Allmendinger uncertain of driving plans for next season
FONTANA, Calif. – Red Bull Racing's AJ Allmendinger is still uncertain about whether he will return to his NASCAR Sprint Cup team next season. The driver has previously stated he'd like to stay with the group, but he says he continues to wait to hear from the team.
"Phone is silent as can be from their end," he said. " … I've stated I'd like to be back next year, but I just want an answer. I need to know I'm racing somewhere next year."
Almendinger and his team are outside the top 35 in the owner standings, though they have been on the line of making that field and were in it for one week. Allmendinger says that the team has improved to the level where he expects top finishes week to week.
"We got that first taste of being in the top 35," he said. "Michigan we just missed the setup, and that was disappointing since we ran so well there the first time. Last week, it's Bristol, we were running top 12 and just got wrecked. Nobody's fault. Martin [Truex Jr.] blew a tire, and that got us out, but the car was fast. ...
"We are running better. If we're not top 15, it's a bad day. We don't expect to miss the race. I expect to try to qualify top 15 every week and try to run there and that's what we have to do."
Meanwhile, Allmendinger is enjoying some time in another car.
Thursday, Allmendinger tried his hand at drifting with Red Bull's Rhys Millen. He had expected the experience to be exciting, but it clearly exceeded what he thought it would be. Drifting, a style of driving where competitors intentionally execute a controlled slide through a turn at high speed with the rear wheels sliding more than the front, was new to him.
"Just to be able to watch them on TV and what they do, I think, is pretty cool," he said. "But to get inside the car and see how much is going on and what they have to do, it was fun. I'd love to go back and do it again."
He said he expected to be on a skid course but instead found himself on a narrow two-lane road with rocks on the side if he went off.
"I always kind of thought the cars were just slippery, you could slide them around," he said. "The big difference is they've actually got a lot of grip in them. So to actually start the slide is probably the toughest thing to do and the transition back to the next corner is tough.
"Once you're in the middle of the slide, it's easy. It's just all about car control and throttle control, which is what every race-care driver is taught, but getting it started and when you have to transition from the left to right, keeping that turbo up so it's spinning the tire but not overdoing it, it's pretty tough."
