Fontana Race Preview

AJ ALLMENDINGER
No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion
• San Jose, Calif., native AJ Allmendinger has made six starts at Auto Club Speedway
• Allmendinger enters the weekend in 16th place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver point standings
• Allmendinger’s best start (second) at the two-mile track came in 2008

Allmendinger on Racing at Auto Club Speedway: “Auto Club Speedway is a fast track. We’ve qualified well in the past and we ran well last fall. I’ve got five NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at this track and I know what I need to do to get my car around this two-mile speedway. I was really disappointed in the way things turned out in Bristol and am looking forward to a good weekend with my Richard Petty Motorsports team. I also can’t wait to get on the track and show my home state what I can do in the Best Buy Ford Fusion.”

Allmendinger on Going Back to California: “I’m really looking forward to going back to my home state of California this weekend, even though my home town is about 400 miles north of the track. I enjoy getting to see my family and friends, and the fans in Fontana are great. I really want to get the No. 43 Best Buy Ford to Victory Lane, and what better a place to do it than this weekend in front of a California crowd.”

Crew Chief Mike Shiplett’s Keys to Getting Around Auto Club Speedway: “You need a lot of horsepower at California, which our engine shop has been very good at producing this year. There are some bumps to deal with coming off of Turn 2 that can upset the car. We have to try to keep the car as low as we can without hitting the bumps, to stay smooth coming out of the turn. There are multiple grooves at this two-mile oval, but when the track rubbers up it’s hard to get the car to run on both the top and the bottom, so AJ has to pick one lane or the other to run throughout the day. California has really fast entry speeds into the corners, so entry problems could be an issue. Pit road is really big and AJ has go be right on the money stopping the Best Buy Ford at the pit sign so we can get in a really fast stop. All in all, I’m really looking forward to heading to Fontana this weekend.”

Chassis History: The No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports team has prepared chassis No. 742 for this weekend’s event at Auto Club Speedway. This is a brand new Best Buy Ford Fusion.

Notes: Allmendinger has six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Auto Club Speedway and has three top-12 qualifying efforts.Allmendinger enters the two-mile California track in 16th place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver point standings.

Can’t get enough of AJ? The Dinger will be appearing at the Best Buy store in the Stonewood Center Mall (251 Stonewood St., Downey, Calif. 90241). The appearance is scheduled for Thursday, March 24, from 6-8 p.m. and is open to the public.

Allmendinger will also be signing autographs at the Richard Petty Motorsports merchandise hauler Sunday, March 27 at 8:40 a.m. The first 75 guest in line will receive a ticket that will allow them to take part in the autograph session.

The Global Rally Cross Championship will be held at Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway this weekend and Allmendinger will participate in hot laps on Thursday. Allmendinger will also partake in pre-race festivities on Saturday and be on hand to support two-time World Rally Champion Marcus Grönholm, who will be driving the 600-horsepower, all-wheel drive Best Buy Financial Ford Fiesta in the event.

Credit - Richard Petty Motorsports PR