Saturday’s Xfinity race at the Daytona International Speedway, was a pretty up-and-down race for AJ Allmendinger. Although he finished 3rd, there were plenty of hurdles along the way for him, along with the three restarts. Surprisingly, the Kaulig Racing driver confessed to something.
Allmendinger had a pretty shocking hot take on the race, and surprisingly, plenty of fans are with him.
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In the post-race interview where the driver discussed his crash with JR Motorsports driver, Noah Gragson, but he had little to say.
AJ Allmendinger said, “I don’t know, you’d have to ask him. I was wide open. I was getting pushed.”
However, he revealed something else about the race in the same interview. Hate sure is a strong word, but that’s exactly how he felt about Daytona.
AJ Allmendinger on the contact with Noah Gragson.
"I absolutely fucking hate this place. Anytime I can leave here with feeling in my arms and legs, I'm satisfied." pic.twitter.com/dtlHcaUjer
— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) August 27, 2022
The reporter asked Allmendinger whether or not he was satisfied with his 3rd place finish.
To which he replied, “I’m just happy to get out of this place alive. I absolutely fucking hate this place. So, anytime I can walk away and feel my legs and my arms, and be okay and have a top-5 finish, I’m okay any day with that.”
Wow, the driver sure isn’t a fan of the track. But what do the fans think about the track?
Well, it seems everyone agrees with the driver.
Extremely Hot Take: Superspeedway racing is the worst type of racing in NASCAR.
— Brian Bourgeon (@BrianBourgeon) August 27, 2022
It basically exists to please those with short attention spans
— Marshall48(New CC next year) (@marshall24fan) August 27, 2022
Daytona, Talladega and now Atlanta are just gimmick wildcard races that anyone can win, regardless of their talent or equipment, still exciting and entertaining to watch though…
— Dixie Wrecked (@dixiewreckness) August 27, 2022
This isnt a race it’s a demolition derby.
— Bryan (@bryanr1213) August 27, 2022
These comments are honest and concerning. We've been extremely lucky that all of these massive accidents haven't had worse results. It's definitely tough to watch some of the impacts during these races.
— Dustin Pritchard (@DustinPRacing) August 27, 2022
The majority of the field hates plate racing. There’s a reason (or five) why Dale Je, arguably the best plate racer ever, only comes back to run short tracks.
— Matt Dula (@MattDula17) August 27, 2022
Over the years it’s seemed we’ve had a few drivers who are actually really good at plate racing say they hate it. It’s my favourite type of racing, but I completely get why these guys don’t like it.
— Kieran Weber 🇨🇦 (@K_Weber94) August 27, 2022
Over the years it’s seemed we’ve had a few drivers who are actually really good at plate racing say they hate it. It’s my favourite type of racing, but I completely get why these guys don’t like it.
— Kieran Weber 🇨🇦 (@K_Weber94) August 27, 2022
Surely, Superspeedway racing, also known as plate racing, is not everyone’s cup of tea. Although A.J. said out in the open that he was not the only driver who had a particular dislike for this form of racing.
What is Plate Racing? And why do NASCAR drivers like AJ Allmendinger hate it?
We will get into why drivers hate plate racing in a bit. But first, we need to understand what the fans and drivers mean when they say plate racing. Well, it’s pretty self-explanatory, because it just stands for a restrictor plate that is installed on the intake of the engine to limit its power. And that restrictor plate enables the racing we see on these tracks.
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Fans love this kind of racing for the excitement it brings. However, the drivers don’t exactly feel this way, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. explained the reason for it.
Junior said in an interview with Bleacher Report, “As a driver, I think we’ve been saying this for years—that racing this way isn’t a whole lot of fun. It’s something we’ve got to do. Everybody’s got to go race when the green flag drops. But this is the way it’s been a long time…It’s been like this since the mid-1990s.”
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But of course, the fans’ opinion matters the most. So, do you agree that Plate Racing is more exciting? Let us know in the comments.