A.J. Allmendinger believes he is close to getting the first win of his NASCAR Sprint Cup career. Every week he leaves the track a little more confident. A.J. recently explained that Dover is a track he believes is made for him. He spoke to Dave Rodman from NASCAR.COM, who wrote a great article titled “Allmendinger seeks breakthrough win at Dover”. NorCal driver A.J. Allmendinger with crew chief Mike Shiplett
A.J. Allmendinger spent most of Friday’s first Sprint Cup Series practice session at Dover International Speedway near or at the top of the speed chart — and when the session was over, he’d only just been bumped to second by six-time Dover winner Jimmie Johnson.
During Happy Hour, Johnson and Allmendinger were again almost inextricably tied — though in 23rd and 24th position. But after his 2010 performance here, especially in the fall race when he led more than a third of the 400-lap race, Allmendinger feels like he might be the series’ next first-time winner on Sunday. Read more..
18 year old Jessica Brunelli from Hayward, CA. Jessica Brunelli from Hayward, CA returned to the track where she won the 2009 Rookie of the Year award, All American Speedway in Roseville, to test her new Naake Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet. Last year, the high school senior moved to Mooresville, N.C., to participate in NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program but has now been given the opportunity to run some races in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West. Here is the information from Racers Drive.
Racers Drive announces that it will be fielding a stock car in the NASCAR K&N Pro series races at Las Vegas on June 11th and at Infineon Raceway as part of the Sprint Cup show the weekend of June 24 – 26.
The driver will be 18 year old Jessica Brunelli from Hayward, CA who is part of NASCAR’s prestigious Drive for Diversity (D4D) program. She is tremendously fast, very personable and currently running stock cars on tracks back east for Revolution Racing. For more information on Jessica go to her website, www.brunelliracing.com. Jessica Brunelli waits to take the track at All American Speedway in Roseville, CA.
We will be teaming Jessica up with Naake Motorsports of Roseville, CA and the Stephanie Bellotti Foundation. The Stephanie Bellotti Foundation was formed by Stephanie’s parents after they tragically lost their daughter in an automobile accident. Their organization now provides funding for Teen Driving Clinics to give young drivers the competence and confidence necessary to keep them and their vehicle safe and under control in an emergency situation. The response from fans, sponsors and NASCAR to the foundation’s proactive approach to the development of safe driving skills has been outstanding.
The marriage between Jessica Brunelli, one of NASCAR’s rising young stars, Naake Motorsports, an established and successful K&N team, and the Stephanie Bellotti Foundation will ensure that any organization involved will enjoy the exposure and goodwill generated by the attention and press that this effort will attract.
Stephanie Bellotti Teen Fund
Brunelli has been competing since she was 7 years old – racing go-karts, quads, Modifieds and Late Models. She is in her second year driving for Revolution Racing in the D4D program and competes in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series. In 2010, she registered six top-five and 10 top-10 finishes in 19 races in that series.
In 2009, she competed in the Modified division at All American Speedway in Roseville – where she finished third in points and had 10 top-five and 13 top-10 finishes. She also raced in two Late Model events at the Roseville track, notching a top-10 finish.
Brunelli has also been involved in several driver development programs, including the Lyn St. James Women in the Winner’s Circle Academy.
Naake Motorsports is headed by Mike Naake, a veteran driver, car builder and shock specialist on the West Coast. Naake’s No. 88 Chevrolet finished fifth in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Roseville in April.
We are actively seeking additional marketing partners to help fund this operation.
To learn how you can become a sponsor and marketing partner with the Racers Drive team, contact Mike Cesario at mike@racersdrive.com or 408-220-3167.
Racers Drive, is a Los Gatos, CA based motorsports marketing management organization which acts as a matchmaker and motor sports advocate for drivers, race teams and marketing partners alike.
A.J. Allmendinger from Los Gatos, California, is the driver of the No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion owned by Richard Petty Motorsports. He recently attended a media day function at Kentucky Speedway, where he spoke about driving for a legend and gave his impressions of the track and how it’s changed since his last visit.
A.J. ALLMENDINGER – No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion — WHAT ARE YOUR IMPRESSIONS OF KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY TODAY? “It’s cool. It’s been about three years since I’ve been here and just driving in and seeing the parking and what’s going on in the infield with all the updates is impressive. The grandstands, the new offices outside – just from what I remember three years ago to now is absolutely amazing, so I look forward to getting to this place in July when it’s all done and ready to go.”
PIT ROAD IS CLOSER TO THE FANS. WHAT WILL THAT MEAN AS FAR AS THEIR EXPERIENCE? “I think just being able to be close to the race cars in general is a good thing. On pit road, to see the work that actually goes on is great because TV doesn’t really do it justice. To be able to be close enough to see it in person and see what the pit crew does because they’re true athletes and, honestly a little crazy, especially to jump in front of me when I’m driving down pit road, so it’s gonna be really cool. It’s what NASCAR is all about. It’s fan-friendly, it’s exciting, and anything to get fans closer to the action and excited about is what we want.” Los Gatos native, A.J. Allmendinger and the famous No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford. HOW HONORED ARE YOU TO DRIVE THE 43? “It’s amazing. For me, I feel very fortunate to wake up every day and be able to get in a race car, especially an Indy car guy. I came from open-wheel, so to think I’m in such a famous number, and, honestly, to have a true legend walk into your hauler every weekend to come and talk to you, whether he’s yelling at you or not, is amazing. I love the history of all sports, and the history of NASCAR especially, and to know I have the man that’s walking into the hauler, and I get to hear stories from him and Dale Inman that fans would die to hear. I get to hear them on a weekly basis, so that’s something that I feel very fortunate about.”
DO YOU FEEL FANS RELATE TO YOU BECAUSE OF WHO YOU DRIVE FOR? “Yeah, and I get fans all the time that come up and say, ‘I’m rooting for you. I’ve been with Richard Petty for 30 years, so I’m rooting for you.’ I’ll take all the fans I can get because I think I’m upwards of 20 or 30 fans right now (laughing), so the more we can get each time is a good thing. It’s something to be a part of Richard Petty Motorsports and have all the great sponsors that we do, but, more importantly, to have the King on your side and single-handedly pick you to drive the 43 is something that when he told me that, it meant the world to me. Now, the next step is we’ve just got to get this thing to Victory Lane so everybody can be happy.”
WHAT DO YOU AND YOUR FELLOW DRIVERS THINK ABOUT COMING TO KENTUCKY? “I can’t really speak on behalf of the other guys, but I know for me it’s cool to always get some new excitement in the series, and we have a lot of great race tracks that we go to, but you need a change and to have a new race like this – a race that I think is gonna be really exciting because the track is wide, there are a lot of grooves, and it’s gonna be three and four-wide racing. I watched the Nationwide race this year on TV and the fan base that showed up for that race was amazing, so I can’t even fathom what it’s gonna be like for the Sprint Cup race. It’s just cool to have some new blood and to have Ford be a part of the race track and re-up and be the official pace car. To be able to come here, it would be awesome for all those reasons to maybe win the first one.”
For more information on Richard Petty Motorsports, please visit their website.
