NASCAR: Allmendinger holds off Byron to win on Charlotte Roval

Former IndyCar driver AJ Allmendinger held off William Byron to win the Bank of America Roval 400 NASCAR Cup race in Charlotte by 0.666s.

It was Allmendinger’s first Cup win since winning on the Indy Road Course in 2021.

It was a Chevy 1-2-3 with Kyle Busch coming home 3rd in the #8 Chevy.

Driving the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet, Allmendinger led twice for a race-high 46 laps, including the last 33, and beat runner-up William Byron to the finish line by 0.666 seconds to win his first Cup race of the season, his first at the Charlotte Road Course and the third of his Cup Series career-all on road courses.

Kyle Busch finished third at the 2.32-mile, 17-turn circuit, two spots short of the win he need to advance to the Playoffs’ Round of 8. Joining Busch on the playoff elimination list were Ross Chastain (who finished 10th), Bubba Wallace (16th) and Brad Keselowski (18th).

Allmendinger took the lead for the final time when Ryan Blaney pitted from the top spot on Lap 77, under caution for a wreck in the frontstretch chicane involving Denny Hamlin, Ty Dillon and Mike Rockenfeller.

The 41-year-old veteran from Los Gatos, Calif., survived four more cautions and four more restarts before he completed what he termed “the drive of my life.”

Allmendinger was weeping during the cool-down lap and teared up in his post-race interview.

“I hate crying right now, but it’s a freaking Cup race, man,” he said. “You don’t know when it’s ever going to happen again…

“This is why you do it. This is the only reason you do it. You fight. All the blood, sweat, tears, everybody at Kaulig Racing has just been such … I’d say a down year, but up-and-down year. It’s our second year in the Cup Series.”

Byron and Ryan Blaney already had advanced to the Round of 8 in the playoffs by virtue of their respective victories at Texas and Talladega.

Joining them in the next round, which starts next Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, are Tyler Reddick (who ran sixth from the pole on Sunday), Denny Hamlin (37th), Christopher Bell (15th), Chris Buescher (seventh), Kyle Larson (who started from the rear in a backup car and finished 13th) and Martin Truex Jr. (20th).

The regular-season champion, Truex, claimed the final berth in the Round of 8 by 12 points over Chastain, the first driver out.

Ill fortune that befell Chase Elliott near the end of Stage 2 facilitated Allmendinger’s victory. Just as Elliott, the race leader, was approaching pit road to “short” the stage, Josh Bilicki’s crash in Turn 4 caused the second of seven cautions and forced NASCAR to close pit road.

Elliott steered back to the racing surface and won the stage but lost critical track position after pitting during the stage break and never regained it. He finished ninth behind Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman.

Rookie Ty Gibbs came home fourth, followed by Joey Logano.

After a strong run from start to finish, Busch was philosophical about his exit from the playoffs.

“The guys gave me a great piece today,” he said. “The Lenovo Camaro was pretty fast, just lacked a little bit on the long run, just didn’t quite have the feel of the tire that I was really looking for to be able to turn into the corners and to be able to drive out of the corners and keep pace with the front two there at the end.

“But overall, this rides on me anyways. The first two weeks of this round were obviously not very good, and we didn’t score any points. That’s where it’s at. That’s where it lies. Texas, Talladega, just not being able to execute and do a good job when points were on the line.”

Race Results

POS	CAR	DRIVER	MANUF	BEHIND	LAPS
1	16	AJ Allmendinger		0.000	109
2	24	William Byron (P)		0.666	109
3	8	Kyle Busch (P)		3.094	109
4	54	Ty Gibbs #		3.418	109
5	22	Joey Logano		4.070	109
6	45	Tyler Reddick (P)		5.168	109
7	17	Chris Buescher (P)		5.898	109
8	48	Alex Bowman		6.812	109
9	9	Chase Elliott (P)		7.992	109
10	1	Ross Chastain (P)		10.438	109
11	41	Ryan Preece		11.057	109
12	12	Ryan Blaney (P)		11.413	109
13	5	Kyle Larson (P)		11.821	109
14	3	Austin Dillon		12.188	109
15	20	Christopher Bell (P)		12.664	109
16	23	Bubba Wallace (P)		13.133	109
17	7	Corey LaJoie		13.917	109
18	6	Brad Keselowski (P)		14.556	109
19	4	Kevin Harvick		15.301	109
20	19	Martin Truex Jr. (P)		15.808	109
21	10	Aric Almirola		17.128	109
22	31	Justin Haley		18.835	109
23	51	Todd Gilliland		21.283	109
24	21	Harrison Burton		22.586	109
25	2	Austin Cindric		22.977	109
26	78	Josh Bilicki(i)		24.804	109
27	62	* Austin Hill(i)		25.175	109
28	14	Chase Briscoe		26.180	109
29	42	Mike Rockenfeller		26.314	109
30	38	Zane Smith(i)		27.281	109
31	77	Ty Dillon		31.038	109
32	34	Michael McDowell		46.662	108
33	99	Daniel Suarez		52.411	108
34	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.		-13	96
35	15	Andy Lally(i)		-25	84
36	43	Erik Jones		-30	79
37	11	Denny Hamlin (P)		-33	76

# DENOTES ROOKIE
(i) NOT ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS
(*) REQUIRED TO QUALIFY ON TIME