Allmendinger makes extra work pay off

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. - AJ Allmendinger slid past Justin Allgaier with seven laps to go, then defended his lead through a late restart and two nerve-testing green-white checkered overtime finishes to win Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Road America.

For Allmendinger, it was another step toward rebuilding his racing career after sitting out part of last season because of a violation of NASCAR’s substance-abuse policy. It alsowas a return to victory lane at Road America for Allmendinger, who won at the four-mile road course in central Wisconsin in the Champ Car Series in 2006.

Allgaier finished second, followed by Parker Kligerman, Owen Kelly and Sam Hornish Jr.

Billy Johnson led on a restart with eight to go, but he slid wide in Turn 5 and was passed by Allgaier and Allmendinger. Allmendinger then made the decisive move one lap later, snatching the lead from Allgaier at the top of the hill in Turn 6.

He’d have to defend his lead on three more restarts, fending off a charge from Allgaier with three laps to go and then facing two green-white checkered finishes - NASCAR’s version of overtime.

Allmendinger again took the lead, only to watch another caution come out for Michael Annett’s accident to trigger a second overtime.

With drivers facing concerns about having enough fuel left on the second green white-checkered restart, Allmendinger held on again to take the checkered flag and stop in Turn 5 to celebrate in front of the fans.

Allmendinger started from pole position and led early but made a mistake on lap seven and briefly slipped off the track. He regained control and got back on track but lost two places in the process, going from first to third.

That gave the lead to Johnson, a California native with a background in sports car racing. But Johnson was penalized for entering pit road too fast on lap 14, sending him to the back of the field.

Kligerman then slid off track while in the lead on lap19, allowing Kelly to take the lead with Allmendinger right on his back bumper.

Defending race winner Nelson Piquet Jr. then had a rough moment before the race’s halfway point, plowing into the back of Brian Scott’s car. Piquet’s hood crumpled in the crash, costing him any chance of contention.

Allmendinger then retook the lead on lap 26, bumping his way past Kelly on the exit of Turn 5. Allmendinger pulled away and quickly built a lead of more than two seconds - and then Kelly lost second place when he came to a stop on the back side of the track, apparently out of fuel. After getting a push back to the pits from a safety vehicle, Kelly was able to get back in the race.

Most of the leaders then pitted with 19 laps to go - right at the outer edge of most teams’ fuel windows, making it unclear whether they had enough to make it to the end.

It was a big step for Allmendinger, whose racing career took a wrong turn last year when he failed a NASCAR drug test, resulting in a suspension and the loss of his ride at Penske Racing.

Allmendinger, who said he took a pill offered by a friend that turned out to be Adderall, was reinstated after completing a NASCAR-affiliated recovery program and is getting a limited second chance with the Penske team this year.

NASCAR Nationwide Series results

Saturday At Road America Elkhart Lake, Wis.

Lap length: 4.048 miles (Start position in parentheses) 1. (1) A J Allmendinger, Ford, 55 laps, 0 points 2. (4) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 55, 43 3. (3) Parker Kligerman, Toyota, 55, 42 4. (2) Owen Kelly, Toyota, 55, 41 5. (8) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, 55, 40 6. (9) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 55, 38 7. (13) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 55, 37 8. (17) Cole Whitt, Toyota, 55, 36 9. (22) Elliott Sadler, Toyota, 55, 35 10. (14) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 55, 34 11. (26) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 55, 0 12. (12) Johnny O’Connell, Chevrolet, 55, 32 13. (31) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 55, 31 14. (29) James Buescher, Chevrolet, 55, 0 15. (7) Billy Johnson, Ford, 55, 30 16. (19) Travis Pastrana, Ford, 55, 28 17. (10) Max Papis, Chevrolet, 55, 27 18. (28) Kenny Habul, Toyota, 55, 26 19. (25) Stanton Barrett, Ford, 55, 25 20. (18) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 55, 24 21. (6) Nelson Piquet Jr., Chevrolet, 55, 23 22. (37) Kevin O’Connell, Chevrolet, 55, 22 23. (24) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 55, 21 24. (15) Alex Bowman, Toyota, 55, 20 25. (40) Dexter Stacey, Ford, 55, 19 26. (32) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ford, 55, 18 27. (35) Eric McClure, Toyota, 55, 1728. (34) John Young, Dodge, 55, 16 29. (21) Andrew Ranger, Dodge, 55, 15 30. (11) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 55, 14 31. (27) Kyle Kelley, Chevrolet, 54, 13 32. (16) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 54, 12 33. (23) Mike Bliss, Toyota, overheating, 53, 11 34. (5) Michael McDowell, Toyota, 52, 0 35. (20) Michael Annett, Ford, accident, 50, 9 36. (38) Derek White, Toyota, oil leak, 37, 8 37. (33) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 31, 37, 7 38. (39) Tony Raines, Toyota, rear gear, 20, 6 39. (30) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, engine, 7, 5 40. (36) Jeff Green, Toyota, brakes, 2, 4 RACE STATISTICS AVERAGE SPEED OF RACE WINNER 74.697 mph.

TIME OF RACE 2 hours, 58 minutes, 50 seconds.

MARGIN OF VICTORY 1.372 seconds.

CAUTION FLAGS 8 for 16 laps.

LEAD CHANGES 11 among 7 drivers.

LAP LEADERS A.Allmendinger 1-6; B.Johnson 7-13; O.Kelly 14; P.Kligerman 15-18; O.Kelly 19-25; A.Allmendinger 26-30; S.Hornish Jr.

31-32; J.Buescher 33; A.Allmendinger 34-39;

B.Johnson 40-42; J.Allgaier 43; A.Allmendinger 44-55.

TOP 10 IN POINTS 1. R.Smith, 507; 2. J.Allgaier, 479; 3. S.Hornish Jr., 477; 4. A.Dillon, 462; 5. E.Sadler, 459; 6. P.Kligerman, 447; 7.

K.Larson, 440; 8. B.Scott, 439; 9. B.Vickers, 433; 10. T.Bayne, 421.

Sports, Pages 24 on 06/23/2013

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