MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY RACE REPORT
Race Summary: AJ Allmendinger lined up in the 26th spot for the start of the race at Michigan International Speedway and crew chief Mike Shiplett called for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment during the first pit stop of the day, which took place under yellow on Lap 21. Allmendinger returned to the track for the restart at Lap 23 in the 14th position and wasted no time moving past slower traffic. At the Lap 45 mark, Allmendinger held down 11th place and he let his team know that his Ford Fusion was turning better than it had in the early stages of the race, though it was still a little free. Shiplett called his driver to the pits for a routine stop under yellow at Lap 48 and the crew bolted on four fresh Goodyear tires and made minor chassis adjustments. Allmendinger lined up for the restart in 14th place.
Allmendinger struggled somewhat with his Richard Petty Motorsports Ford Fusion in the middle stages of the event and at the halfway point of the race had fallen to 24th place. Shiplett and the No. 43 Insignia/Best Buy crew continued to work on the handling of the car and made adjustments to their Ford every chance they got. With 30 laps remaining in the event, Allmendinger let the crew know that the car was much better and 10 laps later, he had driven back into the top 20. Allmendinger did a nice job making his way past his competitors in the closing laps of the race and ran as high as ninth place. When the checkered flag flew, Allmendinger held down 11th place and had scored his highest career finish at the Brooklyn, Michigan track. Allmendinger remains in 22nd place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver point standings.
Allmendinger on the Michigan Event: “This place confuses the heck out of me sometimes. The Insignia/Best Buy Ford was awesome. We drove from 26th to 15th in two laps at the beginning. I thought we were getting on the right track but we got behind on pit stops and that hurt us a bit. From there we were massively loose. I haven’t been that loose in a long time. Luckily, the yellow came out at the end and Mike Shiplett and the guys made a good adjustment. We tightened it up knowing there were only 15 laps left and I just drove my butt off. I am proud of the guys. We worked hard and it was my best career finish here.”
The following is the finish position of the other Richard Petty Motorsports drivers:
Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 9 Budweiser Ford 2nd
Paul Menard, driver of the No. 98 Sylvania/Menards Ford 25th
Elliott Sadler, driver of the No. 19 Stanley Ford 21st