Allmendinger first in Xfinity

A.J. Allmendinger dominated early, then had to fight to retake the lead at the start of the final stage to earn his 11th career NASCAR Xfinity series road course victory Saturday at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Allmendinger bumped Sheldon Creed out of the lead with 14 laps to go, then held off William Byron over the next couple of laps before pulling away late for the victory, his second in a row at the Texas track. Byron will be starting today’s NASCAR Cup series race from the pole position. Allmendinger and Kaulig Racing had the dominant car for much of the race and started Saturday from the pole. He built a big lead early before a pit stop strategy misstep and getting caught in some caution flag restart traffic dropped him to the back.