Allmendinger, AJ INDIANAPOLIS— The first NASCAR Cup Series road-course race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was plenty of drama, both for AJ Allmendinger, who led just the final two laps of overtime to claim his second career NASCAR Cup Series victory Sunday, and for those who came up short in an action-packed closing few circuits...
The next week at Auto Club Speedway, Allgaier went as high as eighth and ended 12th, his highest result of the season at the time. He finished eighth in the No. 51 at Bristol, his first top 10 result. He subsequently finished 18th in Richmond despite running as high as second for most of the race and suffering from a stomach cramp. Allgaier's eighth-place run at California was his only other top 10 of the year.
Allgaier had three straight top 20 finishes to begin 2015 before missing two races due to injury. When he returned in mid-March, he missed another four races due to illness. When he returned for the final five races of the season, he had three top 10s and finished 14th in the point standings.
Allgaier won three times during his career in the Truck Series, all coming in 2013 when he drove for Rick Hendrick. He also had one win in the K&N Pro Series East in 2011 when he drove for Joe Gibbs Racing.
After winning three races in 2013, many people expected Allgaier to continue this trend in 2014. However, he only managed to finish inside the top 15 twice all year long. Despite these struggles, Allgaier still finished ninth in the point standings.
Many people believe that Allgaier will have a much better season in 2015 because he has more experience now that he is driving for his own team.
It's Elliott's second rough finish to a Cup Series race in a row. Kyle Busch crashed Elliott while he was driving second with 28 laps to go in the second race at Darlington last week. Elliott reacted angrily to Busch on the track, but the two ultimately put the situation behind them. "I'm sure it'll be fine," said Elliott when asked if there would be any problems between him and Busch after their incident.
Elliott won the first stage of the race and led most of the second before contact with Busch sent him into the wall again. He went on to finish eighth, just as he did in the first race at Darlington.
"We got a little loose in the back end there," said Elliott after the race. "But we'll get better."
This is only Elliott's second season in the Cup series and his team is still trying to find its way through all the changes made by Toyota during this offseason. But despite these difficulties, he remains one of the favorites to win the championship.
Elliott has three wins so far this season, which is more than anyone else except Jimmie Johnson (7). And although he had some bad luck early in the season with multiple accidents that took out several front-runners, he is currently in third place in the point standings, only 16 points behind leader Johnson.
Joey Logano is the current Drivers' Champion, having earned his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship in 2018.
Herb Thomas was the first driver to win multiple titles in 1951 and 1953. Chase Elliott is the current Drivers' Champion, having earned his first NASCAR Cup Series title in 2020. Since its inception, the NASCAR points system has gone through various iterations.
On September 19, Kevin Harvick won his ninth race of the 2020 season at Bristol Motor Speedway, marking a career record for victories in a single season. With one more win, he'll join the exclusive group of NASCAR Cup Series drivers who have won at least ten races in a calendar year since 1972. Continue reading to view the complete list.
The Indianapolis Motorcycle Grand Prix was added to the Speedway in 2008. Formula One driver Michael Schumacher holds the record for most victories on the Formula One version of the road course after winning his sixth United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis in 2006. The series also hosts a round of the World Rally Championship.
The race is run on Sunday of Memorial Day weekend each year. First held in 1911, it is the oldest annual motor racing event in the United States and one of only three such races in North America (the others being the Canadian Grand Prix and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve). The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race has been held at the Speedway since 1934. In addition, since 2008, the Grand Prix has served as the opening round of the IndyCar Series.
Race winners have included greats of the sport like Louis Meyer, Eddie Sachs, Parnelli Jones, and Rick Mears. Current drivers include two-time race winner Juan Pablo Montoya of Colombia and Australia's Mark Webber. Former competitors include former F1 world champions Jim Clark, John Watson, and Alain Prost.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is located just outside Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the largest outdoor sporting arena in the United States and the site of the famous Indianapolis 500 race.
The season concluded at Homestead-Miami Speedway with the Ford EcoBoost 400. Despite missing the first third of the season due to significant leg injuries sustained in an Xfinity Series race at Daytona, Kyle Busch won the title. In addition, Busch became the first Toyota driver to win a Cup title. He replaced Joe Gibbs, who retired after 29 seasons as a car owner/driver, and became only the second person to lead the most laps (1,224) without winning (Matt Kenseth). The other is Richard Petty, who did it five times.
Busch's championship victory came in his 150th career start. It also marked the first time that a driver from the South had led the most laps in a Cup season since Bill Elliott held off Darrell Waltrip by one lap in 1995. With his victory, Busch also became the first driver to win the season opener since Jeff Gordon in 2001.
He earned $7 million during the season, which ranked 15th among sports champions in America. His earnings included a $100,000 bonus for winning the championship.
Kyle Busch is a native of Primm, Nevada, while his father, Keney, is from New York City. They moved to Nevada when Keney accepted a job with Chrysler as a quality control manager in Las Vegas. He later became involved in motor racing, helping build some of the earliest NASCAR engines.
The winner of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway on Sunday was the definition of a front-runner. Martin Truex Jr. won the Goodyear 400 after leading 248 of the race's 293 laps. He won his third race of the 2021 season, making him the sole multiple-race winner this year, and his 30th of his career. "We had a great car all day," said Truex, who also won in April at Texas Motor Speedway. "Our team has been doing an amazing job." The victory came just over two weeks after he finished second at Talladega Superspeedway to Kyle Busch, who went on to win the championship that day.
Darlington Raceway is one of four remaining races on the NASCAR circuit and takes place on Labor Day weekend. The other three races are the FedEx Express 500 at North Carolina State University (NC), the Go Bowling 400 at Toledo Lucas Oil Stadium (OH) on September 3rd and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway (FL) on November 19th.
Nationally, the 2020 season has seen several changes made to the points system with the goal of making the race for the championship more exciting. The new system gives drivers bonus points for being among the top five in points at any point during the season. In addition, there is now a tiebreaker for the championship: the driver who wins the most races will be the champion. If still tied, it goes to the driver who has the best average finish.
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