Atlanta Preview

AJ ALLMENDINGER
No. 43 Insignia/Best Buy Ford Fusion

• The No. 43 Ford Fusion will debut a new look as Insignia joins the Best Buy racing program
• Allmendinger will make his fifth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start at Atlanta Motor Speedway
• The California native finished 14th in the 2008 fall race at Atlanta, his best career finish at the 1.54-mile track

Allmendinger On Atlanta: “Its been fun racing out on the West Coast the last two weeks, but it will be nice to get back on the East Coast and on to Atlanta. I know I’d like to leave both the Fontana and Las Vegas races behind, that’s for sure, although we learned some valuable information about what isn’t ideal for our car as far as setups go. We certainly haven’t seen the results we want or that we know we’re capable of, but I know what this No. 43 Insignia/Best Buy Ford Fusion team can do, so it’s not yet time to panic. I know we can be much more competitive and I’ve got the utmost confidence in Mike Shiplett. Its still early in the season and I’m ready to get to Atlanta and get back to work.”

Crew Chief Mike Shiplett’s Take: “Like Las Vegas, Atlanta is a very fast track. The tires are your main concern. They can get worn out quick and leave you losing grip. Finding the right balance for the car will be important—how do you get the car handling right, push through the field, yet not wear out your tires fast? With the tire test that was done there a couple months ago, I know the Ford teams have some notes from what came out of that. The track can be rough in Turns 1 and 2 as well. So we’ll keep our eye on that as well.

“Performance-wise we know we can get better results than what we’ve seen out of the last two races. AJ is determined and this whole No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports team is determined. I’ve got no doubt we’ll get things turned around and get ourselves back in the top 10 where we belong.”

Chassis History: Crew Chief Mike Shiplett and the No. 43 Insignia/Best Buy crew have prepared chassis No. 265 for this weekend’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. This Ford Fusion was run as the No. 44 for Richard Petty Motorsports last October at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.


Credit - Richard Petty Motorsports PR