DRIVER DIARY: A.J. Allmendinger

We ended up surviving Richmond with a 21st-place finish; that isn't too bad.

We seriously thought we had a better car than that and really started to figure it out toward the end of the race.

We got a lap down early when we were on pit lane and could just never make it back up to the front until late in the race.

It wasn't for lack of trying. We struggled tonight trying to get the handling of the PVA.org "Kings Cup Karting for a Cause" Dodge.

We tried everything we knew to get the car to turn better in the corners. If you aren't handling like you want, it makes for a long night of racing.

I wasn't the only one struggling out there tonight. A lot of good drivers and teams couldn't find the handle. If you are just a little off in this sport, you can go to the back in a hurry.

This is the most competitive form of racing in the world, so you have to bring your "A" game each week. We're a new team we put together just weeks before the season began.

We have had some good runs this year, like at Daytona where we finished fifth in the Bud Shootout and third in the Daytona 500 - plus a ninth-place finish at Martinsville.

We've had some tough races like we had here tonight, but all of that will get better with time as we keep working together and learn these cars.

Like I said, we started to figure it out near the end of the race. We were able to get up there and get the lucky dog. We drove past a few of those top five guys, which was pretty cool.

Our pit stops were probably the best they have been all year, and that's going to pay off here pretty soon.

I'm glad the fans in Richmond got to see all 400 laps. For a while I didn't think we were going to get the race in and that all of us would be doing this on Sunday. But the weather seemed to cooperate and it turned out to be a pretty nice evening.

I think you all saw a pretty good show. From my seat the racing looked to be pretty good.

All in all, Saturday was a decent day. I won 50 bucks betting with my wife and friends on the Kentucky Derby. You take your victories wherever you can get them!

When we come back here in September, I'll guarantee you we will run better because we will be a better, more experienced team.

Hopefully, I've given you all a little of bit of what goes on in a driver's life during a normal race weekend and shown you it's more than just going around in circles all the time.

See you in September.