Talladega Race Preview

AJ ALLMENDINGER
No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion
• Allmendinger has made five starts at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway
• Allmendinger enters the race in 13th place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver point standings
• Allmendinger’s best start (fourth) came in his first Sprint Cup Series event at the track in 2008

Allmendinger on Talladega Superspeedway: “I was in a pretty big wreck at Talladega last year, so that’s always in the back of my mind. It’s definitely not one of my favorite places to race. We’ve never really had good results there. We always seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s a race that I really want to win, but ultimately, it’s about survival. If I can miss all the wrecks and finish inside the top 15 I’ll be happy.

“This is only my fifth start at Talladega and I haven’t had very good luck in the past. We ran well at Daytona and my Best Buy Ford Fusion was fast there, so I’m hoping some of that translates over to this weekend’s race. My Richard Petty Motorsports race team and I need a good finish to gain back some momentum and I’m hoping this weekend will help.”

Crew Chief Mike Shiplett’s Keys to Getting Around Talladega: “In the past there has been big packs of cars that draft together, but what happened in Talladega last fall and Daytona this year is that we have gone to two car drafting. With NASCAR making the restrictor plate size smaller this weekend, it will be interesting to see if we can still do two mcar drafting. We aren’t sure what to expect, and it could be a game changer.”

Shiplett on Pit Stops at Talladega Superspeedway: “Pit stops are important and we need to make sure we don’t lose the draft under green. AJ will have to bring the Best Buy Ford down pit road with a group of cars if it’s the old style of large pack racing. If it is the new style of two car drafting, AJ and his partner need to plan to come down pit road together and take the same number of tires, so they both come off of pit road at the same time.”

Chassis History: The No. 43 RPM team has prepared chassis No. 722 for this weekend’s event at Talladega Superspeedway. This Best Buy Ford has been run previously this season at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

Notes: Allmendinger has five NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Talladega Superspeedway. Allmendinger’s best starting position (fourth) came in 2008 at the 2.66-mile track. He has completed 927 of 955 laps attempted at the quad-oval, leading 6 of them. Allmendinger enters Talladega in 13th spot in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings.

Allmendinger’s car will have a different look this weekend as Best Buy will return as the primary partner of the No. 43 Ford Fusion. Did you vote today? Vote your favorite RPM driver into the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race on May 21, via the Sprint Fan Vote.Cast your vote at www.nascar.com/promos/allstar/ or on your Sprint phone. Voting ends at 5 p.m. ET on May 21. Voting is limited to once per hour.

Credit - Richard Petty Motorsports PR