AJ Allmendinger not treating Sonoma road course as must-win

With the Sprint Cup Series on break, AJ Allmendinger took the opportunity to go play some golf at the famous Pebble Beach course in Southern California. The getaway partially conceived as a way to keep the 34-year-old’s mind off Sunday’s race at Sonoma Raceway, an event where Allmendinger is considered one of the favorites to win.

Yet while trying to treat Sonoma, located up the coast from Pebble Beach in the Napa Valley area of Northern California, like any other race, the driver for JTG Daugherty Racing is fully aware the significance of this weekend.

“You try and go out there and I try and have the mindset that it’s just another weekend, but we know it’s not,” Allmendinger said.

Sonoma is one of two Sprint Cup road courses annually, and the exact kind of track Allmendinger excels on due to his extensive background in open-wheel racing. And with JTG Daugherty a single-car organization without the same level of resources as the sport’s top organizations -- it has 50 employees compared to hundreds on other teams -- road courses act as a bit of an equalizer where a driver’s talent can overcome a team’s shortcomings.

Thus a Toyota/SaveMart 350 victory would virtually assure Allmendinger a place in the Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff, a notable accomplishment for all involved.

“I feel like even if we are not great that weekend that somehow I can strap it to my back and go out there and get more out of it,” said Allmendinger comparing road courses to ovals. “That is why I enjoy the road courses, which has always been my background. I feel like as a driver you can make just a little bit more of a difference.”

Almendinger’s lone victory occurred at Watkins Glen in 2014, the other road course on the Sprint Cup schedule. But while he’s been fast in seven previous Sonoma starts, results have been lacking with a best finish of seventh.

Last year, Allmendinger qualified on the pole only to fall several laps behind due to a mechanical failure. In 2014, he started second and led 35 laps only to wreck following contact with Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“If you look at my stats, they are not very good just because there is a lot of bad luck,” Allmendinger said. “There are a lot of ups and downs during the race whether it comes with cautions or the way the tires are used there, the strategy. It’s a long ways to get there, but I know when we show up we are going to have a good car and we are going to have a good shot to win it.”

As opposed to years prior, however, Allmendinger enters Sonoma with a different mindset Trailing rookie Ryan Blaney by 27 points for the 16th and final transfer spot, Allmendinger believes a good result Sunday could very well move him provisionally into the playoffs and position himself to make the Chase on points and not by virtue of having won Sonoma or at Watkins Glen in August.

Therefore Allmendinger doesn’t consider Sunday a must-win. Instead of driving aggressively he can let the race playout and come to him, thus alleviating the pressure to perform. When he failed to win at either road course in 2015, he consequently failed to secure a Chase berth.

“It doesn’t have to be an all or nothing scenario, which is has been the last two years,” Allmendinger said. “We go there and have a good weekend and finish second the last two years, it’s great, but it doesn’t do anything for us because we are so far out of the top 16 in points it was win or bust at Sonoma or Watkins Glen.

“No matter how you try to look at it, there is more pressure doing that. I drove like it knowing that I had to win the race to make any kind of difference for our season. This year, of course, the ultimate goal is still to win, but we go finish in the top five it’s a good day. It’s going to be good in points. It’s going to help us out a lot.”

Whether Allmendinger, who’s quick to get down on himself, can maintain such a positive outlook remains to be seen. Because even as he tried to keep his focus off the importance of Sunday, he admits his thoughts regularly drift back to what a victory would mean.

“The struggle is not to make it on the front of my mind,” Allmendinger said. “That is the biggest thing. It will be there on my mind, it’s just how good am I about not making it on the front of my mind until I pull into Sonoma on Friday.”