AJ Allmendinger presses on; Sonoma could provide a breakthrough

Once again, AJ Allmendinger finds himself back at one of the Sprint Cup Series’ road courses with a better-than-average chance at winning a race and making the championship Chase.

Yet almost one year after his first series win at Watkins Glen, N.Y. – and subsequent Chase appearance – has his JTG Daugherty team made the kind of progress he envisioned?

Sort of.

“We have improved a lot, but the way this sport is, everybody else has, as well. So, we’ve got to kind of keep stepping-up our game,” said Allmendinger, who was second-fastest in Friday’s early practice session.

Qualifying for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 is 2:15 p.m. Saturday.

“In the end, what makes a race team is not all the positives,” he said “It’s the negatives and how you deal with them. I think over the last couple of weeks that, to me, is what’s the most positive.

“We’ve had to sit down and really look at each other and say, ‘OK, we can fall apart or we can come together and be stronger.’ Our communication is probably the best it’s ever been. That’s the positive I really take from it.”

Statistically speaking, Allmendinger and his No. 47 Chevrolet team find themselves in much the same position as a year ago entering Sunday’s race at Sonoma Raceway.

Allmendinger, a former open-wheel racing star before moving to NASCAR, is 22nd in the series standings with two top-10 finishes and has led one lap this season.

A year ago at this time, Allmendinger was 21st in points with three top 10s and had led twice as many laps (yes, two).

Last year at Sonoma, Allmendinger led 35 of the 110 laps but finished 37th after running off the course during the event.

Six weeks later, he started sixth and finished first at the Glen.

A similar turnaround would be much-welcomed by Allmendinger and his team.

“Right now, our team is just trying to improve,” he said. “And the last six or seven weeks, we’ve kind of lost our way a little bit. This is probably a great race to try to get some momentum back, knowing that if we go out there and we do a good job, we should have a good chance to at least win the race or be in contention inside the top five.

“At the end of the day, I know what the prize is. I know if you win, you make the Chase; and that’s so important. But I try not to focus on putting the pressure on that this race is do or die, or Watkins Glen is do or die; and if we don’t, it doesn’t happen.”

While road courses may provide the most logical location for a potential victory for Allmendinger, the test of the growth of the JTG Daugherty organization is its ability to contend on tracks throughout the season.

“We’ve just got to get better every weekend,” he said. “I know that’s kind of cliché, but right now that’s really our goal.

“If we go out here and have a great run and build some momentum, that’s all we can do. Like I said, for me, I just try to drive my butt off. And if it’s good enough, it’s good enough. If it’s not, it’s not.”

This story was originally published June 26, 2015 at 8:31 PM with the headline "AJ Allmendinger presses on; Sonoma could provide a breakthrough."