FANTASY NASCAR Racin

an American race car driver. He is best known for his accomplishments in the Champ Car World Series (Indy car). In 2004, Allmendinger and RuSport entered the Champ Car World Series, with Michel Jourdain Jr. joining Allmendinger. He scored a run of 6 top-6 finishes towards the end of the season and won the Roshfrans Rookie-of-the-Year award. On June 9, 2006, Forsythe Championship Racing announced Allmendinger as their new driver, replacing Mario Dominguez. In his first race with Forsythe, Allmendinger won the Grand Prix of Portland. Allmendinger became the first American to win a Champ Car World Series event since Ryan Hunter-Reay won at The Milwaukee Mile in 2004. This began a three-race winning streak that included wins at the Grand Prix of Cleveland and the Grand Prix of Toronto. This victory moved Allmendinger into second place in the CCWS championship standings, behind leader Sebastian 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 the NASCAR operation Team Red Bull. Red Bull officially announced Allmendinger as part of its driver lineup October 25, 2006. He made his NASCAR debut in the Craftsman Truck Series driving for Bill

Davis Racing at New Hampshire International Speedway on September 16, 2006, in the No. 24 Toyota Tundra. He crashed his primary truck in qualifying but started the race 32nd in a backup truck from teammate Bill Lester and finished on the lead lap in 13th. Allmendinger attempted his first Nextel Cup Series event at Atlanta in October 2006 driving the No. 84 Red Bull Dodge Charger; however, due to qualifying being rained out, a lack of owner's points prevented Allmendinger from making the race. Allmendinger and Brian Vickers were named Red Bull's drivers for 2007, with Allmendinger piloting the team's No. 84 Toyota Camry with Vickers in the team's No. 83. Allmendinger failed to qualify for the 2007 Daytona 500 after a crash in the first Gatorade Duel race. He also failed to qualify for the next four races before making his first

Cup start at the Food City 500 at Bristol. As the season progressed, Allmendinger made a handful of races, predominantly in the "Car of Tomorrow". To assist him in the transition to stock cars, he participated in selected Craftsman Truck Series races in a Toyota for the Darrell Waltrip Motorsports organization in the #00 Red Bull Toyota, and in the #42 Memorex/Chip Ganassi Dodge in the Xfinity Series. Allmendinger again failed to qualify for the 2008 Daytona 500. After three failures to qualify in two attempts (qualifying for the second race of the season, Fontana, was rained out and set by 2007 owner's points), he was replaced by veteran driver Mike Skinner on a temporary basis. Allmendinger returned to the Cup Series at Talladega. On May 17, he won the Sprint Showdown at

Lowe's Motor Speedway during NASCAR's annual All-Star weekend. The win qualified Allmendinger for the Sprint All-Star Race later that evening, where he finished 17th. Allmendinger's team ended the 2008 season 36th in owner's points, meaning it did not have exemptions for the first five races of 2009. The retro-styled Valvoline 44 raced its way into the Daytona 500, and third in his Daytona 500 debut, also his personal best, and is the best Daytona 500 debut except for Lee Petty in the 1959 Daytona 500 and Scott Wimmer in the 2004 Daytona 500. During the offseason, Allmendinger replaced Reed Sorenson in the team's famous #43 car. He collected two top-fives, eight top-10s and a pole position in 2010, and finished 19th Allmendinger for the Sprint All-Star Race later that evening, where he finished 17th. Allmendinger's team

ended the 2008 season 36th in owner's points, meaning it did not have exemptions for the first five races of 2009. The retro-styled Valvoline 44 raced its way into the Daytona 500, and third in his Daytona 500 debut, also his personal best, and is the best Daytona 500 debut except for Lee Petty in the 1959 Daytona 500 and Scott Wimmer in the 2004 Daytona 500. During the offseason, Allmendinger replaced Reed Sorenson in the team's famous #43 car. He collected two top-fives, eight top-10s and a pole position in 2010, and finished 19th in the final standings. On April 9, 2010, Allmendinger collected his very first NASCAR Cup pole for the Subway Fresh Fit 600 He finished 15th. He announced that he signed a multi year deal with Richard Petty Motorsports through 2012. After finishing 11th in the 2011 Daytona 500, Allmendinger started the season 10th in points driving the #43 Ford sponsored by Best Buy

Allmendinger continued to have a career best year in 2011 with 10 top-10 finishes and an average finish of 16th. He finished the 2011 regular season contending for a wild card spot in the Chase for the Cup but came up just short. Three races prior to setting the field for the Chase, RPM put former Roush Fenway Racing crew chief Greg Erwin on the pit box starting at the 2011 Brickyard 400. Allmendinger and Erwin recorded six top-10 finishes after their pairing. Allmendinger finished the 2011 season a career best 15th in the points. At the end of the 2011 season, Allmendinger left Richard Petty Motorsports when the driving spot for Penske Racing's #22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge became open after the parting ways of Kurt Busch and Penske. After failing a random drug test on July 7, 2012, Allmendinger was suspended from participation in

the Coke Zero 400. Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR's senior vice president for racing operations, said that Allmendinger had up to 72 hours to request a B test sample. The next day, Penske said before the Honda Indy Toronto race that Allmendinger's B sample would be tested on Monday. Allmendinger requested a B sample test on July 9. On July 11, 2012, Allmendinger's camp said a stimulant caused the positive drug test. The B sample test had not yet been scheduled at that time. On July 24, it was announced by NASCAR that Allmendinger was suspended indefinitely after the B sample tested positive for a banned stimulant, which was revealed to be amphetamines. He chose to participate in the Road to Recovery program. On

August 1st, he was released from his contract by Penske Racing. Allmendinger was replaced in the #22 by Sam Hornish, Jr.; he later stated that the cause of the positive test was Adderall that he had unknowingly taken, being told it was an "energy pill". Allmendinger was reinstated by NASCAR on September 18 after completing the Road to Recovery program. 2013 saw Allmendinger lose his ride with Petty and only raced part time that season. He raced part time in the Indy car series. He ran in six events, the best finish of seventh would come in the Indy 500. He

started seventh; ran a clean race; led 37 laps and finished on the lead lap. 2014 again saw him behind the wheel full time for JTG Daugherty Racing. That season saw him claim his first win. It came at the road course of Watkins Glen driving the #47 Chevy. Allmendinger was always a successful road course driver while racing in the Indy car series; and it carried over to NASCAR. Allmendinger took the lead with less than 30 laps to go after a side-by-side battle with former teammate Marcos Ambrose and kept the

lead until the checkered flag, earning his first Cup Series win after 213 Cup starts. Allmendinger continued to improve his oval track skills and posted top ten finishes at Atlanta, Las Vegas and Pocono in 2015. On May 9, 2015, Allmendinger announced plans to sign a five-year contract extension with JTG Daugherty, allowing him to remain with the team through the 2020 season. Allmendinger nearly pulled off an upset at the 2016 STP 500 at Martinsville. He charged hard from 13th place with less than 20 laps to go, to finish second to Kyle Busch by 1.547 seconds. He had the best car in the closing laps; but was reluctant to put the bumper to leader Kyle Busch and move him out of the way. It tied 2012 as his career-best finish at Martinsville. Allmendinger ended the season on a high note earning four Top 10's on the final six races and finishing 19th in the standings. He also posted a fourth place finish at Watkins

Glen, and followed that up with a third place finish there in 2017. It was the only top five finish he posted that season. 2018 was a disappointing season for Allmendinger as he posted only one Top 5 result (Third in the Daytona 500). He also only had five Top 10's. He finished 22nd in the points and was released at the end of the season and replaced by Xfinity driver Ryan Preece. After the 2018 season ended, NBC Sports announced that A.J. Allmendinger had joined them in a multi-year deal as part of it sports car and NASCAR coverage. Allmendinger worked as a booth analyst for the network’s coverage of the IMSA SportsCar Championship and will contribute regularly to NBCSN’s NASCAR America for 2019. He also got called upon to run a few Xfinity Series races. Kaulig Racing wanted a veteran driver to drive and Allmendinger was tabbed as their driver. The first two races were disappointing. In July at Daytona he

and his team mates finished 1-2-3 when the checkers flew; but AJ's third place finish became a DQ when his car failed post race tech. His next race was at Watkins Glen. He ran in the front and late in the race battled with Austin Cindric for the win. Cindric used the bump and run to pass Allmendinger and won the race. But once again AJ ran afoul of the NASCAR tech inspectors and his Kaulig Racing machine one again failed post race tech. He raced again at the road courses of Mid-Ohio where he finished third; and also at Elkhart Lake where he won the pole; but had issues in the race and finished 24th. His final race was at the Roval at Charlotte. The team raced only in the interest of

winning; and run up front much of the race. They used the strategy of pitting before the stage ends to be up front when the final stage started. He got the lead on lap 48 and led from then until the checkered hankie flew on lap 67. Allmendinger once again wheeled an extra car for specified races for Kaulig Racing in 2020. As of the end of the 2019 season; Allmendinger has ran 371 Cup races; posted one win, eleven Top 5's and 57 Top 10 finishes. Allmendinger was back to drive part time with Kaulig Racing in 2020; running 11 of 33 events. He proved to be a possible race winner each time he competed. He finished tenth in his first race at Bristol. The next race he ran was at Atlanta; and he pulled off the win; the first win for him on an oval track. The next five races he had a

worst finish of seventh. His next race came at Daytona and he was leading coming off the final turn; when he and team mate Ross Chastain tangled fighting for the win. Their tangle opened the door for their other team mate Justin Haley to take the win. Allmendinger's next race came at Talladega. He was involved in a wreck on the final lap while once again fighting for the win. He visited victory lane again at Charlotte on the Roval. Allmendinger ran the full Xfinity Series in 2021. He grabbed his first win in the fourth race of the season at Las Vegas. He won again on the road course at Mid-Ohio; and then won Michigan. He also won at Bristol; the final race of the regular season; giving him the regular season championship. When the Chase kicked off he had a bad race at Talladega; but won at the Charlotte Roval to advance to the next round. He had good finishes in that round to make it to the final race

at Phoenix. In that race his car just never had the proper set up to be competitive. He finished 14th; fourth best of the Championship contenders. He also ran a five Cup races; and pulled off the win at the INDY Grand Prix; NASCAR's first time to run the road course at Indianapolis. Allmendinger now has 60 starts in the Xfinity Series with ten wins and 18 Top 5 finishes and 22 Top 10's. Kaulig Racing moved to the Cup Series full time in 2022; and Allmendinger ran part time in the Cup series, while he raced full time in the Xfinity series. Kaulig Racings second full time Cup entry was split between Allmendinger; Noah Gragson and Daniel Hemric. AJ was scheduled to run 14 events. However, due to Alex Bowman's concussion-like symptoms and Noah Gragson replacing him, Allmendinger would make the last four races instead of Gragson. In the

Xfinity series he started the 2022 season with a second-place finish at Daytona. He racked up wins at Circuit of the Americas, Portland, and Indianapolis. Following the 2022 Food City 300 at Bristol, Allmendinger clinched the regular season championship. He would win back-to-back races at Talladega and the Charlotte Roval. Allmendinger was unable to advance to the Championship 4, ultimately finishing 5th in the point standings. In 2022, AJ had five wins; 17 Top 5 and 28 Top 10 finishes in 33 starts. With NASCAR adding more and more road courses to its schedule; in October, Kaulig Racing announced that

Allmendinger would drive the #16 full-time in the Cup series in 2023. Allmendinger has aways been a great road course driver, and with NASCAR adding more and more road courses, this would give Kaulig a great shot at having it's team advance to the Championship playoffs. This would be AJ's his first full-time Cup season since 2018. In his 18 Cup starts in 2022, Allmendinger almost pulled off the win at the road course of Watkins Glen finishing second; and had a fourth place finish on the Roval at Charlotte. He also added a third at Homestead-Miami. He had a string of eight races where he only had one finish worst than ninth. So, he has shown he can be competitive

on all types of tracks and was expected be stout competition in 2023. Kaulig had him wheel their #16 Chevy and the road course ace performed well. He finished sixth in the Daytona 500 to kick off the season. The first road course saw his get involved in an accident close to the end after running in the top five much of the event. He finished sixth at Sonoma after again running in the top five. He had issues at Indy on the road course finishing 26th; but the following week be bounced back to finish fourth at Watkins Glen. The final road course of the year came at the Roval in Charlotte. He had failed to qualify for the Chase; but it was nice to pick up the win. He started sixth and run up front most of the day. He led

most of the final 50 laps and to beat William Byron by just over half a second. Kyle Busch was third; followed by Ty Gibbs, and Joey Logano. For the season he had the lone win; four top five and seven top ten finishes. He also ran five races in the Xfinity series in 2023. There he put his road racing experience on display. He won at COTA; before he finished second at Sonoma. He won on the oval at Nashville; and wrapped up the year with a ninth at Elkhart Lake and a third at the Indy road course. He has made 430 Cup starts over 16 season; with three wins and 20 top fives. In the Xfinity series he has 98 starts with 17 trips to victory lane. He has 50 top fives. He has also made 14 Truck series starts with a best finish on second on the Charlotte oval in 2007. Some info from WikiPedia

Fantasy NASCAR Racing

ANTHONY JAMES "AJ" ALLMENDINGER - 12/16/1981