An offseason restructuring within JTG Daugherty Racing paid dividends with AJ Allmendinger driving to an impressive second-place finish Sunday at Martinsville Speedway.
AJ Allmendinger comes up just short of surprise Martinsville win
It wasn’t a win, but in some respects it felt like one for AJ Allmendinger on Sunday.
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After an underwhelming 2015 campaign that saw the midsize single-car team fail to build off scoring its first victory and earning a Chase for the Sprint Cup berth the year before, JTG Daugherty hired Ernie Cope as competition director and Randall Burnett as crew chief. It was a series of moves that enthused Allmendinger, who admittedly was frustrated with how last season unfolded.
“We weren’t where we wanted to be about six months ago,” Allmendinger said. “We brought in Randall Burnett and Ernie Cope and so many different people.
“I’m trying my butt off. I didn’t like myself last year. I didn’t like who I was for the team. I was frustrated. I want to be better for these guys — guys that when they step up, they make me better.”
Allmendinger nearly came through Sunday. With a car setup for long green flag runs, he spent the majority of the STP 500 in the top 10 and felt he had a chance to catch leader Kyle Busch over the final laps. But a caution with 15 circuits remaining thwarted Allmendinger’s momentum and though lined up third on the subsequent restart, he couldn’t catch Busch, the defending Sprint Cup champion.
The runner-up was Allmendinger’s best result since winning August 2014 at Watkins Glen International.
“Came up a little bit short, it’s pretty cool to be racing Kyle Busch for the win here though,” Allmendinger said. “... It was a lot of fun. I passed Jimmie Johnson like five times at Martinsville — that is pretty fricking cool.”
And Martinsville was not an outlier, rather the continuation of JTG Daugherty’s improved performance through the early portion of the season. Allmendinger’s second-place finish gave him consecutive top 10s, after an eighth in the March 20 event at Auto Club Speedway. He ranks 12th in points after six races.
“We’re getting there,” Allmendinger said. “There’s ups and downs. “This is a long season. The biggest thing, especially with a team like ours, is when you have a good race car, you’ve got to capitalize on it. Fortunately today we were able to do that.”
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