FanHouse's campaign to preserve A.J. Allmendinger as a driver for Red Bull Racing has failed, thanks to an announcement from team head Jay Frye Tuesday morning.
From the team's web site:
Red Bull Racing Team and driver AJ Allmendinger have agreed to part ways for the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Allmendinger is in his second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season driving the No. 84 Red Bull Toyota, which currently sits 34th in owners' points.That last line -- "we wish him nothing but the best" -- just seems to have a certain Jay Frye-is-totally-BS'ing-us ring to it, doesn't it?
"AJ is a talented driver and we really enjoyed working with him," said RBRT Vice President and General Manager Jay Frye. "He's come a long way in just two years and we wish him nothing but the best."
I say that because it has seemed for a while that Frye was a fan of Allmendinger, but the major team decisions are made over his head by the team owners in Austria.
The part of the statement that does seem true is the "He's come a long way" because indeed Allmendinger has made enormous gains from his first season inside of a stock car just one year ago. He's still bouncing around the Top-35 cut off but already at this point in the season has made three more races than he did a year ago -- despite a 5-race benching -- and in the past 10 races has had 6 Top-20 finishes, or two more than he had in all of 2007.
The announcement also seems to indicate that Allmendinger's duties with Red Bull are relinquished immediately because Craftsman Truck Series driver Mike Skinner -- who tried to help out the No. 84 car when A.J. was benched -- will be driving the car this week during the Sprint Cup Series test at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Over at Jayski, the biggest rumor surrounding Allmendinger's Sprint Cup future is with Chip Ganassi Racing's empty No. 41 car for 2009. With Ganassi's recent performance coupled with some sponsorship issues, the move for Allmendinger to Ganassi leaves me with a bad taste, but it could turn out to be a better situation with an owner who realizes the kid can drive a race car.
As for the No. 84, this has to open the door for former F1 driver Scott Speed to make his Sprint Cup debut in the next few weeks. Fortunately, Red Bull is at least replacing the talented Allmendinger with a guy that can bring a lot to NASCAR with his personality and, hopefully, stock car racing talent.
In the mean time, I'm just going to grimace at the thought of what-could-have-been (victory lane seemed like a great possibility) for Red Bull and a seasoned Allmendinger in 2009.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-23-2008 @ 2:13PM
Maveness said...
It's been a tough one to swallow as a Team Red Bull fan. I've liked the way the team thinks, the way they address problems, the way they've chosen talent since their inception. They were the Toyota team that I picked as most likely to become a contender (before Gibbs joined up). I still stick by that to a degree, but it's become clear that there is one point they don't have a firm grasp on that will be a huge problem in acquiring talent in the future.
They don't have an owner who is committed to playing fair with his drivers.
It's been clear for a good while that Scott Speed is who is wanted in the car. The Red Bull blog has been primarily Scott, sometimes AJ, almost never Brian. (It's also sometimes other Red Bull sports, which irks, as it's supposed to be the NASCAR arm blog. I question whether that's the marketing team not realizing what the fans want or a corporate decision to cross promote, but either way, it's failing.) The writing was on the wall. So if the writing is very clearly on the wall, why wait until the driver's options are almost dried up to yank him from the car? Common courtesy says you let them know as soon as possible so they stand a chance of finding a ride elsewhere. That's the part that has many AJ fans in an uproar.
What's really frustrating for me is that I became a fan of the team partially because of Brian, then I fell for AJ and his work ethic. And then, because it's not like they choose crappy guys, I fell for Scott Speed, who is wacky and out there, but sensible as all get out. He has actually stated that his performance in ARCA and the Truck Series make him look better than he is and that he needs more seat time to learn. How can you not like a guy that *doesn't* overestimate his worth?
All in all, whoever's making the decisions, whether it be the head honcho in Austria or not, they're slightly out of touch with what's going to look good to the fans and be beneficial for their team.
One thing to remember for AJ, though, is that many of the guys losing rides at this point are screwed. They don't have a ride next year. As much as I don't think Ganassi is in the right place right now to be competitive, if AJ is being considered for there, he's at least still in the sport. He's got a chance for the future.
Reply