POCONO RACEWAY RACE RECAP
Race Summary: AJ Allmendinger lined up for Sunday’s 500-mile race at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway in the 17th starting spot. As the green flag was about to wave in Sunday’s event, rain showers blanketed the area, which resulted in a two-hour delay. Once the race started, NASCAR threw a competition caution flag on Lap 16, which gave the teams their first chance to make changes to their cars. Allmend-inger had communicated to his crew that the Coleman Natural Foods Ford was tight, so crew chief Mike Shiplett called for a track bar adjustment during the first pit stop of the day and Allmendinger lined up for the Lap 20 restart in the 18th spot. A scheduled green flag stop on Lap 49 gave Shiplett another opportunity to make changes to the car, which Allmendinger said had lost overall grip at the end of the run. At Lap 60, the driver of the No. 43 let his team know that the overall balance of the car was better. Shiplett made additional changes to the car throughout the middle stages of the race and AJ remained inside the top 10. With 50 laps remaining in the event, Allmendinger let the team know that the car was the best it had been all day. The team opted not to make any changes during a pit stop at that time. After making several stops under caution to top off the fuel tank, Allmendinger lined up for the restart on Lap 172 in the 19th spot. Allmendinger was able to maneuver his Ford into 12th place with 10 laps to go. A multi-car accident that resulted from contact between Allmendinger and teammate Kasey Kahne forced the race into a green-white-checkered flag situation. Allmendinger took the checkered flag in 10th place. The finish was the No. 43 team’s second top-10 finish of the season and helped Allmendinger pick up one position in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver point standings. He now stands in 22nd place.
Allmendinger on the Pocono Event: “That is just the way this race works out. The track is so long, especially with the wave around now, you can get your lap back and then there is another yellow and those guys are the ones that look pretty. I am happy to get a 10th out of it, even though I thought we were a seventh- or eighth-place car. The new engine felt really fast, so that is a really positive sign going forward.”
The following is the finish position of the other Richard Petty Motorsports drivers:
Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 9 Budweiser Ford 27th
Paul Menard, driver of the No. 98 Menards Ford 16th
Elliott Sadler, driver of the No. 19 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford 21st
Next Race
Date: June 13, 2010
Race: Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400
Track: Michigan International Speedway
Laps: 200 Laps/400 Miles
TV Information: 1 p.m. ET on TNT
Radio Information: 1 p.m. ET on MRN and Sirius/XM Satellite Radio