty’s first Cup win at Watkins Glen (the only other road course on the schedule) in August.

“Of course with my background in karting and open-wheel cars, I know road courses are going to be a better opportunity to win,” Allmendinger told SB Nation in a phone interview promoting sponsor Hungry Jack. “That win last year at Watkins Glen gave myself a huge confidence boost, and the team, and we know that on the road courses we have a shot.

“But at the same time, I don’t want to say, ‘This is it. This is the end all, be all. That if we don’t win those, it’s not a good year and we’re not going to make the Chase.’”

The reality, however, is without a win Sunday or Aug. 9 at Watkins Glen, Allmendinger almost certainly won’t be in the Chase again. As inconsistency has him 22nd in points and sporting an average finish of 22.7 this season, numbers that make a playoff wildcard bid a long shot.

And unlike Furniture Row Racing, another midsize single-car team that won June 7 at Pocono Raceway, JTG Daugherty doesn’t yet have the infrastructure in place to consistently contend for victories on speedways.

Therefore, the best chance at victory lays on the road courses, where the field is largely equalized and a greater premium is placed on a drivers’ ability to navigate multiple right and left turns, a skill Allmendinger is well versed in from his extensive time spent in Indy cars.

“I’d be lying if I said going into Sonoma, that my confidence level doesn’t raise a little, and I think to myself that I can be the guy here and go out and win,” Allmendinger said.

Despite the significance of what Sunday could potentially represent, JTG Daugherty Racing have placed no additional emphasis on Sonoma. A testing ban NASCAR enacted over the offseason prohibited the No. 47 team from getting in extra laps on the Northern California track as they did one year ago. And the testing paid off, as in the race Allmendinger led 25 laps before Dale Earnhardt Jr. squeezed him into the wall. He finished 37th.

Allmendinger’s plan is to look at Sonoma or Watkins no differently for fear of “setting himself up for failure.” The plan this weekend is to have the same mindset as he would for any other race.

“I want to make those two races standout from the other 34 (non-road course) races,” Allmendinger said. “If we go and do our job on any given weekend, then we have a shot to win.”