By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
It took nearly 15 years and more than 500 national NASCAR starts, but AJ Allmendinger has now won on an oval track.
Taking the lead with 37 laps to go in Saturday’s Echo Park 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Allmendinger’s No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet took off with the clean air and held on to win the eighth round of the Xfinity Series season.
The win, his second with Kaulig in the last nine months, was his fourth in the Xfinity Series and first ever on an oval track.
“Oh my God, I won on an oval! You like that,” Allmendinger shouted as he exited the car following the victory. “I love you baby. I love you mom and dad. Matt Kaulig, I really love you. Matt, you’re the man. Let’s party.”
Saturday was his second start with the team in 2020, finishing 10th last week at Bristol Motor Speedway. With no concrete schedule for the No. 16 entry this season, Allmendinger is glad to be making the most of his time in the series.
And thank you to everyone for the congrats messages. Means so much to me! https://t.co/iTXEdgMiYC
— AJ Allmendinger (@AJDinger) June 7, 2020
Exiting pit road under caution in the fourth position with 38 to go, opportunity landed in 38-year-old’s lap when the top three runners all sped on pit road. This gave the No. 16 the race lead, and he never looked back.
“These cars were awesome,” he said. “I was just trying to figure it out. It’s Atlanta so you’re just trying to figure out how much tire to use early. The car was awesome on long runs. Car was better than the driver early, especially. Once I got in the lead, I just tried to hit my marks. That can be hard to do.”
His first three Xfinity wins came on road courses (Charlotte Roval, Mid-Ohio and Road America) while his lone NASCAR Cup Series victory came at the Watkins Glen road course in 2014.
“I just wanted to win on an oval,” he said. “There were definitely several opportunities in the Cup car to win on an oval but it never worked out. I wanted to win on an oval (where) we really had to drive and get after it.”
https://twitter.com/mattdracing/status/1269401283695390720
"Oh my GOD! I won on an OVAL!"
Our own @AJDinger came home the big winner in Saturday's @NASCAR_Xfinity Series race at @AMSUpdates, and kissed the camera. pic.twitter.com/rHrR0kWWUS
— NASCAR on USA (@NASCARonUSA) June 6, 2020
Today was a good day.
Two races at @KauligRacing with @AJDinger, two wins 🏁🏁 #nascar pic.twitter.com/TGwA8c4MWn
— Justin Fiedler (@Justin_Fiedler) June 7, 2020