Allmendinger Looking To Race Into The "Chase"

By Anne Proffit

Anne Proffit

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Anne Proffit has worked in the automotive field since - well, not telling you that. She's been a car salesperson (before it was popular to hire... More

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2012 is a new year with a pile of new challenges for Californian AJ Allmendinger, driver of Penske Racing's No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T. Thus far The Dinger has had an excellent start to his racing season, winning the 50th anniversary Rolex 24 at Daytona endurance race with former CART teammate Justin Wilson, John Pew and Ozz Negri. Allmendinger drove the final three-plus hours of that contest as if each lap were a qualifier.

Having conquered Daytona International Speedway's 3.56-mile road/oval course, Allmendinger and his new team are back at the track looking for success in this Saturday's Budweiser Shootout and the following Sunday in the Daytona 500, traditional start to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

To prepare, Allmendinger and his team have done some testing, on the Nashville Superspeedway concrete oval and also at Walt Disney World. "I feel like the team is gelling really well with (crew chief) Todd Gordon and the guys. For me it's been fun to be at the track and hang around with them."

Perhaps they kept one another warm? "At Nashville it was 35 degrees and Walt Disney World isn't like any other track we race at. So we just get in the car and go through some changes. More than anything, for Todd and me we've built our language 'barrier' together to where we communicate; he knows what I'm saying. All those things have been really good," Allmendinger stressed. "Speedweeks is its own thing, and anything can happen." The Dinger is more excited about the second race at Phoenix International Raceway "and really see where we're at as a race team."

After struggling to find his legs in NASCAR's biggest shows, Allmendinger expects "everything out of myself" this season. "You look at the reason that I made this move is that I want to make the next step in my career - and the next step is to win races and make the Chase (the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff). I was in 13th spot when the Chase started last year," he reminded. "I was one out. You look at what the Penske Racing team did last year by putting both cars in the Chase.

"And Shell/Pennzoil, the drivers they've had in their race car are, to me, race-winning and race-championship guys," Allmendinger said. "My expectation is on myself. When it comes to people outside of that, they have their own expectations. For me, it all comes from within and that's winning races and making the Chase. As the season goes on, you have to see where your organization is at and maybe those expectations change. Sitting here right now," he emphasized, "anything less than winning races and making the Chase is a disappointment."

What will happen in this year's Daytona 500 is, for now, all conjecture. "We're still all wondering how the race is going to play out," Allmendinger mused. "Big Pack? Tandem? I think the good thing is that if it's a tandem, my teammate Brad (Keselowski) and I worked really well together at the test and focused on what we wanted and how to work together.

"Our cars are fast. Dodge, with all the resources going into our race cars, we had good stuff. I think we'll have speed, it just matters how the race plays out. I think that if we can work together, going through the Shootout, the Duels and getting into the 500, then we'll have a pretty good idea of how the racing is going to be," he advised. "More than anything else, I was excited about how Brad and I worked together. If we can do that, whether it's a tandem or a pack, if we can stick together as a group, we have a chance to being up front at the end of the race."

Now that he's won the Rolex 24 at Daytona and knows the way to Victory Lane, AJ Allmendinger has a fantasy of how winning the Daytona 500 would be. "I go to bed every night coming off Turn 4 and making the pass on whomever for the win and going into Victory Lane. It's all a fantasy until it becomes a reality. There are so many steps that go into a [Daytona] 500 race around this place and so much that can happen.

"I almost think you take it every 10 laps of the race. With 20 to go, you're seeing how your car is; all the fenders and all the pieces still on it and then you start to figure out where you need to be the last couple of laps. That's what makes this place fun!"