A.J. Allmendinger gets first Cup win at Watkins Glen, helps lighten the mood

Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen was held in the wake of the death of 20-year-old Kevin Ward Jr. in a sprint car accident at a nearby track involving Cup driver Tony Stewart, who did not compete in the Cup race for that reason and was replaced by Regan Smith. This tragedy dampened the mood, as did a series of hard crashes during the race, including one with Ryan Newman and Michael McDowell that damaged a barrier by the track and red-flagged the race for more than an hour. But in the end, there was a reason to celebrate after all when A.J. Allmendinger, driving the Brad Daugherty-owned #47 car, holding off Richard Petty Motorsports driver, two-time Watkins Glen Cup winner and yesterday's Nationwide Series winner Marcos Ambrose to get his first series win. Coincidentally, Ambrose once drove that same #47 car, and almost took it to a win at Sonoma in 2010 before stalling during a late-race caution, which gave the win to Jimmie Johnson.

Allmendinger encountered a huge low point in his career in 2012 after failing a random drug test. He had moved from Richard Petty Motorsports to Team Penske, and was released from Penske's #22 car following the incident. Following a suspension and recovery program, he ended up with Phoenix Racing for a few races, and also did some IndyCar and Nationwide Series competition. After getting re-hired by Penske, he won at the Road America and Mid-Ohio road courses in Nationwide last year. He was a contender at the Sonoma Cup race in June, but ended up two laps down. Sunday's race saw him in a showdown with Ambrose when the race resumed after the first red flag (there was another brief one with four laps to go after Alex Kennedy crashed).

While another first-time winner in NASCAR's top series didn't take away the pain of the tragic event of last night with the loss of a young driver, and Tony Stewart being involved, it did help take some people's minds off of it, especially since it was somewhat of an upset win. It was the first thing Allmendinger mentioned in victory lane. But Allmendinger has once again shown that road courses seem to be his best in NASCAR, although he has had some good results on other tracks earlier in his career. It was a weekend that saw both tragedy and triumph, and it will stick in people's minds for a while.