AJ Allmendinger battles through sickness to earn a top 5 finish at Texas Xfinity race - “I felt like crap in the race car”

Kaulig Racing Xfinity Series driver AJ Allmendinger opened up on his tough run at the Texas Motor Speedway as he bagged a top-5 finish despite being sick throughout the 200-lap run.

The Andy's Frozen Custard 300 race at the 1.5-mile oval marked the eighth Xfinity Series weekend on the calendar, with Sam Mayer clinching his maiden win of the season after robbing Ryan Sieg during the final lap battle. The margin of victory was a historic 0.002 seconds, becoming the closest-ever Xfinity Series race finish at Texas.

On the other hand, AJ Allmendinger's run at track churned the best outcome so far this season. Before kicking off his Texas run, the 42-year-old had four top-10s in his arsenal, with the best finish of P6 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

However, by setting the eighth-fastest time during the qualifying stint, and climbing the charts at the 200-lap run, AJ Allmendinger came home with a season-best P4 finish.

The top-5 achievement didn't come easy for the Californian native as he battled through sickness during the entirety of his run. Yet, the 17x Xfinity Series race winner withheld his mettle and presented supremacy on the 1.5-mile asphalt. Following his top-5 run, AJ Allmendinger said (via Frontstretch on X):

"Physically it was hard, just trying to fight the cold or flu. I felt like crap in the race car. Proud of everybody...we startled a bit in first stage and I think we made it a lot better in the second and third stage."

Before AJ Allmendinger's post-race thoughts, Ryan Sieg expressed his desire to run Sam Mayer "into the wall" after getting robbed of the win

RSS Racing driver Ryan Sieg debuted in the Xfinity Series at the 2013 Dollar General 200 at the Phoenix Raceway, and since then he has amassed 58 top-10s from 342 starts over 12 years. The 36-year-old is yet to collect a win at a NASCAR-warranted event and was seconds away from doing so.

After leading 17 of the final 18 laps, Sieg was in charge of the final lap as well and saw the checkered flag about to drop in his favor. With just nine laps left, Sam Mayer was trailing behind by 1.2 seconds in his #1 Chevrolet. Nevertheless, the final lap saw things take a turn.

With Mayer charging from behind, the duo got into a door-to-door battle during the final lap with Sieg ultimately giving up the fight. Eventually, the race was won by the JR Motorsports driver, by a micro margin of 0.002 seconds.

After his tough loss, the #39 Ford driver jokingly claimed to have run Mayer into the wall, saying (via Frontstretch on X):

"I was doing like I do, I should have ran [Mayer] into the wall harder, I guess. Tried to win the race...it sucks. We ran good, we got more to gain. We'll keep gaining on it and we'll be with the Chevrolets, the Toyotas...we're close."