SPARTA, Ky. -- In the pioneer days of NASCAR, it wasn’t uncommon to see drivers compete across several different disciplines in one season.
AJ Allmendinger has impressed across three different disciplines, looking for full-time home
AJ Allmendinger has competed in three different racing tours this season but hopes to find a full-time home in one of them.
Geoff Burke
The big-name drivers chased the big names races and AJ Allmendinger has echoed the spirit of that era this season, having competed in GRAND-AM, NASCAR and the IndyCar Series for a variety of different car owners.
Allmendinger has impressed at every stop on the tour, scoring a podium for Michael Shank Racing in the Rolex 24, an 11th-place at Phoenix for James Finch and a seventh-place in the Indianapolis 500 for Roger Penske, having also picked up a victory for the team in the NASCAR Nationwide Series at Road America last weekend.
But Allmendinger doesn’t see any comparisons to the likes of Mario Andretti, AJ Foyt or Johnny Rutherford.
He hasn’t achieved their success and he’s still struggling to find a job on a week-to-week basis. And yet, he does find it exciting to compete in so many different cars this season, regardless of the circumstances surrounding it.
“It’s been a lot of fun and I’ve really actually enjoyed it,” Allmendinger told SB Nation on Friday at Kentucky Speedway. “But it’s been tough at times. On the IndyCar side, I thought I would come back and (only have a slight learning curve) but they are awfully hard to drive...
“But I really have enjoyed the challenge of going back and forth. I’m racing against the best in the world on so many levels between Cup, IndyCar and even the Rolex 24.”
Allmendinger finds himself in this scenario because of a failed drug test for Adderall approximately one year ago at Kentucky Speedway. The next week, just hours before the Daytona race, he was suspended from NASCAR.
He wouldn’t compete again until October, after he had completed the NASCAR Road to Recovery program. While he lost his full-time ride with Penske as a result of the suspension, he’s remained active, driving for a variety of car owners.
He’s looking to find a full-time home again in the coming months.
“This has been fun but I don’t want to do this every year,” Allmendinger added. “I want to find a home again, in one series, whether its IndyCar or NASCAR.
“I used to hate when people say that ‘things happened for a reason,’ but they do and things have given me an experience I wouldn’t have had otherwise. I just enjoy anytime I get to drive a racecar -- I feel fortunate.”
Allmendinger will compete this weekend at Kentucky for JTG-Daugherty Racing in the Sprint Cup Series.
