AJ Allmendinger entered Sunday's race at Watkins Glen International with high hopes to back up his WGI victory from last season and punch his ticket to the 2015 Chase for the Sprint Cup.
The driver of the No. 47 JTG-Daugherty Racing Chevrolet had a solid beginning to the day, as he started the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen from the pole and led twice for a total of 21 laps.
However, after losing the lead and falling back into the top 10, Allmendinger complained the team needed to make major adjustments to the car as he struggled to keep cars behind him.
When the fourth caution of the day flew on Lap 49, Allmendinger was sitting sixth and trying to save fuel. Rolling around under yellow, Allmendinger was shutting off the car in an effort to save fuel, but as he attempted to fire the car again nothing happened and the car lost all power.
The car came to a rest on the track and had to be pushed back to the pits by a tow truck.
"Can we have something not break for once?" a dejected Allmendinger said after being pushed to pit road.
After multiple attempts to diagnose the issue, the team changed the battery and Allmendinger was finally able to fire the car and roll off pit road, but NASCAR issued the red flag to clean up the track, forcing him to stop once again.
While the team was able to get the car fired up once again with a new battery, Burns told the NBC television broadcast the team would have to watch the voltages closely throughout the remainder of the race.
The mechanical issue was all too familiar for Allmendinger, who has had debris in the fuel filter ruined their chances at victory at Sonoma Raceway, resulting in a disappointing 37th-place finish after starting on the pole.
Attempting to make the Chase for the second straight season, Allmendinger saw Sunday's race at Watkins Glen as his best chance to score a win and earn the spot in NASCAR's version of the postseason.
Under the sixth caution of the day, Allmendinger was at least able to receive the free pass and get back on the lead lap with 32 laps to go. From there, Allmendinger was able to work his way back to the 18th spot with 17 laps to go. However, the day wasn't over yet, as Allmendinger brought the car to pit road from the 14th spot with just seven laps to go.
When Joey Logano edged Kevin Harvick to win the fuel mileage duel, Allmendinger was 24th of the leaderboard.
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