Loudon II Race Preview

AJ ALLMENDINGER
No. 43 Insignia HDTV Ford Fusion

■AJ Allmendinger has made six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
■Allmendinger scored his best finish (10th) at the track in the race there this spring
■After 26 races, Allmendinger holds down 22nd place in the driver point standings

AJ Allmendinger on the Remainder of the Season: “The Chase starts this week and that always makes things interesting from a competitor’s standpoint. From here on out, there will be a lot of different agendas going on every week. You’ve got the top 12 guys racing for a championship, which means there will be a certain amount of points racing. Then you’ve got the next seven or eight back racing for the last couple of spots in the top 15. We definitely have a good chance of making our way into the top 20 with this No. 43 Insignia HDTV team and that’s very important to us. But we’re also racing for that first win. We have the chance to go out there every week and maybe take some chances that those top 12 guys won’t be able to take. But then, we’re all racers and we all want to win every week. So, when it comes right down to it, we’ll all be racing for the win.

“There’s nothing more important to this team right now than proving we have what it takes at Richard Petty Motorsports to make it to Victory Lane. We improve every week. When we’re hitting these tracks for the second time around this season, it’s our goal to ensure that we have a better finish than we did the first time we were there and we’ve done a pretty good job of that over the last couple of weeks. That will help us next season too. We’ve got great partners and great people at RPM and they deserve to be able to celebrate in Victory Lane.”

Crew Chief Mike Shiplett’s Thoughts on NHMS: “The shock and spring package, brakes, good forward drive off and track position really are the keys to success at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. We’ll concentrate on making the car work well for AJ getting off the corners since that’s the best place to pass and this is a tough track to pass on. You need to have good drive off the corners or you’ll never be able to make the pass there. You fight forward drive there, so it’s something that you really need to concentrate on. In order to have good drive off, you need to be able to get all the way through the corners well.”

Chassis History: The No. 43 RPM team led by crew chief Mike Shiplett has prepared chassis No. 267 for this weekend’s event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Notes: AJ Allmendinger will head to New Hampshire a day early to send time at the Team O’Neil Rally School and Car Control Center in Dalton, N.H. on Thursday taking part in the Ford Racing Fiesta Rally Experience. Allmendinger will also shoot additional webisodes for the 43 Fiestas promotion, in which fans have the opportunity to win a 2011 Ford Fiesta. To watch the first webisodes, shot at Concord Raceway or for more information about this promotion, please visit www.43Fiestas.com. For additional information about the Ford Racing Fiesta Rally Experience, please visit www.teamoneil.com.

Credit - Richard Petty Motorsports PR