SRT Motorsports - Sprint Cup Race Recap - Sonoma

Allmendinger Leads Team Dodge with Ninth Place Finish at Sonoma  
Keselowski Remains in Top 10 in Season Point Standings

June 23, 2012 , Sonoma, Calif. -  A.J. Allmendinger led Team Dodge with a ninth-place finish in the Save Mart 350 on the Sonoma road course today, his second top 10 of the season.

“It was a pretty good day for the Shell/Pennzoil Dodge team,” said Allmendinger. “I was happy with the way I drove. I didn’t make a lot of mistakes and cost us anything. The car was really amazing in some spots and then there were spots where it just didn’t react.”

Allmendinger (No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T) started 17th. By lap 48 he was running eighth when he entered pit road for routine fuel and service. On lap 70, the No. 29 of Kevin Harvick appeared to run out of fuel. In anticipation of a caution flag, Crew Chief Todd Gordon called his driver to pit lane for service. The yellow never came. As a result, the No. 22 fell back to 26th in the field.

Allmendinger had worked his way back inside the top-15 when the first caution of the race waved on lap 83. When the second caution appeared on lap 106 and extended the race beyond the scheduled distance for a green-white-checkered finish, the No. 22 Dodge was running 10th. Most of the leaders opted to stay out under this caution and maintain track position.

“The caution with 20 to go was a good opportunity to reset the field and we felt like we had a decent race car from there,” said Gordon. “If the last caution doesn’t come maybe we gain another few spots.”

“It was tough,” said Allmendinger. “A couple of those guys got me at the end so you can argue either way. You’re screwed in that ninth-10th range. If you’re 14th you come and pit for tires. If you’re sixth you know not to pit. We were in the middle and decided to keep our track position.”

Penske Racing teammate Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T) rebounded from an early mistake on pit road to finish 12th and hang on to 10th-place in the Sprint Cup Series championship standings.

During routine green flag stop on Lap 30, Keselowski revved the motor on pit exit, stalling his Dodge on pit lane. After the Blue Deuce pit crew push-started him back to power, the time lost for the extended stop dropped the Penske driver to 24th in the field.

Keselowski would use the next 52 laps to gain back twelve spots by time the race’s first caution was displayed on lap 83.

“I stalled the car coming out of the pits,” Keselowski said. “That’s my fault. I just stalled the car. The car didn’t take off really well out of the box and I just couldn’t keep it revved up enough to get going. It cost us a lot of spots. Add the long green flag run and you just had to be patient and wait of the second round of pit stops to start. We fought back hard with the Miller Lite Dodge. We probably had a top-10 car if not for the mistake.”

Robby Gordon (No. 7 MAPAEI Dodge Charger R/T) used early pit strategy on Lap 10 to map out his last 100 laps of the race. Gordon’s lap times matched the leaders but his track position deep in the field – he started 34th – stalled the veteran road racer. He worked his way up to 28th on Lap 73 but his racecar had developed a serious vibration which forced him out of the race. He finished 39th.

“Our car was fast all day,” said Gordon. “We played the pit strategy game knowing that it was going to be a three-stop race. It would have worked because we had enough speed in the car to run with the leaders.”

Race Results
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Save Mart 350
Sonoma
June 24, 2012
1. Clint Bowyer
2. Tony Stewart
3. Kurt Busch
4. Brian Vickers
5. Jimmie Johnson
6. Jeff Gordon
7. Greg Biffle
8. Marcos Ambrose
9. A.J. ALLMENDINGER
10. Joey Logano
12. BRAD KESELOWSKI
39. ROBBY GORDON

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Point Standings
(After 16 of 36 events)
1. Matt Kenseth 596
2. Greg Biffle -11
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -14
4. Jimmie Johnson -25
5. Tony Stewart -63
6. Kevin Harvick -64
7. Clint Bowyer -67
8. Denny Hamlin -73
9. Martin Truex Jr. -76
10. BRAD KESELOWSKI -106
23. A.J. ALLMENDINGER -231

-- 30 --



Contact Information

Download Video Embed