A. J. Allmendinger
Vorlage:Infobox NASCAR driver Anthony James "A. J." Allmendinger (born December 16, 1981, in Los Gatos, California) attended Leigh High School and is an American racecar driver. He currently drives the #84 for Team Red Bull in NASCAR.
Racing career
Early career
He started his career in karts. He won two International Karting Federation Grand National championships. [1]
Allmendinger won the Barber Dodge Pro Series championship in 2002, and the Champ Car Atlantic Championship in 2003 with Carl Russo's RuSport team.
Champ Car
In 2004 they entered the Champ Car World Series, with Michel Jourdain Jr. joining Allmendinger. He generally outperformed the experienced Mexican, scoring a run of 6 top-6 finishes towards the end of the season, winning the Roshfrans Rookie-of-the-Year award ahead of Justin Wilson. Wilson joined the team for 2005, and both drivers have been in regular contention for podium finishes.
On June 9, 2006, RuSport announced that Allmendinger would be replaced by 2002 CART champion Cristiano da Matta. However, he did not remain unemployed long, as Forsythe Championship Racing hired him on June 14, 2006. In the interim, he became engaged to Lynne Kushnirenko, a Canadian model and chiropractor.
On June 18, 2006, Allmendinger won the Grand Prix of Portland in his first race with Forsythe Championship Racing. Allmendinger became the first American to win a Champ Car World Series event since Ryan Hunter-Reay won at The Milwaukee Mile in 2004.
On June 25, 2006, Allmendinger won the Grand Prix of Cleveland from the pole in a hectic race that saw two-time CART champ and points leader Sébastien Bourdais, teammate Paul Tracy, former teammate Justin Wilson, Dan Clarke and former seatholder Mario Dominguez eliminated during the race.
He continued his winning streak by winning his third consecutive race at the Grand Prix of Toronto on July 9, 2006. He started second after Wilson bested Allmendinger's time in the last lap of the event's final qualifying session. The victory moved Allmendinger into second place in the CCWS championship standings, behind leader Bourdais.
He chalked up his fourth and fifth wins of the season at Denver and Road America. He left Champ Car to accept a lucrative offer from NASCAR Team Red Bull.
NASCAR
Allmendinger made his NASCAR debut in the Craftsman Truck Series driving for Bill Davis Racing at New Hampshire International Speedway on September 16 2006[2] [3]. He crashed his primary truck in qualifying but started the race 32nd and finished on the lead lap in 13th. He also competed at Talladega Superspeedway in October with a finish of 5th. In his 3rd career truck series start, he qualified in 2nd place at Atlanta.
It was announced on October 24, 2006 that Allmendinger would drive the NEXTEL Cup #84 Team Red Bull Toyota Camry in 2007.
Allmendinger attempted his first NASCAR Nextel Cup Series event at Atlanta in October 2006 driving the Team Red Bull entry, however, due to qualifying being rained out, a lacker of owners points prevented Allmendinger from making the race. He also attempted to make the race at Texas Motor Speedway, failing to qualify again, however.
Allmendinger failed to qualify for the 2007 Daytona 500 after a crash in the first Gatorade Duel race. He has also failed to qualify for the California, Las Vegas, and Atlanta races. Allmendinger finished 40th his first Nextel Cup start at the Food City 500 at Bristol, and as the season progressed, Allmendinger made a handful of races, predominantly in the "Car of Tomorrow." To assist him in the transition, he participated in selected Craftsman Truck Series races for Toyota for the Darrell Waltrip Motorsports organization, and the #42 Chip Ganassi Dodge in the Busch Series.
Allmendinger failed to qualify for the 2008 Daytona 500. After three failures to qualify in 3 attempts, he was replaced by veteran driver Mike Skinner, initially on a temporary basis. Allmendinger is likely to return to the Cup series at Phoenix. He hopes to have a Mark Martin like return with the ever improving Toyota Red Bull team.
Personal
On Friday, January 19, 2007, Allmendinger married Lynne Kushnirenko in Palm Beach, Florida.
References
- ↑ Allmendinger's Champ car profile
- ↑ SPEEDtv.com - The Online Motorsports Authority | Craftsman Trucks | TRUCKS: Allmendinger Signs Two-Race Deal | by <a href=http://www.racer.com> RACER </a> staff | The latest NASCAR headlines | Johnson, Kenseth, Martin, Stewart, Kahne, Earnhardt, Burton, Harvick, Hamlin, Busch, Gordon, Biffle, Edwards, McMurray, Mears, Bowyer, Newman, Jarrett, Sadler, Riggs, Vickers, Waltrip, Labonte, Truex, Nemechek, Petty
- ↑ NASCAR results at Racing-reference.info
External links
- A.J. Allmendinger Career Statistics
- AJ Allmendinger Champ Car career
- Allmendinger statistics pre NASCAR career
- Official website
- A.J. Allmendinger Wedding Video - Love Story Interview
Motorsports Career Results
American Open-Wheel
(key) (Races in Bold indicate pole position)
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