July 6, 2025
Lexington, N.C. (July 6, 2025): AJ Allmendinger finished in sixth place Sunday in the Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Course, earning his fifth top-10 finish of the season.
“I’m proud of our day,” said Allmendinger. “From the bit of the struggle we had on Saturday, I felt like we did a good job getting everything out of it. I was just way too loose there at the end and struggled with rear tires. I need to focus on that to be better, but it felt like at times we definitely had a top three or four car. We worked hard to make it better throughout the weekend and executed our race. Overall, at a racetrack that I haven’t been overly confident at, to come here and almost get a top five, that was our ultimate goal. Having a solid day and getting the finish we did was important. I’m really happy with that and just know, for myself, I’ll keep working to be better to try to go out there and try to win these races”
Allmendinger qualified 16th for the race and quickly drove his way into the top 10. At the beginning of the second stage, Allmendinger drove up to third place, where he maintained position until the caution came on lap 31. The No. 16 restarted on the front row and held second position until taking over the lead on lap 42 when the No. 88 came to pit road. Allmendinger pitted on schedule the following lap.
“It was actually a great day,” said crew chief, Trent Owens. “We were competitive in the top three most of the day; we were on a good strategy to finish well. I thought the last set of tires was a little off from our two previous sets. At a place we haven’t really had the greatest of finishes at, I thought AJ did really well fighting on the old tires at the end. To come away with a sixth-place finish is a success in Chicago, but obviously we want top fives and wins. To leave here with a sixth-place finish and a race like that, it’s a good deal.”
Allmendinger’s finish in Chicago advanced him to 15th in driver points. The team heads to Sonoma Raceway next week, another road course, looking to build on the momentum.
