May 24, 2008
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600
September 14, 2007
Anthony James "A. J." Allmendinger (born December
16, 1981, in Los Gatos, California) attended Leigh
High School and is an American racecar driver. He
currently drives the #84 for Team Red Bull in
NASCAR.
He started his career in karts. He won two
International Karting Federation Grand National
championships.
Allmendinger won the Barber Dodge Pro Series
championship in 2002, and the Champ Car Atlantic
Championship in 2003 with Carl Russo's RuSport team.
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 Canadian 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. He left Champ Car
to accept a lucrative offer from NASCAR Team Red
Bull.
Allmendinger made his NASCAR debut in the Craftsman
Truck Series driving for Bill Davis Racing at New
Hampshire International Speedway on September 16
2006. 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.
It was announced on October 24, 2006 that
Allmendinger would drive the NEXTEL Cup #84 Team Red
Bull Toyota Camry in 2007.
Allmendinger attempted his first NASCAR Nextel Cup
Series event at Atlanta in October 2006 driving the
Team Red Bull entry, however, due to qualifying
being rained out, a lacker of owners points
prevented Allmendinger from making the race. He also
attempted to make the race at Texas Motor Speedway,
failing to qualify again, however.
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. Allmendinger finished
40th his first Nextel Cup start at the Food City 500
at Bristol, and as the season progressed,
Allmendinger made a handful of races, predominantly
in the "Car of Tomorrow." To assist him in the
transition, he participated in selected Craftsman
Truck Series races for Toyota for the Darrell
Waltrip Motorsports organization, and the #42 Chip
Ganassi Dodge in the Busch Series.
2008 Cup carAllmendinger failed to qualify for the
2008 Daytona 500.
On Friday, January 19, 2007, Allmendinger married
Lynne Kushnirenko in Palm Beach, Florida.
