Pocky's Paddock
A NASCAR BLOG BY Bob Pockrass
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Will anyone gamble on AJ Allmendinger?
Sep
25
The AJ Allmendinger story might not be a high-profile one in the world of NASCAR, but it’s certainly an intriguing one.
The driver is being released after two seasons at Red Bull Racing, which most likely will put Scott Speed in the No. 84 car next year.
Speed has been Red Bull’s guy and will continue to be Red Bull’s guy for a long time. It makes perfect sense to get him racing on the Cup level every week. Anyone who has met Speed knows that even if he struggles, he probably isn’t going to lack confidence – he knows he has talent, and he knows he has the full support of his sponsor.
To make room for Speed, somebody had to go. And that had to be Allmendinger. Red Bull can’t have two drivers still learning these cars – it needs a seasoned driver such as Brian Vickers to be there to work with Speed. And right now, Vickers is a better stock-car driver than Allmendinger.
But Allmendinger has shown steady progress in his two seasons. It should be expected that the former open-wheel racer would have some inconsistency in his transition to stock cars. He’s had six top-20 finishes in the last 10 races, but he also has had nine races of 30th or worse in his 20 events this year.
That’s a sign that while there is potential, he probably isn’t a contender for the Chase For The Sprint Cup in 2009. Maybe in 2010 or 2011. It will be interesting to see whether any team and any sponsor – can Chip Ganassi Racing and Target wait a couple of years for
results? – will be willing to roll the dice.
The driver is being released after two seasons at Red Bull Racing, which most likely will put Scott Speed in the No. 84 car next year.
Speed has been Red Bull’s guy and will continue to be Red Bull’s guy for a long time. It makes perfect sense to get him racing on the Cup level every week. Anyone who has met Speed knows that even if he struggles, he probably isn’t going to lack confidence – he knows he has talent, and he knows he has the full support of his sponsor.
To make room for Speed, somebody had to go. And that had to be Allmendinger. Red Bull can’t have two drivers still learning these cars – it needs a seasoned driver such as Brian Vickers to be there to work with Speed. And right now, Vickers is a better stock-car driver than Allmendinger.
But Allmendinger has shown steady progress in his two seasons. It should be expected that the former open-wheel racer would have some inconsistency in his transition to stock cars. He’s had six top-20 finishes in the last 10 races, but he also has had nine races of 30th or worse in his 20 events this year.
That’s a sign that while there is potential, he probably isn’t a contender for the Chase For The Sprint Cup in 2009. Maybe in 2010 or 2011. It will be interesting to see whether any team and any sponsor – can Chip Ganassi Racing and Target wait a couple of years for
results? – will be willing to roll the dice.
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Comments
5 responses to "Will anyone gamble on AJ Allmendinger?"
chris welch said:
Sep 25, 2008 at 8:44 AMsomeone should give him a chance. he has done great this year in comparison to last year.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportSteve C said:
Sep 25, 2008 at 10:56 PMBob, you are such a jerk, who knows nothing. first you write about puting a tarp on a freaking race track, then you say JG won't win another race, now you are wondering if AJ won't be picked up by a Team, what a freaking jerk. Grow up you write like you act in person.!!! AJ will be just fine. he is a very talented driver who was thrown to the wolves with no stock car experence. The kid has done a great job. Most likely you will see a team like CGR or MWR or WBR pick this kid up, he is the star of tommorow and he is much more impressive then little Joey Lagano. Possibily the next Jeff Gordon. What a jerk.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportAdam Morehart said:
Sep 28, 2008 at 2:25 AMBob, I just watched the little video clip of you and Kyle Petty over at nascar.com Change crew chiefs in the middle of the chase?! ARE YOU FOR REAL? How did you become a Nascar analyst or professional anyway? You look like a scared little sissy on TV shakin' and rambling on...and the disrespect you show Kyle Petty in that clip is abhorrent!Any time I see you on TV I will turn the channel.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportScott Baker said:
Sep 28, 2008 at 3:06 PMI'm amazed that ANYONE that has watched a decent amount of NASCAR would say that somebody needs to replace a NASCAR driver with an open wheel driver. But wait a minute, what am I saying, the open wheelers have had a quite a bit of success haven't they. Let's see, Juan Pablo Montoya, won a race where the 2 drivers in front of him ran out of gas, other than that, unsuccessful. Sam Hornish, Patrick Carpentier, AJ Allemdinger, Dario Franchitti, the only thing these open wheelers have accomplished in NASCAR is the reputation for the other drivers to stay away from them, because you KNOW they are going to be in an accident, EVERY WEEK. YES Bob, let's bring in another Open Wheeler to look like an idiot. MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, these open wheelers would benefit with a couple of years in the Nationwide series before coming to Cup and tearing up so much equipment.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportBill Rogers said:
Oct 3, 2008 at 1:28 PM...Yeah, look how much Nationwide has benefited Steven Wallace.......NOT!!!
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