Despite stellar Daytona showing, AJ Allmendinger comes up short of breakthrough win

AJ Allmendinger may have driven the best race of his 2024 season on Friday, but his stellar performance was wiped away in an instant.

After leading 38 laps of the Wawa 250 at Daytona, Allmendinger was running second when the white flag waved in NASCAR Overtime. With a big push coming from Parker Kligerman, Allmendinger attempted to go low to try to pass race leader Ryan Truex.

Unfortunately, Allmendinger ended up spinning off the front bumper of Kligerman before coming back up the race track, relegating Allmendinger from second to 24th in a matter of moments.

Allmendinger's block may have been late, but the speed and intensity of superspeedway racing necessitated a desperation move.

Despite a solid season, Allmendinger is still looking for his first win of 2024. With Kaulig teammate Shane van Gisbergen being a consistent visitor to Victory Lane, the pressure for Allmendinger to win only ramps up with every passing week.

Daytona may have been the No. 16 team's best effort of the season so far, and they'll need to keep bringing similar speed in order to be considered a true championship threat.