A. J. Allmendinger
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| Born: | April 12, 1981 (age 25) | |
| Birthplace: |  Los Gatos, California |
|
| Awards: | 2-time IKF Champion
2002 Barber Dodge Pro Series Champion 2003 Champ Car Atlantic Champion 2004 Champ Car World Series Rookie of the Year |
|
| NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Statistics | ||
| Car #, Team | #84 - Team Red Bull | |
| First Race: | 2007 Food City 500 (Bristol) | |
| Wins | Top Tens | Poles |
| 0 | 0 | 0 |
| NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Statistics | ||
| Best NCTS Position: | 46th - 2006 (Craftsman Truck Series) | |
| First Race: | 2006 Sylvania 200 (New Hampshire) | |
| Wins | Top Tens | Poles |
| 0 | 1 | 0 |
| All stats current as of March 23, 2007. | ||
A.J. Allmendinger (born December 16, 1981, in Los Gatos, California) is an American racecar driver. He currently drives the #84 for Team Red Bull in NASCAR.
Contents |
[edit] Racing career
[edit] Early career
He started his career in karts. He won two International Karting Federation Grand National championships. [1]
Allmendinger won the Barber Dodge Pro Series championship in 2002, and the Champ Car Atlantic Championship in 2003 with Carl Russo's RuSport team.
[edit] Champ Car
|
A.J. Allmendinger |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Champ Car World Series Record | |
| Nationality | American |
| Car # | - |
| Current team | - |
| Race starts | 39 |
| Series Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 5 |
| Podium finishes | 14 |
| Pole positions | 2 |
| First Champ Car race | 2004 Grand Prix of Long Beach |
| First win | 2006 Grand Prix of Portland |
| edit | |
In 2004 they entered the Champ Car World Series, with Michel Jourdain Jr. joining Allmendinger. He generally outperformed the experienced Mexican, scoring a run of 6 top-6 finishes towards the end of the season, winning the Roshfrans Rookie-of-the-Year award ahead of Justin Wilson. Wilson joined the team for 2005, and both drivers have been in regular contention for podium finishes.
On June 9, 2006, RuSport announced that Allmendinger would be replaced by 2002 CART champion Cristiano da Matta. However, he did not remain unemployed long, as Forsythe Championship Racing hired him on June 14, 2006. In the interim, he became engaged to Lynne Kushnirenko, a model and chiropractor.
On June 18, 2006, Allmendinger won the Grand Prix of Portland in his first race with Forsythe Championship Racing. Allmendinger became the first American to win a Champ Car World Series event since Ryan Hunter-Reay won at The Milwaukee Mile in 2004.
On June 25, 2006, Allmendinger won the Grand Prix of Cleveland from the pole in a hectic race that saw two-time CART champ and points leader Sébastien Bourdais, teammate Paul Tracy, former teammate Justin Wilson, Dan Clarke and former seatholder Mario Dominguez eliminated during the race.
He continued his winning streak by winning his third consecutive race at the Grand Prix of Toronto on July 9, 2006. He started second after Wilson bested Allmendinger's time in the last lap of the event's final qualifying session. The victory moved Allmendinger into second place in the CCWS championship standings, behind leader Bourdais.
He chalked up his fourth and fifth wins of the season at Denver and Road America.
[edit] NASCAR
Allmendinger made his NASCAR debut in the Craftsman Truck Series driving for Bill Davis Racing at New Hampshire International Speedway on September 16 2006[2] [3]. He crashed his primary truck in qualifying but started the race 32nd and finished on the lead lap in 13th. He also competed at Talladega Superspeedway in October with a finish of 5th. In his 3rd career truck series start, he qualified in 2nd place at Atlanta.
Allmendinger attempted his first NASCAR Nextel Cup Series event at Atlanta in October 2006 driving the Team Red Bull entry, however, a rainout in qualifying prevented him from making the race, due to lack of owners points for the team. He also attempted to make the race at Texas however he failed to qualify.
It was announced on October 24, 2006 that Allmendinger will drive the NEXTEL Cup #84 Team Red Bull Toyota Camry in 2007.
Allmendinger failed to qualify for the 2007 Daytona 500 after a crash in the first Gatorade Duel race. He has also failed to qualify for the California, Las Vegas, and Atlanta races. He has failed to qualify for his first 6 Nextel Cup races. Allmendinger will also race in the Craftsman Truck Series for Darrell Waltrip Motorsports.
A.J. finished 40th his first Nextel Cup start at the Food City 500 at Bristol, which was the debut of the COT.
[edit] Personal
On Friday, January 19, 2007, A.J. married Lynne Kushnirenko in Palm Beach, Florida.
[edit] References
- ^ Allmendinger's Champ car profile
- ^ http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/nascar/32253/
- ^ NASCAR results at Racing-reference.info
[edit] External links
- A.J. Allmendinger Career Statistics
- AJ Allmendinger Champ Car career
- Allmendinger statistics pre NASCAR career
- Official website
[edit] Complete Champ Car results
(key)
| Yr | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Team | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | RuSPORT | LBH 12 |
MOT Ret |
MIL 5 |
POR 6 |
CLE 6 |
TOR 11 |
VAN 3 |
ROA 13 |
DEN 5 |
MON 5 |
LAG Ret |
LAS 6 |
SUR 6 |
MEX 3 |
RuSPORT | 6th | 229 |
| 2005 | RuSPORT | LBH 8 |
MOT 10 |
MIL 2 |
POR 5 |
CLE 2 |
TOR Ret |
EDM Ret |
SAN Ret |
DEN 3 |
MON 9 |
LAS 13 |
SUR 2 |
MEX 2 |
RuSPORT | 5th | 227 | |
| 2006 | RuSPORT | LBH Ret |
HST 8 |
MOT 3 |
MIL 4 |
POR 1 |
CLE 1 |
TOR 1 |
EDM 3 |
SAN 7 |
DEN 1 |
MON Ret |
ROA 1 |
SUR Ret |
MEX DNS |
Forsythe | 2nd | 280 |
* Denotes present season standing
| Preceded by Sébastien Bourdais (as CART Rookie of the Year) |
Champ Car Rookie of the Year 2004 |
Succeeded by Timo Glock |
