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A.J. Allmendinger Finishes 13th But It Could Have Been Worse

AJ Allmendinger, from Los Gatos, CA, the driver of the No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion came home to Northern California to race on Sunday at Infineon Raceway. It was a tough race with a lot of “beatin & bangin” so he was pleased to come out with a 13th place finish. Here is the report on the race from Richard Petty Motorsports.

• AJ Allmendinger started in the seventh position Sunday afternoon at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California
• Allmendinger finished the 110-lap race in the 13th position
• Unofficially, Allmendinger sits in 15th place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver point standings

Race Summary: AJ Allmendinger lined up for the start of the season’s first road course event in the seventh place. As soon as the green flag waved for the start of the 224-mile race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., Allmendinger began his charge toward the front of the pack. By the time the field came
around to complete the first lap, Allmendinger had driven the Best Buy Ford Fusion into the top five.

Early radio communication between driver and crew was that the Richard Petty Motorsports Ford needed more rear grip. Crew Chief Mike Shiplett called for air pressure and wedge adjustments during the first pit stop of the day, which came on Lap 21 of the 110-lap race. Allmendinger remained in the top 10 throughout the first half of the event but lost some ground after getting tagged by the No. 2 car and spun around on Lap 65. The San Jose, Calif. native fell to 22nd in the following laps and drove to the attention of his crew for a scheduled pit stop at Lap 75. Shiplett called for another wedge adjustment to the car in an effort to assist his driver with the handling of the machine.

The No. 43 Best Buy Ford held down the 20th position when the yellow flag flew for an on-track incident involving the No. 14 car at Lap 88. During the ensuing extended caution period, Allmendinger relayed to Shiplett that the car was lacking side bite in the esses and rear grip. Shiplett called for the addition of a spring rubber in the right rear and four fresh tires during the Lap 89 pit stop. Allmendinger settled in for the restart in the 23rd spot.

Allmendinger began his charge to the front with 15 laps to go. One by one he picked off his competitors and with only 10 laps remaining in the race, had worked his way back into the top 15. Wheeling one of the fastest cars on the track in the closing laps, Allmendinger took the checkered flag in 13th place.

Allmendinger picked up two positions in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver point standings following the race in Sonoma. He now holds down 15th place heading to Daytona (Daytona Beach, Fla.) International Speedway next weekend.

Allmendinger’s Thoughts After the Race: “That was crazy just like always. The Best Buy Ford was pretty good, but from mid-race on we were kind of loose. Everybody was running into each other out there. I got into a couple guys and got them angry and then I had one guy dump me. I just tried to keep fighting. We are getting there. If we can get some luck on our side, we might actually be up front where we deserve to finish. It could have been a lot worse and 13th isn’t great, but it could have been a lot worse with 20 laps to go.”

Next Race Information
Date: July 2, 2011
Track: Daytona International Speedway (Daytona Beach, Florida)
Laps: 160 Laps/400 Miles
TV Information: 4:30 p.m. PT on TNT
Radio Information: 4:30 p.m. PT on MRN and Sirius Radio
Qualifying: Friday, July 1 at 1:10 p.m. PT on SPEED

To keep up to date on AJ’s latest stats please visit his driver page at www.racing-reference.info.

J.R. Hildebrand Qualifies 4th For Today’s IndyCar Race

IZOD IndyCar Series Rookie Lands National Guard Team in Second Row for Iowa Corn Indy 250

Hildebrand1-1 — J.R. Hildebrand from Sausalito, CA leading rookie in the IndyCar Series.

NEWTON, Iowa – (June 24, 2011) – National Guard Panther Racing driver JR Hildebrand laid down his career-best qualification effort Saturday at Iowa Speedway, where the IZOD IndyCar Series rookie will start fourth for tomorrow’s Iowa Corn Indy 250. Hildebrand had recorded his previous best starting effort of 11th position earlier this month at Texas Motor Speedway, but secured a spot in the Second Row alongside Tony Kanaan for tomorrow’s 250-lap event.

The qualification effort is the best starting position since Ed Carpenter started on the pole for Panther Racing at Kentucky Speedway in 2010.

Hildebrand posted lap speeds of 179.422 and 179.717 mph for a two-lap combined average speed of 179.569 mph. The team’s previous best starting position at Iowa was a sixth-place start by Dan Wheldon in 2009, a year in which he led the race and finished fourth. In the final practice session of the day Hildebrand finished in the tenth position.

KV Racing driver Takuma Sato captured his first career IndyCar Series pole position and will be joined on the front row by Andretti Autosport driver Danica Patrick.

The Iowa Corn Indy 250 will be broadcast live on VERSUS, Saturday, June 25th at 8:00 pm (ET) with additional coverage provided by the IMS Radio Network, XM channel 94 and Sirius channel 212.

J.R. Hildebrand had this to say after qualifying:

“We got the ole girl a little loose there in practice, so we made a bunch of changes during the break and obviously rolled out there in qualifying and felt pretty good. We’re excited about what we had in qualifying there and even more excited about what we can have in the race. When we rolled out in practice we were really good and then we lost it a little bit. We started to have some issues at the end of that practice, but we locked ourselves into the transporter until qualifying and we definitely got it right. We’re excited that we had a good run there in qualifying and we’ve got another practice session tonight to work on the racecar.”

www.JRHildebrandRacing.com – www.pantherracing.com – www.NationalGuard.com

AJ Allmendinger Comes Home to Race At Infineon Raceway

As you know, we try to follow race car drivers from Northern California who compete in National Racing series. One of the most successful young drivers is Los Gatos native, A.J. Allmendinger, who drives the No. 43 Best Buy Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports. Here is a release from them about A.J. and Sunday’s race in Northern California.

Famous No. 43 Car — A.J. Allmendinger and Richard Petty with the famous No. 43 cars.

Infineon Race Preview

AJ Allmendinger
No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion
• Allmendinger has made three starts at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California.
• Allmendinger enters the race in 17th place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver point standings
• Allmendinger’s best finish (seventh) at the track came in the 2009 event

Allmendinger on the Keys to Success in Sonoma: “My plan is to follow Marcos [teammate Marcos Ambrose] around (laughs). I’m going to try to do that most of the race and then pass him on the last lap, hopefully.

“No, in all seriousness, we’ll have to get the Best Buy Ford Fusion turning fairly good in the corner, but the biggest thing is you have to have forward drive off all the way through the esses. In 2009 we were pretty good there and we had good forward drive the whole time and it made passing pretty easy in Turn 11. Last year we didn’t have any forward drive and we were getting killed there. That’s the biggest thing, and like I said, just follow Marcos.”

Crew Chief Mike Shiplett’s Keys to Getting Around Sonoma: “You have to be able to keep good forward bite off the corner. You need good turn in the middle, but it’s more the forward bite off the corner that you need to concentrate on. Keeping all four wheels on the asphalt and not in the grass is also certainly something that is important. You also need to be getting good fuel mileage so you can open up your windows on pit stops and you have more choices of when you can and can’t pit.

“Qualifying is important, but there’s not a huge advantage for picking a pit stall on pit road because you don’t plan on coming down under a yellow flag condition on a road course race. You work the race backwards. Ideally, you want to be the first one on pit road after you are able to make it to the end of the race.”

AJ with Richard Petty — A.J. Allmendinger from Los Gatos with his boss Richard Petty.

Chassis History: The No. 43 RPM team has prepared chassis No. 760 for this weekend’s event at Infineon Raceway. Though this weekend will mark the first time this particular car has been utilized this season. Allmendinger and the No. 43 team tested it several times at Virginia International Raceway.

Notes: Allmendinger has three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Infineon Raceway. Allmendinger’s best starting position 15th at the 1.99-mile track came in last season’s event.

Allmendinger will head to Sonoma early to take part in a media luncheon at McCormick and Kuleto’s on Thursday afternoon. Several NASCAR drivers including California native, Allmendinger, will attend.

Richard Petty will be featured in Sonoma’s Legends of Racing program this weekend. Three of the biggest names in NASCAR history will be featured throughout the race weekend: The trio, which features Bobby Allison, Petty and Ned Jarrett, will be featured during a special Q&A session on race day, Sunday, June 26, during pre-event ceremonies.

On Saturday, June 25, following final practice, AJ will join members of his fan club in the Turn 10 tower suites at Infineon Raceway. Fans will have the opportunity to participate in a meet and greet/Q-and-A session with AJ as well as win some great prizes, including AJ gear, a GARMIN gps unit from Best Buy and a special grand prize. Space is still available at http://www.infineonraceway.com/ajfanclub/.

Visit the Richard Petty Motorsports website at www.richardpettymotorsports.com for up-to-date news and information about AJ Allmendinger, partner promotions and all things Richard Petty Motorsports.

Credit – Richard Petty Motorsports PR