CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY RACE REPORT
Race Summary: AJ Allmendinger started Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 in the 18th position. Right from the drop of the green flag, the No. 43 Best Buy Credit Card Ford Fusion began maneuvering through traffic. By Lap 20, Allmendinger had worked his way into the 13th spot.
While Allmendinger maintained a top-15 position throughout the opening segment of the 400-lap event, he relayed to his crew chief Mike Shiplett that his Ford was pretty loose. Shiplett and the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports crew got to work making chassis and air pressure adjustments to the car during pit stops under the first two caution periods of the night.
At the halfway point of the race, the team was focused on how the track had changed from racing under the sun to under the lights and made changes accordingly throughout the evening. Allmendinger reported the car was much better after a number of those adjustments, but was in need of more rear grip. The driver was running 20th as the race approached the 300-lap mark. Allmendinger brought his No. 43 Ford to pit road at Lap 301 and emerged from a four-tire and fuel stop in 13th place. In the remaining laps of the 600-mile race, Allmendinger kept the No. 43 Best Buy Credit Card Ford in the top-15 before ending the season’s longest race in the 14th position.
The following is the finish position of the other Richard Petty Motorsports drivers:
Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 9 Budweiser Ford 12th
Paul Menard, driver of the No. 98 Serta/Menards Ford 8th
Elliott Sadler, driver of the No. 19 Stanley Ford 21st
Next Race
Date: June 6, 2010
Race: Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500
Track: Pocono (Pa.) Raceway
Laps: 200 Laps/500 Miles
TV Information: 1 p.m. ET on TNT
Radio Information: 1 p.m. ET on MRN and Sirius/XM