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Progress for A.J. Allmendinger, JTG Daugherty in top-10 run at Atlanta

DingerATL15

during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 27, 2015 in Hampton, Georgia.

Matt Sullivan

A.J. Allmendinger made last year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup with a win on the road course at Watkins Glen International. But on 1.5-mile ovals, he and his single-car JTG Daugherty Racing team could muster only a top finish of 11th at Kansas Speedway the week after he was eliminated in the Chase’s first round.

It only took one race on a 1.5-mile track this season to better that. Allmendinger posted a seventh Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

“Seventh is probably just a tick better than we deserved,” he said. “I thought we were a 10th- to 13th-place car. I just fought a little bit too loose all day, but we were on the lead lap, and my guys did a great job.

Allmendinger cited the two major crashes on restarts as a factor (“there was a lot of carnage out there and we probably got a little bit lucky from that,” he said) but feels his team’s 1.5-mile program has made solid progress.

“Compared to where we were last year on mile-and-a-half tracks ... we’re gaining on it,” he said. “I think I have to get better at driving this [new rules] package for sure. I struggled all weekend trying to get better and better. Learning how to drive it.”

Next up for the series is Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which is another 1.5-mile oval similar to Atlanta but not as abrasive. Allmendinger was among those who participated in a Goodyear tire test in January at Las Vegas.