Third start in a Ford yields third top-15 finish for AJ Allmendinger
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HOMESTEAD, Fla. – The switch to Ford seems to have suited Richard Petty Motorsports driver AJ Allmendinger. After finishing 10th and 13th in his first two NASCAR Sprint Cup races in a Fusion, Allmendinger was 10th in the Ford 400 on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
As part of a proposed merger with Yates Racing, RPM plans to switch to Fords for 2010. To get a jump on next year, the team put Allmendinger in a No. 44 Ford for the final three races of this season.
“I’m just proud of everybody on the 44 team to get two top-10s and three top-15s in three races,” Allmendinger said. “That’s good. I wish we could’ve had this all year. It was a lot of fun. I thank Ford for allowing this to happen, and everybody that sponsored this 44 car to keep us going, and I’m looking forward to next year.”
Allmendinger, sporting a paint scheme that team co-owner Richard Petty used during his career, started 13th but ran in the top 10 for most of Sunday’s 267-lap race.
“We just worked on it,” Allmendinger said. “It seemed like we got a bad set of tires one time. We didn’t change anything, and then put another set of tires on and one adjustment and we were fast again. Other than that, we just kept picking them off. I wish our car had been just a little stronger late, like 10 laps to go on our tires. It really started to fade there, but I’m proud of everybody.”
Team co-owner Richard Petty was proud of his driver and his new manufacturer.
“It’s been good,” Petty said of Allmendinger’s switch. “Hopefully, this is just what’s in the future for us with Ford because he stepped up about six, eight positions by just getting into a Ford. So, hopefully, in the future, we’ll be able to make it even better.”
Both Petty and Allmendinger are clearly looking forward to the 2010 season.
“We don’t go in completely blind, just partly blind,” Petty said. “At least we’ve got a little bit of experience with it. It helps the driver and the crew, and they’ll be able to translate it better to the rest of the crew.”
