Allmendinger, others aim to become king of the road at Sonoma
Although 11 races remain until the 16-driver Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Grid is set, opportunity is knocking on the door for a few drivers this weekend at Sonoma Raceway.
No, it's not their last chance to grab a win -- and the virtually guaranteed playoff berth that comes with it -- but it might darn well be their best chance.
Remember last August's race on the series' other road course, Watkins Glen International, when AJ Allmendinger used his road-racing prowess to score his first career win?
Don't think it can't happen again in Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350 -- a race in which Allmendinger will lead the field to the green flag after topping all qualifiers on Saturday.
"I think AJ has the skills to be the fastest and the best here this weekend, certainly in qualifying," Jeff Gordon, a five-time Sonoma winner, said on Friday. "Then it's going to come down to executing that in the race. I would say he is the guy to beat."
Unlike most of the drivers in the field, Allmendinger comes from a road-course racing background. The Los Gatos, Calif., native spent three years in the now-defunct Champ Car World Series, and drove a partial IndyCar schedule in 2013.
The absence of road-racing ace Marcos Ambrose, who returned to his native Australia this year after six years in the Sprint Cup Series, makes Allmendinger even more of a favorite this weekend.
Bear in mind that Allmendinger hasn't finished in the top 10 since Las Vegas, the season's third race, and owns just two top-10s all year. But the season's first 15 races have all been on ovals; Sonoma is the first of just two road courses on the 36-race schedule.
"For me, I try to be at my best everywhere we go," Allmendinger said on Friday at Sonoma, a 10-turn, 1.99-mile road course in Northern California's wine country. "My background is obviously road-course racing, so it kind of leans towards that. Winning at Watkins Glen last year kind of helped that. But, the Sprint Cup Series is so difficult right now. I think there's been what, 10 winners in the last 10 races here? I know if we go out there and we're at our best and I do my job we'll have a shot to win, and that's all I can ask for."
Knowing that, aside from Watkins Glen in August, he may not have another great opportunity to get a Chase-clinching win, Allmendinger admitted he feels a certain amount of added pressure to get it done on Sunday in Sonoma.
"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," he said. "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. We've just got to get better every weekend. I know that's kind of cliche, 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."
Allmendinger isn't the only driver in the field whose best chance to notch a win before the Chase might be this weekend.
Others yet to win this year, but who tend to excel on the road courses, include Sam Hornish Jr., Clint Bowyer and Kyle Larson.
Hornish, a three-time IndyCar champion and former Indy 500 winner, qualified 24th but was top 10 in both of Friday's practices.
"I love the road-course races," said Hornish, who replaced Ambrose in Richard Petty Motorsports' No. 9 Ford this year. "I feel like this provides us an opportunity to go and have a good run if we can stay smart and keep the tires on the car and also maintain the fact that it's not win-at-all-costs."
Although Hornish isn't willing to risk it all to go to Victory Lane on Sunday, he is willing to get uncharacteristically aggressive in a situation he deems worth it.
"I mean, you put me in second on the last lap, and we're going to give it everything that we've got for it," he said. "But at the same time, I've got to be smart and get to that point. Sometimes guys feel like they've got an opportunity to win and they try to do it on Lap 2, not two to go."
Drivers already locked in the Chase are cognizant of the fact that there will be others, still searching for a win, willing to take extra risks.
"This weekend would be an opportunity for a guy to muscle his way up there and maybe deal with it afterwards if he thinks he can get that win," said Carl Edwards, last year's Sonoma winner and one of 10 drivers to go to Victory Lane in 2015. "You also have to be careful with that too because it's tough to really take a bunch of risk hoping for a win, because if you screw up, you can put yourself in a bad points hole, and that's kind of a downward spiral to where you just try harder and harder. I should look at the points; I'll do that before the race starts and kind of know what I'm dealing with."
VIDEO: AJ Allmendinger talks about winning the pole for Sunday's race at Sonoma
