AJ Allmendinger ready for double duty at Sonoma Raceway

With the Xfinity Series making its debut at Sonoma Raceway, AJ Allmendinger is ready for the NASCAR road course double this weekend. He isn’t the only Cup Series driver that is pulling off both races in wine country. But he might be able to win both.

If there is a sweep this weekend, AJ Allmendinger is one of the most likely candidates. However, Daniel Suárez, Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, Ty Gibbs, Aric Almirola, and Ty Dillon will also suit up in both races. Out of that group, of course, Larson pops off the page.

This is as close to a home track as Allmendinger will get. The Los Gatos native is going to be just a couple of hours away from his hometown. He likes coming out to the track and hopes to put on a show for his family and friends.

“Sonoma is always a special, important weekend for me,” Allmendinger said via Reid Spencer via NASCAR.com. “It’s near where I grew up, and I still get to see a lot of friends and family there. Quite honestly, it’s a race track that I don’t have a very good average finish. I’ve felt like I’ve always been fast there, but it hasn’t worked out.

“Being able to run both races, I’m really looking forward to it. Sonoma is a race track I’ve always wanted to win at, knowing it’s my home racetrack and I would be able to do that in front of a lot of friends and family. Hopefully, we can go back there and have some success to keep building on our program.”

Two races in wine country, and two chances at pulling off a hometown victory.

AJ Allmendinger looked good last week at WWT Raceway

This past weekend, AJ Allmendinger performed well in the Enjoy Illinois 300. He tried to gamble on a tire strategy and ran in the top-5 for a time. He was strong for most of the day and came away with a P14 finish. He was P10 in the race a year ago. It isn’t a coincidence that he’s solid at World Wide Technology Raceway.

That Turn 1 at St. Louis is harder than any other in NASCAR. When it comes to ovals, drivers go into the turn quickly, have to brake quickly and hard as well as shift into the turn. There is also a ton of shifting around the entire track. In other words, it is a lot like road course racing.

Allmendinger has not posted a top-10 finish since Daytona. However, he’s had three P14 finishes in the last four races. Perhaps Sonoma is where he can turn things around. Although, as the driver said, he hasn’t had the best finishes at his home track over the years. His last top-10 finish at Sonoma came in 2012 when he was with Penske Racing.

So, this is a big weekend for AJ Allmendinger. He can definitely win the Xfinity Series race. But he’d like to get into the Cup Series playoffs with a victory in wine country.