A.J. Allmendinger has a lot in common with Patrick Carpentier.Both are former open-wheel racing drivers. Both have struggled at times to get a strong foothold on NASCAR racing.
And both have now been strung along by their race teams, with Carpentier finally getting the word this week that his services aren't a top priority at his Gillette-Evernham Motorsports home. Allmendinger has yet to receive word on his 2009 plans.
Most people in the NASCAR world would have signed Allmendinger a month ago to an extended contract after the driver has shown an obvious improvement in not only finishing races, but qualifying for them, too. But Red Bull Racing isn't like most other teams.
The operation has its NASCAR base in North Carolina, but most of the big personnel decisions -- like hiring a driver -- are handled by the ownership group in Red Bull's native country Austria. And that ownership group is used to the Formula One train of thought when it comes to driver decisions of waiting until September or October to make plans for the following year.
That has got to be frustrating to Allmendinger for many, many reasons -- the least of which is Scott Speed.
Speed won Red Bull's driver search a few years ago and made his way to F1 under the Red Bull banner. The relationship didn't work out well, but Red Bull kept a hold of Speed and has now pushed him into stock car racing. His best finish is a win in the Craftsman Truck Series race at Dover, and he appears destined to make it to Sprint Cup racing -- possibly as soon as 2009 with Red Bull, which creates the problem for Allmendinger.
Speed would more than likely take over Allmendinger's ride unless another sponsor is found if such a move is made.
And if that move happens, Allmendinger would be out of a ride that he has put a ton of effort into making a competitive one at a point in the NASCAR calendar that would make it very, very tough for him to find a quality ride.
Allmendinger will start second Sunday night in California despite qualifying as a car that was outside of the Top-35, and very easily could be a Top-10 finisher based on how well his teammate Brian Vickers has run recently at 1.5 and 2-mile tracks. And if that happens, the heat will have turned up that much more on the Red Bull folks in Austria to sign Allmendinger immediately.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-31-2008 @ 7:46PM
wsucougarchick05 said...
Yes! Yes! Yes!
I couldn't agree more!
The 84 team has basically been on fire as of late. Especially since Jimmy Elledge took over.
It'd be a shame if Red Bull didn't re-sign AJ after them realizing that it wasn't AJ...it was the chemistry between AJ and Ricky Viers. Which I didn't get. Red Bull noticed IMMEDIATELY when the chemistry between Brian and Doug Richert wasn't there, and they took action quickly. Why didn't they do the same when they saw that AJ was struggling with a crew chief who had little to no Sprint Cup...Nextel Cup...whatever the heck it is now...experience??????
Reply
9-01-2008 @ 9:18AM
Maveness said...
As much as I like Scott Speed and think he's talented, he's said it himself - he needs time in Trucks and Nationwide before he gets near Cup. He said his run in Arca and Trucks makes him look better than he actually is. (Let it be known, that's part of the reason I love him.)
Red Bull Racing has done a great job of having drivers that are smart, sensible, and get the deal with teh cars. They're solid and talented. But AJ shouldn't get punished for hte fact that he was the lead off driver in the development of a team.
Luckily I'm hoping that the fact that the team owner is so incommunicado is because of location and a lack of realization about the effect it's having on the teams, not because they're up to something or just heartless.
Reply
9-29-2008 @ 10:32AM
Connie Phillips said...
We are very disappointed that Red Bull has let A.J. Allmendinger go. He has great talent and potential and appears to be popular with the public and media. He has proven his talent this year by qualifying for every race since Mike Skinner was in his car. He has had a top 10 and several top 20 finishes. Mike Skinner even made the comment that what A.J. had been tryingn to tell them about the car was true. He has gotten better and better and it stands that he will do even better next year. He has been driving very well, and in the races he did not finish well, it was not due to his driving but due to pit crew errors, engine problems, or tire problems. I'm sure Scott Speed is great, but he hasn't even ran in the Nationwide series yet. If they were not going to keep A.J., they should have released him earlier so that he would have a better chance of getting a ride. Losing A.J. will be a great loss to Red Bull, and I feel they are going to regret the decision in the future. My family will continue to support A.J. wherever he goes and really are saddened that he will not be a part of Red Bull, a team that we really admire.
Reply