NASCAR: Allmendinger on Larson: ‘He’s the most badass driver on the planet’

Drivers with roots in open wheel racing typically do fairly well in NASCAR, and some really shine.

For the second time in as many days, former CART IndyCar driver AJ Allmendinger drove a No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet to a second-place finish behind open wheel dirt track star, and now defending NASCAR Cup Champion, Kyle Larson.

Allmendinger, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series winner, was runner-up in Sunday’s event at Watkins Glen International, a thriller to follow Saturday’s Xfinity Series race where the outcome mirrored the weekend headliner.

No one would have faulted him for some bitter feelings after coming so close to victory in consecutive days. But Allmendinger was far from downtrodden post-race.

“Finishing second sucks, let’s get that straight,” Allmendinger said. “But when it’s to Kyle Larson, I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times — he’s the most badass driver on the planet right now. I don’t care what you put him in. He can go win, and he pretty much shows it every day actually. It’s tough to finish second to him, but we were there.”

Indeed he was. A restart with five laps remaining meant limited time to find opportunity. Larson contacted Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott in Turn 1, sending the day’s dominant No. 9 Chevrolet wide and allowing Allmendinger to pounce.

A 2014 winner at the Glen, Allmendinger hounded Larson’s rear bumper in the closing laps, but Larson, the defending Cup champion, kept Allmendinger at bay to win by 0.882 seconds.

“(Saturday), we kind of got gifted a second place. Today, we earned it,” said Allmendinger, who recovered from a Lap 2 spin after contact from rookie Austin Cindric. “Honestly, I think it was the same deal. If I could’ve got in front of him, I don’t know if he passes me. We were pretty equal. It was just on different parts of the race track.”

As complimentary as Allmendinger was of Larson, the weekend winner was equally impressed with what Allmendinger accomplished.

“I’ve always had a lot of respect for AJ,” Larson said. “He does a really good job in the Xfinity Series, but I feel like he’s one of if not the most underrated guys in the NASCAR, any series in NASCAR, of my career that I’ve had in stock cars.

“You can just tell when drivers are really good. For AJ to put himself in position every single time on a road course, whether it be any series that he’s in, is amazing. As good of a job as he does in the Xfinity Series on ovals, I feel he really carries that car a lot of times. You can compare him to his teammates, and he’s always outrunning them. I feel like that’s a good way to kind of judge how good a driver is.

“There’s no doubt in my mind if he was in equipment equal to mine, he would be winning races frequently. He continues to get better. I love getting the chance to race him.”