NSCS: IMPROVED QUALIFYING BOOSTS ALLMENDINGER

REID SPENCER/NASCAR WIRE SERVICE

The numbers tell the story.

AJ Allmendinger finished 22nd in the final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings last year. Through the first seven races this season, the driver of the No. 47 JTG/Daugherty Racing Chevrolet is 15th.

Part of the improvement can be attributed to the burgeoning simpatico between Allmendinger and new crew chief Randall Burnett. But much of the credit also goes to an improved qualifying program.

Over 36 races last year, Allmendinger posted an average starting position of 21.6. With his ninth-place qualifying effort on Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway, this year’s average improved to 16.9.

Since Daytona, in each of the seven knockout qualifying sessions, Allmendinger has advanced at least to the second round, and on three occasions, including Friday’s time trials, he has made it to the final round, ensuring a top-12 starting spot.

At Bristol, that’s particularly important, given the speed of the track and how quickly back markers tend to get lapped.

“It’s a real big deal around here,” Allmendinger agreed. “Especially, if early in the race it can go green for a while – If it does and the leader puts down a lot of lapped cars, it kind of just ruins the rest of your race. Starting up front is a big deal.

“We’ve got to get the car a little bit more comfortable in race trim to make sure we stay up there, but anytime, especially, on these short tracks you can start up front, it just makes that first half of the race a lot easier. It’s like, if you get through the first three quarters on the lead lap, it just seems like, even if you’re only half-decent, you can still get a really good finish out of it, especially around here.”

Allmendinger was 20th fastest in Saturday’s first practice session but improved to 16th during Happy Hour.