2014 NASCAR standings: Missed opportunity for AJ Allmendinger, Marcos Ambrose

AJ Allmendinger and Marcos Ambrose entered Sonoma with high expectations, but neither got the result they were hoping for Sunday.

Having started on the outside of the front row and in the lead for a race-high 35 laps, everything was seemingly coming together for AJ Allmendinger Sunday at Sonoma Raceway.

If the plan came to fruition Allmendinger would win his first ever Sprint Cup race. More importantly, that victory would all but cement a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, a significant accomplishment for the single-car JTG Daugherty Racing team.

"We were good enough to win the thing no doubt. It's just disappointing the way our day ended. It's just tough." -AJ Allmendinger

It all unraveled, however, with 35 laps remaining. That was when Allmendinger and Dale Earnhardt Jr. made contact coming out of Turn 11 and onto the front stretch. Allmendinger was squeezed into the wall with his No. 47 car suffering heavy damage.

Not high in points and not competitive enough most weeks on the predominant number of ovals on the Sprint Cup schedule, Sonoma, one of two road courses, represented a prime opportunity for Allmendinger to grab an unlikely victory.

In an instant that fleeting chance for a Cinderella-esque win and Chase berth disappeared.

"We led a lot of laps today and we were good enough to win the thing no doubt," Allmendinger said. "It's just disappointing the way our day ended and to leave Sonoma with a car that's tore up. I'm proud of my guys and all the hard work they put into this weekend. It's just tough."

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished third Sunday at Sonoma, a track where he has long struggled.

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If there was someone who could relate to Allmendinger's feeling of discontent it was Marcos Ambrose. Like Allmendinger, Ambrose drivers for a smaller team (Richard Petty Motorsports) and is regarded for his road course prowess.

Despite a lackluster effort qualifying (23rd), Ambrose quickly demonstrated the speed Sunday which had many tabbing him as the favorite to win the Toyota/Save Mart 350. With little haste the Australian moved towards the front, and 30 laps from the finish was in the lead.

But it wasn't to be. The handling of Ambrose's No. 9 Ford quickly went away and he backslid down the running order to finish eighth.

"We came here with a commitment to try to look after our tires and had a package that wasn't necessarily the fastest, but we thought might have kept our tires better than the rest," Ambrose said. "It didn't quite work out that way. We had to hang on all day. The car was loose. The car was tight. The car was sliding around, but that's what Sonoma is all about."

Sprint Cup standings

Rank	Driver	Points	Wins
1	Jeff Gordon	580	1
2	Jimmie Johnson	560	3
3	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	555	2
4	Matt Kenseth	515	0
5	Brad Keselowski	512	1
6	Carl Edwards	509	2
7	Joey Logano	483	2
8	Ryan Newman	473	0
9	Kevin Harvick	472	2
10	Kyle Larson	470	0
11	Kyle Busch	465	1
12	Paul Menard	459	0
13	Denny Hamlin	453	1
14	Clint Bowyer	452	0
15	Greg Biffle	444	0
16	Kasey Kahne	429	0
17	Tony Stewart	427	0
18	Austin Dillon	427	0
19	Jamie McMurray	425	0
20	Brian Vickers	424	0
21	Marcos Ambrose	407	0
22	Aric Almirola	400	0
23	AJ Allmendinger	391	0
24	Casey Mears	373	0
25	Martin Truex Jr.	360	0
26	Kurt Busch	347	1
27	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	320	0
28	Danica Patrick	299	0
29	Justin Allgaier	280	0
30	Michael Annett	249	0
31	David Gilliland	232	0
32	Cole Whitt	228	0
33	Reed Sorenson	199	0
34	David Ragan	198	0
35	Alex Bowman	188	0

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