Passing Lane
A NASCAR BLOG BY Mike Hembree
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Allmendinger's run into top 35 remarkable
Aug
12
Pardon AJ Allmendinger if his smile is three-car-lengths wide today.
Allmendinger will stroll into unknown territory this week at Michigan International Speedway. His Red Bull team is in 35th place in Sprint Cup owner points, meaning he has an automatic spot in Sunday’s race.
For most drivers, this is a given. For Allmendinger, it’s been anything but this season. His year had a horrible start, leading to the team bringing in veteran driver Mike Skinner to replace Allmendinger on a temporary basis to aid in evaluating its program. Instead of stomping off into the twilight, Allmendinger accepted the change in the spirit in which it was planned.
Results weren’t immediate, but they did show up. In the first three races in which he competed this season, Allmendinger finished 30th, 39th and 27th. In the past three races, he has finishes of 10th, 19th and 11th.
The progress has been slow but sure, and now Allmendinger has pushed his car into the automatic-qualifier room, one that is much prized these days.
It’s a remarkable story for a driver and team that started the season under black clouds.
Allmendinger will stroll into unknown territory this week at Michigan International Speedway. His Red Bull team is in 35th place in Sprint Cup owner points, meaning he has an automatic spot in Sunday’s race.
For most drivers, this is a given. For Allmendinger, it’s been anything but this season. His year had a horrible start, leading to the team bringing in veteran driver Mike Skinner to replace Allmendinger on a temporary basis to aid in evaluating its program. Instead of stomping off into the twilight, Allmendinger accepted the change in the spirit in which it was planned.
Results weren’t immediate, but they did show up. In the first three races in which he competed this season, Allmendinger finished 30th, 39th and 27th. In the past three races, he has finishes of 10th, 19th and 11th.
The progress has been slow but sure, and now Allmendinger has pushed his car into the automatic-qualifier room, one that is much prized these days.
It’s a remarkable story for a driver and team that started the season under black clouds.
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Comments
7 responses to "Allmendinger's run into top 35 remarkable"
Brian Nelson said:
Aug 12, 2008 at 10:33 AMKudos to Jimmy Elledge. Since his arrival, the 83 has greatly improved!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportMichael Murray said:
Aug 12, 2008 at 12:48 PMReally pumped up for this Kid. No doubt one of the best stories of the year to this point. Red Bull is about on Par in their 2nd season. Sure can't say that about MWR. I thought when Skinner was in the car marketed the end of A.J. cup run. not the case!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportRichard Clower said:
Aug 12, 2008 at 5:24 PMIt's a shame Elledge wasn't able to stay with Sorenson at Ganassi. They were making progress together last year, as well as a 5th place at Daytona this year. Elledge is a great crew chief.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportJulie Luoma said:
Aug 13, 2008 at 4:57 PMIt defies logic that this kid is in danger of losing his ride. Considering all the circumstances he's had to deal with, his performance has been nothing short of amazing.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportdanny johnston said:
Aug 13, 2008 at 5:06 PMCome on, what are you aching to come out of the closet, with this guy? write about the guys in the top 20 they are the racers we want to know about not the bottom feeders.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportRichard Clower said:
Aug 13, 2008 at 6:18 PMAnews for you Danny......there's 43 drivers in the filed every week. Ccould be hard to grasp for the simple minds.
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» Confirm Abuse Report4da88 said:
Aug 21, 2008 at 8:13 PMMessage #5 Geez, what an ugly thing to say. I love reading about all the drivers. There are some mighty good names at the bottom and outside of the list. It is inspiring to watch a kid work his way up and this kid shows a lot of talent. Thank you Mike for taking the time for this article.
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