Allmendinger’s road to Road America win

To say that AJ Allmendinger has had a long road back to a seat in a NASCAR racecar for Penske Racing would be an understatement.

About this time one year ago, Allmendinger failed a drug test issued by NASCAR.

The rest, they say, is history. Some history Allmendinger would surely like to forget.

His weekend at Road America (Elkhart Lake, Wisc.) not only proved to be a reminder to Allmendinger, but also a moment of putting the past behind him and moving forward.

After winning the pole prior to Saturday’s Johnsonville Sausages 200, Allmendinger was one of many pre-race favorites in a field filled with drivers from diverse backgrounds tackling the 4-mile road course.

From the start of the race, Allmendinger showed his pole was no fluke as he led the opening six-laps of the race before a slip in turn-five dropped him back to third.

Up until the 30-lap mark, Allmendinger seemed to be conserving his Penske Racing Ford for the end of the race, knowing he had a car that would be wheeled into victory lane.

A win the Los Gatos, Calif. native desperately wanted.

When push came to shove, Allmendinger charged to the lead once on lap 34 only to lose the top-spot just five laps later when contact from Billy Johnson forced him off the track.

Restarting fourth, Allmendinger quickly made his way to the back-bumper of Johnson, forced him off the racing line and retook the lead on the lap 44 of 50-scheduled laps.

Through a slew of late-race caution flags which included two green-white-checkered finishes, Allmendinger withstood multiple challenges from Justin Allgaier and Brian Vickers to win Saturday’s Nationwide Series race at Road America.

“They weren’t fun,” Allmendinger said after the race about all of the late-race restarts. “I had a lot of thoughts in my head about how bad that (stunk) having to do that. But it’s part of the rules.”

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Barry Albert

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