Long Day in Texas

AJ Allmendinger was looking to keep the strong momentum going this weekend, but it just didn't play out his way on Sunday.

Entering the race on a strong note after moving into the top 15 in points following his strong runs at Bristol and Martinsville, AJ was stoked to keep that going in the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. But the fast track outside of Dallas proved to be very far from the half-mile Martinsville set ups. Carrying the Super 8 colors for the first time of the year, AJ scored 26th in qualifying on Friday.

After making an appearance at the RPM merchandise trailer on race day morning, AJ was ready to go at the green flag. But The car just wasn't working right on the very fast track. Loose at the back, and tight at the front, the day just wasn't going well although he still fought to be in the top 25 through the first half of the race.

But then a battery lost charge, and the team had to take the car behind the wall to get things sorted out. They got AJ back out, but he was fighting from several laps down, finishing 34th at the end of a long tough day. The result moves AJ down to 20th in the provisional points, with the Cup series looking forward to a quiet weekend at home next Sunday for Easter.