Waid's World

A NASCAR BLOG BY Steve Waid

Allmendinger will do his part

Mar 4
When a team knows that it is not performing at the proper level, sometimes it makes what appears to be a drastic move to improve.

That’s what has happened at Red Bull Racing.

It was recently announced that veteran Mike Skinner will replace A.J. Allmendinger in the No. 84 Red Bull Toyota.

The decision, announced by team Vice President and General Manager Jay Frye, was made for obvious reasons. Allmendinger has yet to make a race this season and has sunk to 46th in owner points, well below the top 35 positions that assure starting positions in every race.

Meanwhile, Brian Vickers, Allmendinger’s teammate, is having a very good season start. He’s qualified for all three races to date, has a top-10 finish and is a comfortable 13th in owner points.

Obviously, something is amiss. Frye certainly thought so. He said his team could not keep missing races, adding that to do so was not an option.

Since one driver is making races routinely and the other is not, Frye reasoned that it was time to make a switch. Thus Skinner was tapped.

It will be Skinner’s mission to get the No. 84 Red Bull Toyota into races. It will also be his job to be Allmendinger’s teacher and show him what it takes to get the job done.

Allmendinger is like every other race driver. He doesn’t like being pulled in favor of another. He wants to race.

But he understands the situation and has said he’s ready to learn everything he can from Skinner, who is a friend. He knows the quicker he learns, the sooner he’s back behind the wheel.

If Allmendinger means what he says – and there’s no reason to think he doesn’t – then he’s got the right attitude, one that will serve him and his team best.

For Allmendinger to cop a rebellious attitude and become uncooperative would only alienate him from his team and, quite possibly, keep him out of the car longer – or permanently.

I certainly don’t think that will happen. I think Allmendinger will do what’s required of him, and that’s the best thing he can do.

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Comments

2 responses to "Allmendinger will do his part"
  1. 1
    Julie Luoma said:
    Mar 5, 2008 at 8:31 AM

    Vickers, a much more experienced Cup veteran, made only six races more than AJ last year, and at least some of those were due to him being locked-in because of rain-out. Given the circumstances, AJ has done VERY well. I couldn't blame AJ if he did cop an attitude. RB seems focused on making sure Scott Speed gets all the seat time he can, whilst virtually ignorning their Cup driver. AJ has demonstrated a lot of potential, but clearly he needs the seat time and he almost seems to be an afterthought over there. I hope RB is serious about their commitment to AJ, and that they're planning on getting him that seat time rather than turning this into an excuse to clear space for their favored child, Speed.

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  2. 2
    Chad Manley said:
    Mar 6, 2008 at 2:45 AM

    it's very simple, AJ was not ready for this, he had no late model or any other Nascar touring series, No Busch and only a handful of truck races under his belt when he was tabbed for this job. He Needs SEAT TIME and the only way he'll get it is to run more races at a level he can qualify comfortably for.

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