SONOMA, Calif. (AP) – AJ Allmendinger knows the stakes on Sunday: Win on the road course at Sonoma Raceway and he earns a spot in NASCAR’s championship race.
The year-old qualifying format almost guarantees a race winner a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship field, which Allmendinger capitalized last season. His win at Watkins Glen earned the driver and JTG Daughtery Racing their first Chase berth and was the crowning achievement for one of NASCAR’s smaller teams.
Allmendinger, one of the top road racers in NASCAR, is hoping for the same outcome this year. His first shot comes Sunday on the picturesque 1.99-mile track California track.
“I know the format – if you win, you’re in the Chase,” Allmendinger said Friday. “I know what the prize is. I know if you win, you make the Chase, and that’s so important. But I try not to focus on putting the pressure on that this race is do or die, or Watkins Glen is do or die.”
Statistically, road courses are Allmendinger’s best events.