Atlanta II Preview

AJ ALLMENDINGER
No. 43 Insignia HDTV Ford Fusion
*AJ Allmendinger has made five NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway
*Allmendinger scored his best finish (6th) on the 1.54-mile track in March
*Allmendinger has completed 1,648 of 1,650 possible laps (99.9%) at AMS

AJ Allmendinger on the Weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway: “I had a great weekend off and had the chance to have some fun, get refreshed a bit and get ready for this last 12-week stretch of racing. I think sometimes that this last part is the toughest part of the year for a lot of people. Everyone has a different agenda. In these last two races before New Hampshire, some guys are going to do everything they can to try to make the Chase. Then after that there are 12 guys who are fighting for the championship. Meanwhile, there are 30 other teams who are fighting their own battles, many of which are just as important to them as the Championship is for the top 12. Guys are fighting for jobs; teams are fighting to post some good results at the end of the season for their sponsors, and there will be some that are trying to get a jump start on 2011.

“We’re in a couple of those categories. Getting a win for Best Buy, Insignia, Ford and our other partners is the absolute number one thing on our minds. They’re great partners and they deserve to have the chance to celebrate in Victory Lane. At the same time, I’m happy that I know where I’m going to be in 2011 and that part of the equation has been taken care of. It will give us the chance to concentrate on what’s important, and that’s the current and future success of the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race team.

“As far as Atlanta goes, it’s a great track and it’s really fun to race on. We had a pretty good weekend in March and we’re hoping to be able to build off of that this time around. The schedule is a bit different than a regular weekend, so that will be a bit of a change for everyone, but it should be really great racing for the fans. Night racing on a holiday weekend can’t be beat.”

Crew Chief Mike Shiplett’s Thoughts on Atlanta: “One of the keys to success at Atlanta is to be able to get good drive off of the corner for the entire fuel run. The cars usually get really loose up off the corner. You also need to be able to set your car up to run the bottom or the top so you can run where other cars aren't in order to make passes. Pit road is important and you need to have really good pit stops. Once you get up front you need to do everything in your power to stay there since track position is really important.”

Chassis History: The No. 43 RPM team led by crew chief Mike Shiplett has prepared chassis No. 276 for this weekend’s event at Atlanta Motor Speedway. This car was run on two other occasions this season. Allmendinger drove it in the Indianapolis and Martinsville, Va. events.

Notes: Allmendinger will spend Friday evening at the Best Buy store on Pavilion Parkway in Fayetteville, Ga. Allmendinger will meet with fans and sign autographs from 7-9 p.m. ET.

Credit - Richard Petty Motorsports PR