AJ ALLMENDINGER
No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion
• Allmendinger has made six starts at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway
• Allmendinger enters the race in 14th place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver point standings
• Allmendinger’s best finish (11th) at the track came in this year’s event at the 2.66-mile track in August
Allmendinger on Talladega Superspeedway: “Talladega isn’t one of my favorite places to race. I had a big wreck there last year and flipped, so it doesn’t bring back good memories. We’ve never really had good results there until this year’s event in August when we finished in 11th place. We had a fast car at Talladega earlier this year, so I’m feeling good about this weekend’s race. It will be interesting to see how the new rules package affects my Best Buy Ford’s drafting abilities. Hopefully it will help the two-car draft. It’s all about survival this weekend. If we can miss “The Big One” we should be in good shape Sunday.”
Crew Chief Greg Erwin’s Keys to Getting Around Talladega: “At Talladega it will be key to find a good drafting partner. It will have to be someone that can push the Best Buy Ford really fast and someone that can pull us fast, all while being smart. Based on what we saw at Daytona and Talladega earlier this year with the tandem drafting, we’ll probably have to find a partner that will stick with us, unless the new rules NASCAR has implemented this weekend change that. We will just have to wait and see how things work out once we unload for practice on Friday.
“We need to make sure we have a fast car with a lot of horsepower and that AJ and the Best Buy crew don’t make any mistakes during pit stops. There will likely be some stops under green flag conditions during the middle part of the race, so we need to make sure we are in sync with our drafting partner when pitting so we don’t lose the draft.”
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 and Talladega’s first event of the season.
Notes: Allmendinger has six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Talladega Superspeedway. Allmendinger’s best starting position (fourth) came in 2008 at the 2.66-mile track. His best finishing position (11th) came in this year’s August event at the superspeedway. He has completed 1,115 of 1,143 laps attempted at the quad-oval, leading six of them. Allmendinger enters Talladega in 14th spot in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings.
NASCAR will implement two rule changes for this week’s running of the Good Sam Clubs 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. The size of the restrictor plate that teams will use to prepare and practice for the race will increase by 1/64 inch and is now going to be 57/64 inch diameter. This will provide the teams with an additional 7-10 horsepower. Additionally, the pressure relief valve on the cars’ cooling system will be recalibrated to reduce the pressure by approximately eight pounds per square inch from last April’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega.
Don’t miss out on your chance to meet AJ. Allmendinger. The driver of the No. 43 Ford will be visiting Woody Anderson Ford in Huntsville, Ala. (25 Jordan Lane, Huntsville, Ala., 35816) on Thursday from 2-3:30 p.m. CT for an autograph session and meet and greet with the employees. The autograph session will be open to the public.
Check out the Richard Petty Motorsports website at www.richardpettymotorsports.com for up-to-date news and information on Allmendinger, Ambrose and the rest of the RPM crew. The Dinger also has a website of his own. Visit www.ajallmendinger.com for everything AJ.
Credit - Ford Racing
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Charlotte II Post-Race Quotes
MARCOS AMBROSE – No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion
Finished 5th
“I’ve just got to thank Bostitch for coming on board as a primary and Stanley and DeWalt and Ford and everybody else on this program. I just really appreciate that opportunity. I ran great. I just want to be so careful. I bumped Carl Edwards down pit lane and damaged his right-rear fender a little bit. I don’t want to mess with the championship fight, but at the same time you’ve got to try and win these races. I’m just really excited about our opportunities, so I thank Ford and everyone very much."
HOW WAS YOUR NIGHT? “This tire wasn’t that hard in the spring, but it got really hard tonight. The bottom seemed to be the place to go and you just couldn’t get guys out of the way. It was a tough night. We were around the 29 a lot and around the 11 a lot, around Carl a lot and around the 18 and 17 as well, so we were up with the Chase guys. Next year, we want to be one of those guys that gets looked after.”
***
AJ ALLMENDINGER – No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion
Finished 7th
“It’s not what I wanted, but the end result is good. I’m happy there were so many Fords in the top 10. I’m just a little confused on what we need from practice to the race because we’ve had a few races where we’re really quick in practice, but I was complaining running inside the top 10, so it’s getting better than usual. I’m just a little disappointed that we weren’t quite there. I’m not sure where we’re missing it from practice to the race. I don’t know if it’s me and what I need to feel better. The car was decent all night. We’ve got to work on our pit stops on these track position gains. You can’t lose that much time, but the guys fought hard. Greg made a good call at the end for four tires. It was a good result. I’m happy for Ford. There were a ton of Fords in the top 10. I’m not sure we were the seventh-best car, we might have been the ninth or 10th, but we’d get to about seventh or eighth and be really tight – the back end would be wiggling a little bit. It just wasn’t quite what I was hoping for. The result was good. It was a good night for points. To win these things we’ve just got to be a little bit better.”
Credit - Ford Racing
Finished 5th
“I’ve just got to thank Bostitch for coming on board as a primary and Stanley and DeWalt and Ford and everybody else on this program. I just really appreciate that opportunity. I ran great. I just want to be so careful. I bumped Carl Edwards down pit lane and damaged his right-rear fender a little bit. I don’t want to mess with the championship fight, but at the same time you’ve got to try and win these races. I’m just really excited about our opportunities, so I thank Ford and everyone very much."
HOW WAS YOUR NIGHT? “This tire wasn’t that hard in the spring, but it got really hard tonight. The bottom seemed to be the place to go and you just couldn’t get guys out of the way. It was a tough night. We were around the 29 a lot and around the 11 a lot, around Carl a lot and around the 18 and 17 as well, so we were up with the Chase guys. Next year, we want to be one of those guys that gets looked after.”
***
AJ ALLMENDINGER – No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion
Finished 7th
“It’s not what I wanted, but the end result is good. I’m happy there were so many Fords in the top 10. I’m just a little confused on what we need from practice to the race because we’ve had a few races where we’re really quick in practice, but I was complaining running inside the top 10, so it’s getting better than usual. I’m just a little disappointed that we weren’t quite there. I’m not sure where we’re missing it from practice to the race. I don’t know if it’s me and what I need to feel better. The car was decent all night. We’ve got to work on our pit stops on these track position gains. You can’t lose that much time, but the guys fought hard. Greg made a good call at the end for four tires. It was a good result. I’m happy for Ford. There were a ton of Fords in the top 10. I’m not sure we were the seventh-best car, we might have been the ninth or 10th, but we’d get to about seventh or eighth and be really tight – the back end would be wiggling a little bit. It just wasn’t quite what I was hoping for. The result was good. It was a good night for points. To win these things we’ve just got to be a little bit better.”
Credit - Ford Racing
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Allmendinger Charlotte Media Visit
AJ ALLMENDINGER
YOU MUST FEEL GOOD ABOUT HOW THE WEEKEND HAS STARTED. “So far. Yesterday was just all about qualifying. That’s all we focused on, so with all of these race tracks, especially this one because it’s so fast and so hard to pass, and that’s what we found in the 600 was wherever you pretty much fell on the restart is where you stayed the whole run. So it’s good to start up front. We’ll find out more about how the car is gonna be today, but, overall, I felt like the car was really solid. The guys did a good job. We started off in qualifying trim and the place is so fast that we were a little off, but we kept making it better. We had a chance at the pole, but got a little bit tight in three and four, but with as close as all the lap times were and be right there was a good thing."
WHAT GOALS DO YOU HAVE NOW? “I think we can stay in the top 15 in points. That would be really good. I feel like at a lot of race tracks we’re pretty solid. We’ve got some good ones coming up and hopefully tomorrow night is a good one for us. Talladega is kind of a crapshoot, but after that we’ve got some decent tracks. Texas will be hit or miss. These higher banked mile-and-a-halves we’ve been better at than the flatter ones, but Phoenix and Martinsville we should be really good and then Homestead will be kind of interesting. I think we still have a chance to get to 13th. Clint is obviously really quick and he’s gonna be up front a lot, but we’re only 20 points back and all of the points are really close. I just want to be consistent. Our biggest problem is that the race tracks we’ve been bad at we’ve been really bad at and Kansas showed that last week. Out of the last three or four races we haven’t been great. We were good at Dover, but, other than that, we’ve kind of struggled. I just think we need to get more consistent overall. If we can finish these six races strong and go into the off-season and figure out where we need to work on – the flatter race tracks, the mile-and-a-halves, Kentucky, Chicago, Kansas, California – if we can get better at those tracks, I think we can be a legitimate top 10 team and then from there it’s just about slowly getting better after that."
WHAT IS YOUR MINDSET GOING INTO TOMORROW NIGHT AS FAR AS HOW YOU RACE THE CHASE GUYS? “To me, I look at it as they have a lot more to lose than I do, especially the guys that are battling for the championship. If they want to try and take a chance or really get aggressive with you, they know the rights that they have and they know that if something comes back they can lose a lot more. You race people how they race you. You know the mindset about the guys that you can be more aggressive with and that you owe a couple, but, at the same time, we’ve got goals that we’re going out there to achieve and the ultimate goal is to try and finish as high as possible and you can’t do that by wrecking."
IS IT AN ADVANTAGE TO NOT BE IN THE CHASE AS FAR AS AGGRESSIVENESS LATE IN A RACE IF A WIN IS RIGHT THERE? “It ultimately comes back to the fact that there are still goals. It’s not so much that you have nothing to lose. I don’t want to take a chance and wreck and finish 40th and fall back to 18th in points or something like that. But if there’s a chance to be taken by not pitting or fuel or two tires – something like that – to go out there for a win, you’re more likely to take it. Honestly, that’s how all these races are now. To be quick you have to take chances. Track position is so key. I don’t think it matters whether you’re in the Chase or not, you’ve got to do everything you can to stay up front and that doesn’t change no matter what race you’re in.”
Credit - Ford Racing
No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion
YOU MUST FEEL GOOD ABOUT HOW THE WEEKEND HAS STARTED. “So far. Yesterday was just all about qualifying. That’s all we focused on, so with all of these race tracks, especially this one because it’s so fast and so hard to pass, and that’s what we found in the 600 was wherever you pretty much fell on the restart is where you stayed the whole run. So it’s good to start up front. We’ll find out more about how the car is gonna be today, but, overall, I felt like the car was really solid. The guys did a good job. We started off in qualifying trim and the place is so fast that we were a little off, but we kept making it better. We had a chance at the pole, but got a little bit tight in three and four, but with as close as all the lap times were and be right there was a good thing."
WHAT GOALS DO YOU HAVE NOW? “I think we can stay in the top 15 in points. That would be really good. I feel like at a lot of race tracks we’re pretty solid. We’ve got some good ones coming up and hopefully tomorrow night is a good one for us. Talladega is kind of a crapshoot, but after that we’ve got some decent tracks. Texas will be hit or miss. These higher banked mile-and-a-halves we’ve been better at than the flatter ones, but Phoenix and Martinsville we should be really good and then Homestead will be kind of interesting. I think we still have a chance to get to 13th. Clint is obviously really quick and he’s gonna be up front a lot, but we’re only 20 points back and all of the points are really close. I just want to be consistent. Our biggest problem is that the race tracks we’ve been bad at we’ve been really bad at and Kansas showed that last week. Out of the last three or four races we haven’t been great. We were good at Dover, but, other than that, we’ve kind of struggled. I just think we need to get more consistent overall. If we can finish these six races strong and go into the off-season and figure out where we need to work on – the flatter race tracks, the mile-and-a-halves, Kentucky, Chicago, Kansas, California – if we can get better at those tracks, I think we can be a legitimate top 10 team and then from there it’s just about slowly getting better after that."
WHAT IS YOUR MINDSET GOING INTO TOMORROW NIGHT AS FAR AS HOW YOU RACE THE CHASE GUYS? “To me, I look at it as they have a lot more to lose than I do, especially the guys that are battling for the championship. If they want to try and take a chance or really get aggressive with you, they know the rights that they have and they know that if something comes back they can lose a lot more. You race people how they race you. You know the mindset about the guys that you can be more aggressive with and that you owe a couple, but, at the same time, we’ve got goals that we’re going out there to achieve and the ultimate goal is to try and finish as high as possible and you can’t do that by wrecking."
IS IT AN ADVANTAGE TO NOT BE IN THE CHASE AS FAR AS AGGRESSIVENESS LATE IN A RACE IF A WIN IS RIGHT THERE? “It ultimately comes back to the fact that there are still goals. It’s not so much that you have nothing to lose. I don’t want to take a chance and wreck and finish 40th and fall back to 18th in points or something like that. But if there’s a chance to be taken by not pitting or fuel or two tires – something like that – to go out there for a win, you’re more likely to take it. Honestly, that’s how all these races are now. To be quick you have to take chances. Track position is so key. I don’t think it matters whether you’re in the Chase or not, you’ve got to do everything you can to stay up front and that doesn’t change no matter what race you’re in.”
Credit - Ford Racing
Monday, October 10, 2011
Kansas II Race Recap
AJ ALLMENDINGER
No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion
Though he was fighting the handling of his car, Allmendinger was able to hit his marks and worked his way up to the 25th spot by Lap 55. Erwin called Allmendinger into the pits under a routine green flag stop on Lap 66 for a track bar adjustment, four tires and fuel. A slow pit stop under green flag conditions resulted in Allmendinger falling a lap down to the leaders on Lap 67.
After the rest of the field cycled through green flag pit stops, Allmendinger was scored in the 29th position and quickly communicated to his Richard Petty Motorsports crew that the previous pit stop had not helped the handling of the car and he was now fighting a tight condition through the corners. Fighting the handling of the car, coupled with a speeding violation during a Lap 131 green flag pit stop which resulted in a pass though penalty caused Allmendinger to fall three laps down to the leaders by the midpoint of the race.
The Best Buy team fought a variety of handling issues the remainder of the race, but Erwin and crew never gave up and made a plethora of chassis adjustments during the ensuing pit stops.
Though the adjustments made to the car during the late stages of the race appeared to help the No. 43 machine’s handling issues slightly, Allmendinger was only able to get one of his laps back and finished the race in the 25th position, the first car two laps down.
Allmendinger sits in 14th place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings heading into next Saturday night’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.
Credit - Richard Petty Motorsports PR
No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion
- AJ Allmendinger started in the 22nd position for the 272-lap event at Kansas Speedway
- Allmendinger finished in the race in the 25th position at the 1.5-mile track
- Unofficially, Allmendinger sits in 14th place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver point standings
Though he was fighting the handling of his car, Allmendinger was able to hit his marks and worked his way up to the 25th spot by Lap 55. Erwin called Allmendinger into the pits under a routine green flag stop on Lap 66 for a track bar adjustment, four tires and fuel. A slow pit stop under green flag conditions resulted in Allmendinger falling a lap down to the leaders on Lap 67.
After the rest of the field cycled through green flag pit stops, Allmendinger was scored in the 29th position and quickly communicated to his Richard Petty Motorsports crew that the previous pit stop had not helped the handling of the car and he was now fighting a tight condition through the corners. Fighting the handling of the car, coupled with a speeding violation during a Lap 131 green flag pit stop which resulted in a pass though penalty caused Allmendinger to fall three laps down to the leaders by the midpoint of the race.
The Best Buy team fought a variety of handling issues the remainder of the race, but Erwin and crew never gave up and made a plethora of chassis adjustments during the ensuing pit stops.
Though the adjustments made to the car during the late stages of the race appeared to help the No. 43 machine’s handling issues slightly, Allmendinger was only able to get one of his laps back and finished the race in the 25th position, the first car two laps down.
Allmendinger sits in 14th place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings heading into next Saturday night’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.
Credit - Richard Petty Motorsports PR
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Kansas II Race Preview
AJ ALLMENDINGER
No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion
• Allmendinger has made four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Kansas Speedway
• Allmendinger enters the race in 14th place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver point standings
• Allmendinger’s best finish (ninth) at the 1.5-mile track came in 2008
AJ Allmendinger on Kansas: “We’re coming off of a good weekend in Dover so we should have some momentum going into Kansas Speedway. We struggled there in the spring, but I’ve had two Top-10 finishes at the 1.5-mile track in the past. It’s a tough track to get around. It’s bumpy and the car usually lacks grip. We’ve experienced difficulties at mile and a half tracks this year and I feel like with Greg onboard we are headed in the right direction with our intermediate track program. It was good to see both RPM teams finish in the Top-10 last weekend and I am looking forward to much of the same at Kansas on Sunday in our best Buy Ford.”
Crew Chief Greg Erwin’s Thoughts on Kansas: “I enjoy going to Kansas. It’s a fun race track. One of the biggest problems we’ll face this weekend is that the tires go away quick because the track’s racing surface is old and rough. It’s going to be really important to make AJ feel like he has some grip in the Best Buy Ford this weekend. The track is bumpy, which can upset the handling, and it seems like it gets bumpier every time we go there. We’re just going to focus on making sure the Best Buy Ford has good balance all weekend.”
Chassis History: The No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports team has prepared chassis No. 742 for this weekend’s event at Kansas Speedway. This Best Buy Ford has been run previously this season at California, Charlotte, (Sprint Showdown) Kentucky and Michigan.
Notes: Allmendinger has two Top-10 finishes in four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Kansas Speedway. Allmendinger’s best finishing position at Kansas (ninth) came in 2008. He enters this weekend in 14th place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver point standings. Allmendinger has completed 1,067 of 1,068 laps attempted at the 1.5-mile speedway.
Allmendinger is participating in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series open test Oct. 4-5 at Phoenix International Raceway. Teams will be on track from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The test was scheduled to allow Sprint Cup Series teams to get a feel for the new surface and configuration of the track. In March, construction began at the track for the first track repave since 1990 and changes in the tracks banking and configuration were also implemented to promote side-by-side racing. The test provides the first opportunity for all teams to run on the new surface in preparation for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race coming up on Nov. 13. Teams were also permitted to bring an extra car for fuel injection testing.
AJ will also be participating in a charity event on behalf of Best Buy on Thursday at Elko Speedway in Elko, Minnesota. One hundred percent of the ticket sales will be donated to The Minnesota Military Families Foundation. The evening will consist of racing, an autograph session and an on-track Q-and-A session. Richard Petty and teammate Marcos Ambrose will also be in attendance.
Credit - Richard Petty Motorsports PR
No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion
• Allmendinger has made four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Kansas Speedway
• Allmendinger enters the race in 14th place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver point standings
• Allmendinger’s best finish (ninth) at the 1.5-mile track came in 2008
AJ Allmendinger on Kansas: “We’re coming off of a good weekend in Dover so we should have some momentum going into Kansas Speedway. We struggled there in the spring, but I’ve had two Top-10 finishes at the 1.5-mile track in the past. It’s a tough track to get around. It’s bumpy and the car usually lacks grip. We’ve experienced difficulties at mile and a half tracks this year and I feel like with Greg onboard we are headed in the right direction with our intermediate track program. It was good to see both RPM teams finish in the Top-10 last weekend and I am looking forward to much of the same at Kansas on Sunday in our best Buy Ford.”
Crew Chief Greg Erwin’s Thoughts on Kansas: “I enjoy going to Kansas. It’s a fun race track. One of the biggest problems we’ll face this weekend is that the tires go away quick because the track’s racing surface is old and rough. It’s going to be really important to make AJ feel like he has some grip in the Best Buy Ford this weekend. The track is bumpy, which can upset the handling, and it seems like it gets bumpier every time we go there. We’re just going to focus on making sure the Best Buy Ford has good balance all weekend.”
Chassis History: The No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports team has prepared chassis No. 742 for this weekend’s event at Kansas Speedway. This Best Buy Ford has been run previously this season at California, Charlotte, (Sprint Showdown) Kentucky and Michigan.
Notes: Allmendinger has two Top-10 finishes in four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Kansas Speedway. Allmendinger’s best finishing position at Kansas (ninth) came in 2008. He enters this weekend in 14th place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver point standings. Allmendinger has completed 1,067 of 1,068 laps attempted at the 1.5-mile speedway.
Allmendinger is participating in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series open test Oct. 4-5 at Phoenix International Raceway. Teams will be on track from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The test was scheduled to allow Sprint Cup Series teams to get a feel for the new surface and configuration of the track. In March, construction began at the track for the first track repave since 1990 and changes in the tracks banking and configuration were also implemented to promote side-by-side racing. The test provides the first opportunity for all teams to run on the new surface in preparation for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race coming up on Nov. 13. Teams were also permitted to bring an extra car for fuel injection testing.
AJ will also be participating in a charity event on behalf of Best Buy on Thursday at Elko Speedway in Elko, Minnesota. One hundred percent of the ticket sales will be donated to The Minnesota Military Families Foundation. The evening will consist of racing, an autograph session and an on-track Q-and-A session. Richard Petty and teammate Marcos Ambrose will also be in attendance.
Credit - Richard Petty Motorsports PR
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
RPM - Fastest Fords in Phoenix
RICHARD PETTY MOTORSPORTS DRIVERS POST FASTEST SPEEDS BY FORDS IN PHOENIX
GOODYEAR, Ariz. (October 4, 2011) – The Richard Petty Motorsports machines posted Ford’s quickest speeds of the day during today’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series test session at Phoenix International Raceway. Marcos Ambrose, driver of the No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion, posted the eighth quickest speed of the day and teammate AJ Allmendinger, pilot of the No. 43 Best Buy Ford, sat 11th on the charts at the conclusion of the first day of the two-day test.
“The track started off really, really slick and as more cars ran it rubbered in,” commented Allmendinger. “It felt like maybe there was a groove and a quarter or a groove and a half that built up. I think the layout of the racetrack seems fun. There’s a lot more room and a lot more grip off of Turn 2. My biggest question is how much it will widen out when there are three Series’ here because if it doesn’t it will make passing kind of tough. I think they did a good job on the racetrack and for us today it was just about trying all kinds of different stuff. We ran a lot of laps and I felt like we learned some things, so overall it was a good day for the Best Buy Racing team.”
“There’s definitely a big difference in the track,” said Ambrose. “The shape is different and I really like Turns 1 and 2 and the back kink. Turns 3 and 4 feel about the same as they used to. The track still has to groove in and I think all of us hope that the line fattens up a little bit so we put on a good race. Right now it’s a bit of a single groove track, but it is getting better and I think it’s really going to help the quality of racing here.”
“Coming in here we had some ideas and some thoughts based on the tire test and some information and data that we had and were able to look at, but until we really got on the racetrack and made laps, we weren’t really sure what to look for,” said Todd Parrott, crew chief of the No. 9 Ford. “Our cars unloaded off the truck pretty close to what we needed and had good speed. We tweaked on the front end settings today and the shocks and bump stops and just kept finding speed and Marcos was comfortable with the car. I think the No. 43 team did a lot of the same things we did today. We worked through a bunch of stuff and different combinations and we were pretty happy at the end of the day. Both of the RPM cars had good speed and drove well.
“Tomorrow we just want to make our car carry some more speed rolling through the center,” continued Parrott. “We’ll probably do some right side tires stuff tomorrow too, maybe put right side tires on it with a lot of laps on the left and get an idea of what it’s going to be like when we come back.”
Thirty six Sprint Cup Series cars took to the track on Tuesday. Teams will have the opportunity to test at the newly reconfigured track again Wednesday.
Credit - Richard Petty Motorsports PR
GOODYEAR, Ariz. (October 4, 2011) – The Richard Petty Motorsports machines posted Ford’s quickest speeds of the day during today’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series test session at Phoenix International Raceway. Marcos Ambrose, driver of the No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion, posted the eighth quickest speed of the day and teammate AJ Allmendinger, pilot of the No. 43 Best Buy Ford, sat 11th on the charts at the conclusion of the first day of the two-day test.
“The track started off really, really slick and as more cars ran it rubbered in,” commented Allmendinger. “It felt like maybe there was a groove and a quarter or a groove and a half that built up. I think the layout of the racetrack seems fun. There’s a lot more room and a lot more grip off of Turn 2. My biggest question is how much it will widen out when there are three Series’ here because if it doesn’t it will make passing kind of tough. I think they did a good job on the racetrack and for us today it was just about trying all kinds of different stuff. We ran a lot of laps and I felt like we learned some things, so overall it was a good day for the Best Buy Racing team.”
“There’s definitely a big difference in the track,” said Ambrose. “The shape is different and I really like Turns 1 and 2 and the back kink. Turns 3 and 4 feel about the same as they used to. The track still has to groove in and I think all of us hope that the line fattens up a little bit so we put on a good race. Right now it’s a bit of a single groove track, but it is getting better and I think it’s really going to help the quality of racing here.”
“Coming in here we had some ideas and some thoughts based on the tire test and some information and data that we had and were able to look at, but until we really got on the racetrack and made laps, we weren’t really sure what to look for,” said Todd Parrott, crew chief of the No. 9 Ford. “Our cars unloaded off the truck pretty close to what we needed and had good speed. We tweaked on the front end settings today and the shocks and bump stops and just kept finding speed and Marcos was comfortable with the car. I think the No. 43 team did a lot of the same things we did today. We worked through a bunch of stuff and different combinations and we were pretty happy at the end of the day. Both of the RPM cars had good speed and drove well.
“Tomorrow we just want to make our car carry some more speed rolling through the center,” continued Parrott. “We’ll probably do some right side tires stuff tomorrow too, maybe put right side tires on it with a lot of laps on the left and get an idea of what it’s going to be like when we come back.”
Thirty six Sprint Cup Series cars took to the track on Tuesday. Teams will have the opportunity to test at the newly reconfigured track again Wednesday.
Credit - Richard Petty Motorsports PR
Monday, October 3, 2011
Dover II Race Recap
AJ ALLMENDINGER
No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion
Allmendinger stood in 39th place when the race resumed and let Crew Chief Greg Erwin know that the car was free getting into the corners and tight in the center. Erwin opted for a two-tire change during a Lap 43 caution and after coming into the pits in 24th, Allmendinger lined up for the Lap 46 green flag in eighth position. The driver let his crew know that he was happy with the way the car was handling just after the Lap 100 mark and he made his way through traffic into fifth place by Lap 119.
Thanks in part to another two-tire stop at Lap 177, Allmendinger led the field to a Lap 180 green flag from the point position. He remained there for several laps, but the car became loose in the middle stages of the race and Allmendinger slipped back several positions. The No. 43 car remained in the Top 10 for much of the remainder of the event and when the checkered flag flew, Allmendinger held down the seventh position. It was the seventh top-10 effort of the season for the team.
Allmendinger moved up one position in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings and now stands in 14th place heading into next Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas.
Allmendinger’s Post-Race Thoughts: It was something we needed after the last two weeks. Obviously, we want to try to win, but at least we were there all day. Denny had a nose right there, but it was Lap4. Those guys would expect you to give them some room, but he just stuffed it down in there and jacked me sideways. It was no surprise, and as I started spinning toward the wall, I just hammered the throttle. I didn’t think it was going to hit the wall, but then I was afraid that everybody behind me would come piling in. I’d like to say it was all driver, but luckily when I tapped the brake and kept it on the throttle it straightened back up to where I didn’t stop in front of anybody and, thank God, everybody behind us was alert and kind of got it slowed down. I’d say it was 60 percent driver and 40 percent luck. I’ll give myself a little bit of credit.”
Credit - Richard Petty Motorsports
No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion
- AJ Allmendinger started in the 7th position for the 400-lap event at Dover International Speedway
- Allmendinger, finished the race in the seventh position at the one-mile speedway
- Unofficially, Allmendinger sits in 14th place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver point standings
Allmendinger stood in 39th place when the race resumed and let Crew Chief Greg Erwin know that the car was free getting into the corners and tight in the center. Erwin opted for a two-tire change during a Lap 43 caution and after coming into the pits in 24th, Allmendinger lined up for the Lap 46 green flag in eighth position. The driver let his crew know that he was happy with the way the car was handling just after the Lap 100 mark and he made his way through traffic into fifth place by Lap 119.
Thanks in part to another two-tire stop at Lap 177, Allmendinger led the field to a Lap 180 green flag from the point position. He remained there for several laps, but the car became loose in the middle stages of the race and Allmendinger slipped back several positions. The No. 43 car remained in the Top 10 for much of the remainder of the event and when the checkered flag flew, Allmendinger held down the seventh position. It was the seventh top-10 effort of the season for the team.
Allmendinger moved up one position in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings and now stands in 14th place heading into next Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas.
Allmendinger’s Post-Race Thoughts: It was something we needed after the last two weeks. Obviously, we want to try to win, but at least we were there all day. Denny had a nose right there, but it was Lap4. Those guys would expect you to give them some room, but he just stuffed it down in there and jacked me sideways. It was no surprise, and as I started spinning toward the wall, I just hammered the throttle. I didn’t think it was going to hit the wall, but then I was afraid that everybody behind me would come piling in. I’d like to say it was all driver, but luckily when I tapped the brake and kept it on the throttle it straightened back up to where I didn’t stop in front of anybody and, thank God, everybody behind us was alert and kind of got it slowed down. I’d say it was 60 percent driver and 40 percent luck. I’ll give myself a little bit of credit.”
Credit - Richard Petty Motorsports
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Dover II Post-Race Quotes
AJ ALLMENDINGER – No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion Finished 7th
“You just want to put yourself in that position, but we weren’t quite good enough to win. Depending on what call and where you restarted, I think we might have been top-five there at the end. A lot of guys took two tires. I didn’t as many guys would, so it’s one of those things where I felt we were a fourth to seventh-place car at worst and we finished seventh after being turned on lap four. As I was spinning I thought, ‘Okay, the day is over already,’ but it was a solid day. It was something we needed after the last two weeks. Obviously, we want to try to win, but at least we were there all day."
THAT WAS QUITE A SAVE. “Denny had a nose right there, but it was lap four. Those guys would expect you to give them some room, but he just stuffed it down in there and jacked me sideways. It was no surprise, and as I started spinning toward the wall I just hammered the throttle. I didn’t think it was gonna hit the wall, but then I was afraid that everybody behind me would come piling in. I’d like to say it was all driver, but luckily I tapped the brake and kept it on the throttle it straightened back up to where I didn’t stop in front of anybody and, thank God, everybody behind us was alert and kind of got it slowed down. I’d say it was 60 percent driver and 40 percent luck. I’ll give myself a little bit of credit."
***
MARCOS AMBROSE – No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion
Finished 9th
“We’ve been bashed up pretty good the last month, so it’s just good to come back with a solid day. We should have finished better than ninth, but we played it safe there and took four tires at the end. I’m proud of the team. They’ve stood by me after a tough month and I’m looking forward to getting to Kansas."
YOU LIKE RUNNING HERE DON’T YOU? “We’ve just got a good setup, that’s all. We worked well here in the spring and we worked well here in the fall. I think when we hit on a setup we can come back to it and it feels right and I give good direction."
Credit - Ford Racing
“You just want to put yourself in that position, but we weren’t quite good enough to win. Depending on what call and where you restarted, I think we might have been top-five there at the end. A lot of guys took two tires. I didn’t as many guys would, so it’s one of those things where I felt we were a fourth to seventh-place car at worst and we finished seventh after being turned on lap four. As I was spinning I thought, ‘Okay, the day is over already,’ but it was a solid day. It was something we needed after the last two weeks. Obviously, we want to try to win, but at least we were there all day."
THAT WAS QUITE A SAVE. “Denny had a nose right there, but it was lap four. Those guys would expect you to give them some room, but he just stuffed it down in there and jacked me sideways. It was no surprise, and as I started spinning toward the wall I just hammered the throttle. I didn’t think it was gonna hit the wall, but then I was afraid that everybody behind me would come piling in. I’d like to say it was all driver, but luckily I tapped the brake and kept it on the throttle it straightened back up to where I didn’t stop in front of anybody and, thank God, everybody behind us was alert and kind of got it slowed down. I’d say it was 60 percent driver and 40 percent luck. I’ll give myself a little bit of credit."
***
MARCOS AMBROSE – No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion
Finished 9th
“We’ve been bashed up pretty good the last month, so it’s just good to come back with a solid day. We should have finished better than ninth, but we played it safe there and took four tires at the end. I’m proud of the team. They’ve stood by me after a tough month and I’m looking forward to getting to Kansas."
YOU LIKE RUNNING HERE DON’T YOU? “We’ve just got a good setup, that’s all. We worked well here in the spring and we worked well here in the fall. I think when we hit on a setup we can come back to it and it feels right and I give good direction."
Credit - Ford Racing
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Dover II Qualifying Quotes
AJ ALLMENDINGER – No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion
Qualified 7th
“There’s just a lot of grip out there and this track, as fast as it is, it’s a fun place. I love this place. The Best Buy Ford has always been fast here. The lap times are so close that I don’t know if I could have got anymore out of it. It’s not gonna be quite good enough, but it’ll be decent. The car was fast in race trim and we’ve been close here trying to get a win, so hopefully tomorrow we can be up there and at least have some fun with it."
HOW WAS THE LAP?
“It was fast. This place is awesome. I love this place. On a day like this when it’s cold, you just go in there and you kind of land and you just grab some throttle and hopefully it sticks. The Best Buy Ford was quick. I always want more. We’ve been so close here to getting a pole, but, overall, it’s a good day. It’s been a good weekend so far and hopefully we can go out there tomorrow and have some fun and be up in front and try to steal a win here."
DO YOU FEEL IF YOU’RE GOING TO WIN THAT THIS WILL BE THE PLACE?
“I think this is a chance to win. I don’t know if you ever feel like you’re gonna win here. There is a lot that goes into these races to try to have a chance to win and I just know the Best Buy Ford will be fast enough and we’ll have a chance to at least be up there. Then you just have to hope that everything goes your way. This is a place that I always enjoy. I love it. It’s my favorite race track. Hopefully, we can have a good run tomorrow and at the end we have a chance to win the thing. If not, we’re just gonna get the best we can out of it."
AFTER THE RACE IN MAY DID YOU WANT TO COME BACK THE NEXT DAY OR WERE YOU SO TICKED OFF YOU DIDN’T WANT TO COME BACK ANYTIME SOON?
“I feel like if we raced here about 20-22 times out of the year, we might have a chance to win the championship. It’s the rest of the race tracks we’ve got to keep getting better at, but I’m just happy to show up at any race track. This one is always enjoyable and I just love this place. When I first walked into this place in ’07 I thought, ‘What in the hell am I walking in to? This place is insane,’ but as a race car driver it’s so much fun to drive. I never say anything owes me one, but we definitely have a chance to come here and at least contend tomorrow and hopefully be there at the end."
SO MANY RACES HAVE GONE TO FUEL MILEAGE AND YOU HAVE STRUGGLED WITH THAT. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT?
“Any race can go to fuel mileage, it’s just a matter of when the yellow flag falls. You don’t worry about it until it happens. It’s something that I know Doug Yates and everybody at the engine shop is working on and it’s something personally that I have to work on to as far as my driving technique. It’s just the way it’s happened. Nobody truly loves fuel mileage races, but it’s a part of racing and it’s a fair part of racing. All you can do is work on it when it happens and keep working on the things you can control. I know Doug Yates and those guys are working on the things they can control, I’ve got to work on the things I can control."
IS IT EASIER IN A SENSE?
“No, there’s nothing easy about anything. There’s nothing easy."
DO YOU HAVE AS GOOD A CAR HERE THIS TIME AROUND?
“I don’t know. The track is a little bit different. We’re just gonna keep working on it and we’ll see how tomorrow plays out."
Credit - Ford Racing
Qualified 7th
“There’s just a lot of grip out there and this track, as fast as it is, it’s a fun place. I love this place. The Best Buy Ford has always been fast here. The lap times are so close that I don’t know if I could have got anymore out of it. It’s not gonna be quite good enough, but it’ll be decent. The car was fast in race trim and we’ve been close here trying to get a win, so hopefully tomorrow we can be up there and at least have some fun with it."
HOW WAS THE LAP?
“It was fast. This place is awesome. I love this place. On a day like this when it’s cold, you just go in there and you kind of land and you just grab some throttle and hopefully it sticks. The Best Buy Ford was quick. I always want more. We’ve been so close here to getting a pole, but, overall, it’s a good day. It’s been a good weekend so far and hopefully we can go out there tomorrow and have some fun and be up in front and try to steal a win here."
DO YOU FEEL IF YOU’RE GOING TO WIN THAT THIS WILL BE THE PLACE?
“I think this is a chance to win. I don’t know if you ever feel like you’re gonna win here. There is a lot that goes into these races to try to have a chance to win and I just know the Best Buy Ford will be fast enough and we’ll have a chance to at least be up there. Then you just have to hope that everything goes your way. This is a place that I always enjoy. I love it. It’s my favorite race track. Hopefully, we can have a good run tomorrow and at the end we have a chance to win the thing. If not, we’re just gonna get the best we can out of it."
AFTER THE RACE IN MAY DID YOU WANT TO COME BACK THE NEXT DAY OR WERE YOU SO TICKED OFF YOU DIDN’T WANT TO COME BACK ANYTIME SOON?
“I feel like if we raced here about 20-22 times out of the year, we might have a chance to win the championship. It’s the rest of the race tracks we’ve got to keep getting better at, but I’m just happy to show up at any race track. This one is always enjoyable and I just love this place. When I first walked into this place in ’07 I thought, ‘What in the hell am I walking in to? This place is insane,’ but as a race car driver it’s so much fun to drive. I never say anything owes me one, but we definitely have a chance to come here and at least contend tomorrow and hopefully be there at the end."
SO MANY RACES HAVE GONE TO FUEL MILEAGE AND YOU HAVE STRUGGLED WITH THAT. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT?
“Any race can go to fuel mileage, it’s just a matter of when the yellow flag falls. You don’t worry about it until it happens. It’s something that I know Doug Yates and everybody at the engine shop is working on and it’s something personally that I have to work on to as far as my driving technique. It’s just the way it’s happened. Nobody truly loves fuel mileage races, but it’s a part of racing and it’s a fair part of racing. All you can do is work on it when it happens and keep working on the things you can control. I know Doug Yates and those guys are working on the things they can control, I’ve got to work on the things I can control."
IS IT EASIER IN A SENSE?
“No, there’s nothing easy about anything. There’s nothing easy."
DO YOU HAVE AS GOOD A CAR HERE THIS TIME AROUND?
“I don’t know. The track is a little bit different. We’re just gonna keep working on it and we’ll see how tomorrow plays out."
Credit - Ford Racing
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