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A.J. Allmendinger scores yet another road course win
Want to win an easy bet? Just pick A.J. Allmendinger to win a NASCAR road course race.
Allmendinger dominated Saturday’s Xfinity Series event on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, leading all but twenty laps from the pole to win for the third time in 2022. All three victories came on road courses with COTA and Portland being the other, while he now has eleven national series road victories to his name including two in the Cup Series (the second of which was the inaugural Cup race on the Indianapolis RC).
“God, I love this place,” remarked Allmendinger. “I knew Bowman was really good at the long runs, and so I tried to gap him as much as I could. God, I love Indy!”
A trio of Cup drivers hoped to challenge Allmendinger ahead of their race on Sunday, but Alex Bowman, Ross Chastain, and Chase Briscoe respectively finished a distant second, fourth, and fifth. Bowman was making his first Xfinity start since Michigan in 2018, while his last road race in the series was an eleventh at Mid-Ohio as a rookie in 2013.
“I probably was a little too nice on that last restart,” Bowman commented. “I knew he was going to be better than us firing off. At the end, we were definitely running him down, just not enough laps.”
Despite the top five, Chastain once again made enemies with someone else when he turned Sheldon Creed as they fought for fourth. Creed was fighting for a playoff position amid a tumultuous rookie campaign and ultimately had to settle for twenty-third after having to climb back through the order. Chastain has been the topic of scrutiny by many fans and peers for his driving style, most notably feuding with Denny Hamlin at the Cup level.
Three-time road course winner Ty Gibbs overcame a spin on lap 25 to finish eighth. Amusingly, fellow Monster Energy-sponsored driver Riley Herbst spun later on the lap.
“I just made some mistakes that didn’t help us out,” said Gibbs. “It’s just frustrating and something I shouldn’t be doing.”
Race results
| Finish | Start | Number | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Status |
| 1 | 1 | 16 | A.J. Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 62 | Running |
| 2 | 4 | 17 | Alex Bowman* | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 62 | Running |
| 3 | 10 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 62 | Running |
| 4 | 18 | 92 | Ross Chastain* | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 62 | Running |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | Chase Briscoe* | SS-Green Light Racing | Ford | 62 | Running |
| 6 | 3 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 62 | Running |
| 7 | 5 | 1 | Sam Mayer | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 62 | Running |
| 8 | 2 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 62 | Running |
| 9 | 9 | 21 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 62 | Running |
| 10 | 7 | 9 | Noah Gragson | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 62 | Running |
| 11 | 11 | 10 | Landon Cassill | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 62 | Running |
| 12 | 14 | 36 | Alex Labbé | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 62 | Running |
| 13 | 12 | 45 | Sage Karam | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 62 | Running |
| 14 | 8 | 8 | Josh Berry | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 62 | Running |
| 15 | 36 | 19 | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 62 | Running |
| 16 | 17 | 2 | Brett Moffitt | Our Motorsports | Chevrolet | 62 | Running |
| 17 | 30 | 26 | Santino Ferrucci | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 62 | Running |
| 18 | 26 | 23 | Anthony Alfredo | Our Motorsports | Chevrolet | 62 | Running |
| 19 | 29 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing | Chevrolet | 62 | Running |
| 20 | 27 | 6 | Ty Dillon* | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | 62 | Running |
| 21 | 34 | 4 | Bayley Currey | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | 62 | Running |
| 22 | 16 | 11 | Daniel Hemric | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 62 | Running |
| 23 | 15 | 2 | Sheldon Creed | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 62 | Running |
| 24 | 19 | 88 | Miguel Paludo | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 62 | Running |
| 25 | 22 | 8 | Andy Lally | SS-Green Light Racing | Ford | 62 | Running |
| 26 | 20 | 68 | Austin Dillon* | Brandonbilt Motorsports | Chevrolet | 62 | Running |
| 27 | 31 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing | Ford | 62 | Running |
| 28 | 35 | 38 | Patrick Gallagher | RSS Racing | Ford | 62 | Running |
| 29 | 23 | 91 | Preston Pardus | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 62 | Running |
| 30 | 28 | 34 | Kyle Weatherman | Jesse Iwuji Motorsports | Chevrolet | 62 | Running |
| 31 | 32 | 5 | Scott Heckert | B.J. McLeod Motorsports | Chevrolet | 62 | Running |
| 32 | 24 | 48 | Kaz Grala* | Big Machine Racing Team | Chevrolet | 61 | Running |
| 33 | 25 | 31 | Myatt Snider | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 61 | Running |
| 34 | 38 | 47 | Brandon Brown | Mike Harmon Racing | Chevrolet | 58 | Suspension |
| 35 | 13 | 18 | Bubba Wallace* | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 28 | Engine |
| 36 | 33 | 44 | Ryan Ellis | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 17 | Accident |
| 37 | 37 | 35 | Parker Kligerman* | Emerling-Gase Motorsports | Toyota | 11 | Accident |
| 38 | 21 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Our Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0 | Track Bar |
| DNQ | 66 | J.J. Yeley | MBM Motorsports | Toyota | |||
| DNQ | 78 | Josh Williams | B.J. McLeod Motorsports | Chevrolet | |||
| DNQ | 13 | Brad Pérez | MBM Motorsports | Toyota | |||
| DNQ | 90 | Mason Filippi | DGM Racing | Chevrolet |
* – Ineligible for points
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