Please shed a tear for Allmendinger

[Accipiter]

"The main thing I am looking forward to is getting to turn right again," the 25-year-old joked. "Turning right on an oval isn't so much fun because it means you are heading for the wall!

"But road-course racing is what I've grown up doing and what I am most comfortable doing. I am nervous about qualifying because you only get one lap to try to make the field. Once I am locked into the race though, I can just relax and do my thing."

The Red Bull driver is realistic about his chances, however, and says that despite his road-racing background he could hardly be a match for some of the Cup regulars who know the track and the cars far better than him.

"These guys have been doing this for a while, so I don't know if I will bring anything to the table against someone like Jeff Gordon," Allmendinger added. "But, I'll definitely be more comfortable driving a stock car this weekend than I have been all year."


http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/59999


He's just a poor fish out of water. :rolleyes:

[Wheel-Nut]

The Red Bull driver is realistic about his chances, however, and says that despite his road-racing background he could hardly be a match for some of the Cup regulars who know the track and the cars far better than him.

"These guys have been doing this for a while, so I don't know if I will bring anything to the table against someone like Jeff Gordon," Allmendinger added. "But, I'll definitely be more comfortable driving a stock car this weekend than I have been all year."

Never bothered Boris and Ron in the past. Almond digger should STFU and just drive.

[ferrarigod]

sit and spin 'dinger. should still be turning right.

[Andrew Longman]

sit and spin 'dinger. should still be turning right.

Dinger made much of the last few seasons fun. I wish he was still in CC. I think he just revealed that he thinks his talents are better suited to road racing an open wheel car.

So should he have taken less money to stay in CC?

Given how hard it is to land a Cup ride, the money they were offering, and the current state of CC can you honestly say that if the guy wanted to make a living driving fast, the smart thing was to stay in CC?

It would have been the brave thing, the thing his heart and his fans would want, but would it be smart?

And GF could have matched the offer. The market set his salary. If it was so important to CC then GF could have paid the market rate.

Will his talents catch on in NASCAR? Will CC exist as a viable option for drivers worthy of top salaries? Who knows? Time will tell, but in the meanwhile he gets to pocket a few large ones while the sport sorts itself out.

I don't like it, but I don't blame him either. He's not like PT who has enough money in the bank and few enough other options to make it easy for him to spout off about loyalty to CC. Andretti and some of the others OTOH...

[Wheel-Nut]

Well if AJ is looking forward to a road course he better step it up. Right now in practice he is 47 out of 50 drivers.

[dando]

Poor SOB. Soon to be yet another wanker chasing down rides @ Indy.... :shakehead

Careful what ya ask fer, yo.

-Kevin

[jonovision_man]

Well if AJ is looking forward to a road course he better step it up. Right now in practice he is 47 out of 50 drivers.

Right now he's qualified 29th of 33 drivers who have been out there... with the best yet to come.

Brutal. If he can't make it here, he can't make it anywhere.

jono

[jonovision_man]

AJ qualifies 43rd. I think he's out, but I hate NASCAR qualifying and have no idea.

Montoya qualifies 32nd... :eek: Not so great!

Boris Said up in 4th. :thumbup:

jono

[Joelski]

I was on the verge of weeping when I discovered it was a gas pain. This too passed. :rofl:

[Fio1]

He DNQed!?! What a w*nker! :laugh: Well, there is always becoming a Skip Barber instructor and racing Grand-Am cup as a posibility AJ. I hope you at least bought your houses out-right with the money Toyota paid you this year; so when you're making $300 a day coaching you won't have to worry about the mortgage....:saywhat:

The funny thing is when he decided to go Nascar we all knew it was a dumb move, but who knew it was going to be the most career damaging move a driver has made since the IRL started? :rolleyes:

I'll stick to this for ever. IMO, AJ was always overrated. in Barber he was outshown by Julio Campos and Scott Speed, but since he wasn't 'pro-F1' and American, the Barber people favorited him. He won the Atlantic title when RuSport was the only one getting special cylinder heads from the engine builder. And, I will always be suspicious of the Forsythe wins, especially Portland; AJ shows up in the #7 Forsythe and all of a sudden AJ is so much quicker then everyone else, icluding PT? What, Paul Tracy forgot how to drive? If that is the case, imagine if they would have put Justin Wilson in that car; the man that was always quicker then AJ at RuSport. Sorry man, but things don't add up....Infineon raceway this weekend shows the true AJ. He's slower then a guy like Dave Blaney and is as quick as Brian Simo. When you put a real driver in a Toyota, like Marc Goossens, you will not be 2 seconds off pole like AJ and Simo are!

[Insomniac]

I'll stick to this for ever. IMO, AJ was always overrated. in Barber he was outshown by Julio Campos and Scott Speed, but since he wasn't 'pro-F1' and American, the Barber people favorited him. He won the Atlantic title when RuSport was the only one getting special cylinder heads from the engine builder. And, I will always be suspicious of the Forsythe wins, especially Portland; AJ shows up in the #7 Forsythe and all of a sudden AJ is so much quicker then everyone else, icluding PT? What, Paul Tracy forgot how to drive? If that is the case, imagine if they would have put Justin Wilson in that car; the man that was always quicker then AJ at RuSport. Sorry man, but things don't add up....Infineon raceway this weekend shows the true AJ. He's slower then a guy like Dave Blaney and is as quick as Brian Simo. When you put a real driver in a Toyota, like Marc Goossens, you will not be 2 seconds off pole like AJ and Simo are!

I wouldn't say he is overrated, but we had this discussion last year. I know I concluded AJ was faster than PT (not a big surprise considering he is talented and younger). PT didn't forget how to drive, AJ was just a lot better than Dominguez. Not to mention PT took notice and switched to left foot braking to try and close the gap. And I also concluded JW is better than them both.

[Sean O'Gorman]

NASCAR: Harder than it looks.

[jonovision_man]

I'll stick to this for ever. IMO, AJ was always overrated. in Barber he was outshown by Julio Campos and Scott Speed, but since he wasn't 'pro-F1' and American, the Barber people favorited him. He won the Atlantic title when RuSport was the only one getting special cylinder heads from the engine builder. And, I will always be suspicious of the Forsythe wins, especially Portland; AJ shows up in the #7 Forsythe and all of a sudden AJ is so much quicker then everyone else, icluding PT? What, Paul Tracy forgot how to drive? If that is the case, imagine if they would have put Justin Wilson in that car; the man that was always quicker then AJ at RuSport. Sorry man, but things don't add up....Infineon raceway this weekend shows the true AJ. He's slower then a guy like Dave Blaney and is as quick as Brian Simo. When you put a real driver in a Toyota, like Marc Goossens, you will not be 2 seconds off pole like AJ and Simo are!

I disagree, I think he's got a lot of ability.

But some guys are just head cases. AJ seems to get frustrated very easily, on a struggling team that is poison. At Forsythe he glided in to a well-oiled machine that could coddle him and hand him a championship worthy car immediately... and everything clicked for him.

His NASCAR career seems to be DOA... but I hope he can bounce back, mature, and still be a quick driver someday.

jono

[opinionated ow]

I disagree, I think he's got a lot of ability.

But some guys are just head cases. AJ seems to get frustrated very easily, on a struggling team that is poison. At Forsythe he glided in to a well-oiled machine that could coddle him and hand him a championship worthy car immediately... and everything clicked for him.

His NASCAR career seems to be DOA... but I hope he can bounce back, mature, and still be a quick driver someday.

jono

i believe that if someone like Roush had some balls and threw him into Busch and ARCA, A.J. would become a good NASCAR driver capable of winning in cup. there are three things killing him in his current attempt. one is Toyota just plain sucks, the other two are the suspension (uprights are totally different to drive compared to what he is used to) and his lack of oval experience. marcos ambrose and j.p. montoya don't struggle as much imho because montoya has the oval experience, and ambrose the touring car/stockcar experience

[Accipiter]

Wow! Pathetic.

Time to cancel the down payment on the jet.

[Don Quixote]

Wow! Pathetic.

Time to cancel the down payment on the jet.

Yep, he's eating those words.

[Andrew Longman]

You know I wonder what in his driving experience told him or anyone else that he would excel in a stock car.

As far as I can tell it was his connection with Red Bull, his personable sponsor-friendly style, his being American, the fact that he just won a few races, and the fact that he hired and agent to negotiate his next contract that conspired to put him there.

I still don't blame him for taking the money, even if I wish he hadn't, but who actually thought he would be much of a success?

[Methanolandbrats]

i believe that if someone like Roush had some balls and threw him into Busch and ARCA, A.J. would become a good NASCAR driver capable of winning in cup.
In a good car a monkey could win in NASCAR. Just weld the throttle wide open and teach the monkey to keep it between the wall and grass. Proof of that? Mikey Waltrip, 1/2 Earnhardt, etc..........

[devilmaster]

In a good car a monkey could win in NASCAR.

Hope no Disney writers see that. ;)

[extramundane]

But some guys are just head cases. AJ seems to get frustrated very easily, on a struggling team that is poison. At Forsythe he glided in to a well-oiled machine that could coddle him and hand him a championship worthy car immediately... and everything clicked for him.

Pretty much. I'm too lazy to dig up what I said about him earlier in the year, but when the car's good, he's great. When the car sucks, he's worthless. In retrospect, I wonder if RuSport's excellent car preparation in Atlantics might have been the worst thing that ever happened to him. If he'd actually had to learn about setups and feedback earlier in his career, things might be different. Throw in the variables of new team, new manufacturer and new (to him) tracks, and it's no wonder he's been awful.

[Andrew Longman]

True now that you remind me. I remember his last race with RuSport was at Milwaukee and I listened to his radio via RD. He was crying the whole race to his team about the car and eventually said he was basically mailing it in. He was so out of sorts nothing the team could say would calm him down. Interesting too that was about his only and last oval experience.

[Insomniac]

I still don't blame him for taking the money, even if I wish he hadn't, but who actually thought he would be much of a success?

I don't pay any attention to NASCAR, so I don't know how much he is sucking. Is he better than his teammate? Is his team new? Is the Toyota junk? I don't think his talkent just went away, or the talent in ChampCar was that weak.

[Wheel-Nut]

I don't pay any attention to NASCAR, so I don't know how much he is sucking. Is he better than his teammate? Is his team new? Is the Toyota junk? I don't think his talkent just went away, or the talent in ChampCar was that weak.



Is he better than his teammate?


Brian Vickers 823 pts, 39 standing, -1569 behind leader, 9 starts, 1 top 5, 2 top 10's. $944,510 winnings

A.J. Allmendinger* 464 pts, 44 standing, -1928 behind leader, 8 starts, 0 top 5, 0 top 10's. $620,294 winnings


Is his team new?

Yes,


Is the Toyota junk?

Hard to answer, my belief is the Toyota is not too far behind the others but the chassis just isn't there. Michael Waltrip has only made 3 races, Jeremy Mayfield 5, Dave Blaney has made 14 races with Bill Davis Racing.

[oddlycalm]

Totally predictable which is exactly why most of us predicted it. The combination of an inexperienced (in cup cars) driver, unfamiliar tracks, new team, new car and NASCAR qualifying rules combine to form a perfect storm of suckage.

The check cleared for Julian Jacobi so his people musta done their job. Right...? This is such a time worn cliche story in sports that it's been the subject of movies and TV series.

oc

[KLang]

True now that you remind me. I remember his last race with RuSport was at Milwaukee and I listened to his radio via RD. He was crying the whole race to his team about the car and eventually said he was basically mailing it in. He was so out of sorts nothing the team could say would calm him down. Interesting too that was about his only and last oval experience.

I heard pretty much the same over the scanner at Houston last year. Kid was a basket case when the car wasn't perfect.

[jonovision_man]

Gentlemen... start your engines! :)

A NASCAR race I'll actually enjoy. Go JPM, better look better in race trim than the piss-poor qualifying effort suggests! Show us some of that stuff you had in Mexico!

jono

[B3RACER1a]

Petty dropped the F-Bonb in a crash replay...LOL! :rofl:

Don't they screen the audio or anything before they air this stuff?

[jonovision_man]

I'd have "dropped the F-Bomb" too... so much incompetence out there it's hard to know where to look. :p

The start just looked like bad freeway traffic. :)

jono

[jonovision_man]

Entertaining so far! JPM is so much fun to watch in these cars...

jono

[Accipiter]

Wouldn't it be neat to see just one NASCAR road race run without cautions?

Of course it would be neat to see pigs fly too, but...

[jonovision_man]

JPM WINS!!!

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

jono

[cart7]

A foreigner wins in Nascarland!!

WTG JPM!! :thumbup: :cool:

[jonovision_man]

A foreigner wins in Nascarland!!

WTG JPM!! :thumbup: :cool:

They said this was the first foreigner to win since 1974 when a Canadian (:eek:) won. :)

jono

[Jervis Tetch 1]

I disagree, I think he's got a lot of ability.

But some guys are just head cases. AJ seems to get frustrated very easily, on a struggling team that is poison. At Forsythe he glided in to a well-oiled machine that could coddle him and hand him a championship worthy car immediately... and everything clicked for him.

His NASCAR career seems to be DOA... but I hope he can bounce back, mature, and still be a quick driver someday.

jonoI would agree too Jonovision. Especially on that third sentence.

[JohnHKart]

Petty dropped the F-Bonb in a crash replay...LOL! :rofl:

Don't they screen the audio or anything before they air this stuff?

I just love the righteous, praying to god on the air one minute, then saying the f word the next. The irony was hilarious. I still love ya Kyle. Totally thrilled with the race I knew it would be great, I'm going to go wash my Colombia shirt and wear it all week.

John

[JohnHKart]

The incompetence continues:
From Jayski:

TNT spokesman Jeff Pomeroy says, and the audio that pops up on-air can't always be identified: "We can assume that audio came from one of the three cars in the accident. But we can't be sure it was Kyle."

You'd have to be a deaf and dumb total idiot to not know that was Kyle. He has an easily recognizable voice. I recognize our repeat customers on the phone all the time, even if they haven't called for awhile. Even the minimum wage earning people at several different restaurants that take my lunch order over the phone once a week know it's me without me saying my name.

John

[Accipiter]

You'd have to be a deaf and dumb total idiot to not know that was Kyle. He has an easily recognizable voice.


All you have to do is compare it to the Prayer he gave his team before the start of the race. ;)

[JohnHKart]

All you have to do is compare it to the Prayer he gave his team before the start of the race. ;)


Yep. I enjoyed a barrelfull of laughs with family and coworkers over the irony, it just doesn't get any better than prayers one minute, swear and curse words the next. Delicious! Love It!

John