Homestead Preview

AJ ALLMENDINGER
No. 43 Insignia HDTV Ford Fusion

• AJ Allmendinger has made two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway
• Allmendinger has never finished outside the top 11 at HMS
• After 35 races, Allmendinger holds down 20th place in the NSCS driver point standings

AJ Allmendinger on Homestead-Miami Speedway: “It’s a completely different mile-and-a-half than say a Texas or a Charlotte or an Atlanta, so it’s a different feel. We haven’t been the strongest on the mile-and-a-half race tracks as a race team on the 43 side of it, but we did the test there and it is a completely different mile-and-a-half, so for that reason I’m looking forward to it. I know Doug [Yates, Engine Builder] is gonna put a little extra horsepower behind it and we’re gonna bring our best piece and see what we’ve got out there.”

AJ on the 43 Fiestas Promotion:“It’s been really cool. The last couple of months have obviously been leading up to this with the commercials and all the promotion we’ve been doing, so there’s gonna be a little extra pressure, I’m not gonna lie. Being able to hang out with Ken Block and meet somebody like that is really cool. I read where he just scored his first championship points in World Rally, the first American to do that, so he’s obviously pretty good when it comes to his sport. And doing the Team O’Neil thing was fun. It’s fun to be a part of Ford and, ultimately to have something that’s such a big promotion and be one of the lead guys is pretty cool. It’s an experience I’ve enjoyed from the start and hopefully we finish it off right.”

Crew Chief Mike Shiplett’s Thoughts on HMS: “I wouldn’t say there is anything special about Homestead-Miami Speedway as far as the keys to getting around the place. It’s a pretty standard mile-and-a-half-track, really. Goodyear has a new tire for the weekend and we were able to participate in the tire test a while back, so I’m hopeful that will help our team as well as the rest of the Richard Petty Motorsports Fords on Friday.”

Chassis History: The No. 43 RPM team has prepared chassis No. 265 for this weekend’s event at Homestead-Miami Speedway. This particular chassis has been utilized on several occasions this season including most recently at Charlotte in October.

Notes: Allmendinger has competed in two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races on the 1.5-mile oval and has scored two finished inside the top 11, including a top-10 effort in the season finale last year. Allmendinger qualified for that event in the 13th position.

Allmendinger will spend Friday night at the Loews Hotel in the Miami Beach area celebrating with the winners of Ford’s 43 Fiestas promotion. The 43 Fiestas promotion kicked off several months ago and was highlighted a trip by Allmendinger to a rally school in New Hampshire and videos featuring Allmendinger, Ken Block and Richard Petty. 43 lucky fans won LCD flat-screen TVs and airfare, lodging and tickets to the Ford 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. One of these fans will be awarded a special Ford Fiesta, but should AJ Allmendinger happen to walk away with the win this weekend, everyone in the grand-prize lot will receive a new Fiesta.

Credit - Richard Petty Motorsports PR