All-Star Race Preview

AJ Allmendinger, driver of the Penske Racing No. 22 Pennzoil Dodge Charger, enters Saturday night’s non-points special events at Charlotte Motor Speedway knowing what to expect. After all, with five prior appearances in the Sprint Showdown, it’s a “been there & done that” scenario for Dinger.

“This year is no different than the years before,” said Allmendinger. “I’ve won the Showdown before and we can win it again. We’ve had fast cars all year long; we just haven’t had the luck we’ve needed. We’re bound to change the luck soon and maybe it’ll come when there are no points on the line.

“We’ll definitely have a good shot to win the thing and advance; I do not doubt that at all. We know how to race these 40 laps and how it can play out. It’s all about being at the right place at the right time. Qualifying is huge and figuring out what to do after the first 20-lap segment is the big thing in having a shot to win it.

“We still have a good shot at it I think with the fan support and the fan vote as a backup plan,” Dinger added. “One thing’s for sure and that’s the fact that we’ll have our sweet, great-looking old-school yellow Pennzoil color scheme on our Dodge Charger again this weekend.” (It’s the same color scheme that was on the car in the March 11 Las Vegas race.)

Allmendinger has raced in five prior editions of the Sprint Showdown, taking the win in the 2008 race and advancing on to the Sprint All-Star Race. In his five prior Showdowns, Dinger has one win, two top-five finishes and four top-10s. He started 22nd and finished 17th in the 2008 All-Star Race. He started second and finished fourth in last year’s Showdown. Dinger has a 6.4 average start and an 8.8 average finish in the Showdown. Most impressive is that he has finished every possible lap (300/300) in his Showdown and All Star races.

Crew chief Todd Gordon is really looking forward to Saturday night’s non-points Sprint Cup competition. He is optimistic about his team’s performance on the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway quad-oval.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun without the stress of having the points on the line,” said Gordon. “I’m very optimistic about our chances and I think we can run very well there. I really like the two-20-lap-segment race format. It’ll be really interesting to see how it goes. Through the season, we have shown so much strength in the short runs.”

“Even though it wouldn’t help us in points, to win there on Saturday night would be great for our Shell-Pennzoil Dodge Team,” Gordon said. “It would be huge for our confidence level – for AJ, for me and for the entire No. 22 Penske team. Success of that type would be something great to build off of and a stepping stone for the future, I believe.”

Allmendinger, Gordon and crew will be racing their “PRS-815” Pennzoil Dodge Charger this weekend at Charlotte. In its only time out, Dinger put it on the outside pole and finished 17th in the March Bristol race. In that race, Dinger led 54 laps in the early going and showed potential winning strength before a suspension part failed. The “PRS-814” chassis will serve as the backup. It is a new Dodge Charger and has yet to make it onto a race track.

This weekend’s Sprint Showdown/Sprint All-Star Race weekend gets under way on Thursday night (May 17) with the NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge set for 7:00 p.m. at Time Warner Cable Arena (broadcast on SPEED-TV at 9:00 p.m. EDT). The action shifts to the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway on Friday with Showdown practice set for 12:00 noon till 1:35 p.m. and All-Star Practice from 1:35 p.m. till 3:00 p.m. Qualifying on Friday evening at 5:00 will set the field for Saturday night’s Showdown. Qualifying at 6:00 p.m. for the ALL-Star Race will feature the unique format of three laps under the clock with a four-tire pit stop thrown into the equation. Saturday’s Sprint Showdown (20 laps/20 laps) begins at 7:30 p.m., with the top-two finishers and winner of the special Sprint “fan vote” advancing to the All-Star Race. The Sprint All-Star Race will begin at approximately 9:00 p.m. This year’s exciting battle consists of four 20-lap segments, concluding with a 10-lap sprint and a $1 million payout to the race winner. This year's format will place a higher premium for drivers who win one of the four segments, however, as the winners of the first four segments will move to the front of the field and line up 1-4 prior to the field coming to pit road for the final mandatory pit stop. Live coverage will be provided by SPEED-TV and MRN Radio.

Credit - Penske Racing PR

All-Star Notes of Interest

--AJ Allmendinger and his Todd Gordon-led Penske Racing No. 22 Team will be racing their PRS-815” Pennzoil Dodge Charger this weekend at Charlotte. In its only time out, Dinger put it on the outside pole and finished 17th in the March Bristol race. In that race, Dinger led 54 laps in the early going and showed potential winning strength before a suspension part failed. The “PRS-814” chassis will serve as the backup. It is a new Dodge Charger and has yet to make it onto a race track.

--Pennzoil Dodge Charger driver AJ Allmendinger has raced in five prior editions of the Sprint Showdown, taking the win in the 2008 race and advancing on to the Sprint All-Star Race. In his five prior Showdowns, Dinger has one win, two top-five finishes and four top-10s. He started 22nd and finished 17th in the 2008 All-Star Race. He started second and finished fourth in last year’s Showdown. Dinger has a 6.4 average start and an 8.8 average finish in the Showdown. Most impressive is that he has finished every possible lap (300/300) in his Showdown and All Star races.

--With five prior appearances in the Sprint Showdown, it’s a “been there & done that” scenario for Pennzoil Dodge driver AJ Allmendinger. “This year is no different than the years before,” said Allmendinger. “I’ve won the Showdown before and we can win it again. We’ve had fast cars all year long; we just haven’t had the luck we’ve needed. We’re bound to change the luck soon and maybe it’ll come when there are no points on the line. We’ll definitely have a good shot to win the thing and advance; I do not doubt that at all. We know how to race these 40 laps and how it can play out. It’s all about being at the right place at the right time. Qualifying is huge and figuring out what to do after the first 20-lap segment is the big thing in having a shot to win it.”

--Pennzoil Dodge crew chief Todd Gordon is optimistic entering this Saturday night’s special non-points race. “It’s going to be a lot of fun without the stress of having the points on the line,” said Gordon. “I’m very optimistic about our chances and I think we can run very well there. I really like the two-20-lap-segment race format. It’ll be really interesting to see how it goes. Through the season, we have shown so much strength in the short runs. Even though it wouldn’t help us in points, to win there on Saturday night would be great for our Shell-Pennzoil Dodge Team. It would be huge for our confidence level – for AJ, for me and for the entire No. 22 Penske team. Success of that type would be something great to build off of and a stepping stone for the future, I believe.”

--Pennzoil Dodge crew chief Todd Gordon sizes up the competition for Saturday night’s Sprint Showdown: “Just looking over the entry list, you probably have to look at the 56 team (Martin Truex Jr.) as being the strongest, especially coming off last weekend. The 88 team (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) has been running well and is really consistent. I think we’re up there next as far as the overall strength we’ve shown. We’ve been stronger than the 20 (Joey Logano), the 42 (Juan Pablo Montoya) and the 1 (Jamie McMurray) every week, but just don’t have the finishes to show it. Our biggest problem is that we probably deserve the runner-up award for the worst luck during the 2012 season. Seriously, if there’s such an award, the 24 team (Jeff Gordon) definitely deserves it, but we have to be the runner-up team.”

--AJ Allmendinger and his Todd Gordon-led No. 22 Penske Racing Dodge Team are at Road Atlanta today testing their “PRS-811” Dodge Charger in preparation for the June 24 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway. The team also has a test scheduled on May 29 in their preparation for racing on the road courses this year.

--Pennzoil Dodge driver AJ Allmendinger will be making his first appearance in the annual Pennzoil Burnout Challenge Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The 5th annual event is set to begin at approximately 6:10 p.m. on the frontstretch of CMS. Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano complete the five-driver lineup for Saturday’s competition. The competition will see each driver take turns at the wheel of similarly prepared cars from the Richard Petty Driving Experience, each wrapped with the Pennzoil Burnout Challenge theme. The drivers begin from Turn 4 of the quarter-mile track and have 30 seconds to conduct a freestyle burnout. After 30 seconds, the “emergency cutoff switch” will be activated. The drivers will be judged on creativity and the fan reaction. The winner of the competition will be highlighted on Charlotte Motor Speedway’s world’s largest HD Video Screen. Each competitor will receive a $1,000 donation to their charity just for participating. The winning driver will be awarded $10,000 to their designated charity. Allmendinger will be competing for “Dinger’s Dream Team” and the “Paralyzed Veterans of America.”

Credit - Penske Racing PR

Darlington Race Recap

Shell-Pennzoil Dodge driver AJ Allmendinger was relegated to a 33rd-place finish in tonight’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 after a late-race incident forced him to the garage area for necessary repairs. With the 11th race of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup season in the record books, Allmendinger leaves Darlington Raceway 22nd in the series’ points.

“We just struggled all night going from one extreme to the other, from so tight to just wicked loose and could never find a happy medium,” Allmendinger said. “The car was just a handful all night but I thought we'd be able to hang on for a top 15.

“We had a caution fall when we needed it after taking the wave around to get back on the lead lap, but got together with the 1 (Jamie McMurray) after that and ended up in the garage. The guys worked as hard and as fast as they could to get us back out there but there just weren't enough laps left at that point. Todd (Gordon, crew chief) and I, along with the team, are going to have to try and figure out what we need to do to stop going back and forth to these extremes during these races and bring home the finishes we all want for the Shell-Pennzoil Dodge.”

Allmendinger started tonight’s race from the 16th position and struggled with a loose car from the drop of the green flag. With the first 171 laps of the race run caution-free, the crew threw wedge, track bar and air pressure adjustments at their machine during green-flag stops that offered minimum relief. Dinger’s Dodge went from loose to tight as the chassis mood swings set in.

Jimmie Johnson got around AJ to put him a lap down after 126 circuits. Dinger held the lucky dog-eligible spot on three different occasions, but never got the caution he needed to return to the lead lap. When Bobby Labonte spun on the frontstretch on Lap 297 to bring out the fourth caution of the race, Dinger stayed out and took the wave-around to return to the lead lap.

AJ was 17th on the Lap 302 restart and got the break he needed only four laps later when Regan Smith spun in Turn 4 to bring out the fifth yellow period of the night. That allowed Dinger to pit on Lap 308 for fresh tires and ample fuel to go the distance.

Allmendinger lined up 19th for the Lap 311 restart as 21 cars were running on the lead lap. He had climbed to 16th in the running order when Jamie McMurray pinned him into the Turn 4 wall to bring out the sixth caution of the race. Dinger sustained suspension damage and was forced to go to the garage for repairs.

The Shell-Pennzoil Dodge returned to action 11 laps down and Allmendinger rode it out the remainder of the race to finish 33rd.

“David Hoots (NASCAR Managing Event Director) said at the driver’s meeting that you’ve just got to race the racetrack,” crew chief Gordon offered after the race. “We had a long green flag run there to start with and didn’t quite have the balance we wanted to and got down a lap and just seemed like we were always the one car off of getting back on the lead lap. I felt like we had a decent race car and felt like we could run in the top 15. We didn’t have a top five car by any means but felt like we could run 10th to 15th. Just racing back by the 1 car there at the end and I think he got loose underneath us. It bent the track bar and we had to go to the garage area and make some repairs. Even after that we rolled back out with some decent speed.”

Up front, it was Johnson going 66 laps on his last tank of fuel and taking the checkers by 0.781 seconds over Denny Hamlin. The victory marked the 200th win for Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson’s 56th career win broke a tie with racing legend Rusty
Wallace on the All-Time Wins list.

Tony Stewart finished third, with Kyle Busch fourth and Martin Truex Jr. fifth. Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne, Marcos Ambrose and Joey Logano rounded out tonight’s top-10 finishers.

Penske Racing teammate Brad Keselowski had another gutsy performance here tonight as he bounced back from running three laps down at one time during the race to post a 15th-place finish. The Miller Lite Dodge driver is now up to 12th in the standings, trailing leader Greg Biffle by 79 points.

With 253 points, Dinger is 22nd in the standings. He trails 10th-place Edwards by 87 points and is 40 points behind 15th-place Logano.

The Sprint Cup tour now heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the next two weeks of racing. Up first in next weekend’s non-points Sprint All-Star Race, followed by the May 27 Coca-Cola 600.

Credit - Penske Racing PR

Darlington Qualifying Report

Shell-Pennzoil Dodge driver AJ Allmendinger will start 16th in Saturday night’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 here at Darlington Raceway after turning in a lap of 27.506 seconds (178.783 mph) in today’s qualifying session. Dinger is looking for a solid run on this tough old 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval.

“Our Dodge was a little bit loose,” Allmendinger offered. “I don’t think we had a pole car but we had better than a 16th-place car. I wish I could hit the reset button and redo that lap. I came to the green okay, got into one good and then I just got too low, too early and just completely messed the rest of the corner up. Got through three and it was really loose in three so I think we lost a little bit of time there. Wish I could do it over again. That was on me.”

Greg Biffle claimed the Coors Light Pole Award with the fast lap of 27.281 seconds (180.257 mph). Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne ran the exact same time (27.386 seconds/179.566 mph), with Johnson getting the second starting spot due to current car owner points. Ryan Newman (lap of 27.402 seconds/179.461 mph) will start fourth and Kyle Busch (27.404 seconds/179.448 mph) starts fifth.

Martin Truex Jr., Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Regan Smith and Jeff Burton rounded out today’s top-10 qualifiers. Penske Racing teammate Brad Keselowski starts his Miller Lite Dodge just in front of Dinger, claiming the 15th starting spot with his lap of 27.500 seconds (178.822 mph).

Even though Allmendinger wanted more during Friday’s action here at Darlington, he knows he has a fast Shell-Pennzoil Dodge Charger for Saturday’s battle.

“We’ve had a really good day,” Dinger said. “The Shell-Pennzoil Dodge has been quick. The race trim was good, the Q-runs were good and as much as you try to think positive and think okay, let’s go out there and put a good lap in, it crept in the back of my mind we haven’t put anything wrong with this car yet. There’s no stripes, everything looks solid, the last thing you want to do is bounce it off the wall before you start this race. It’s a tough place. You look at the lap times and they’re so close. Just wish I could do it over again. It’s a long race and honestly starting 16th isn’t the worst thing in the world. I’m just mad at myself. I always want perfection and I’m nowhere close to that but we deserved a better qualifying run. If the car is as good as it was today we can go to the front and we’ve got 500 miles.”

Saturday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 (367 laps, 501.3 miles) has a 7:00 p.m. EDT starting time and features live coverage by FOX-TV and MRN Radio (also on Sirius-XM NASCAR Channel 90 and streaming live at www.motorracingnetwork.com.)

Darlington Race Preview

Shell-Pennzoil Dodge driver AJ Allmendinger enters this weekend’s Bojangle’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway knowing what to expect. Saturday’s battle on the historical 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval will mark Dinger’s sixth career Darlington start and he foresees the same test that every trip to Darlington presents.

“This weekend is gonna be a challenge – every race at Darlington is a challenge because it’s such a tough place,” Allmendinger said. “It has historically not been a great race track for me. But the way this season has gone, it’s seems like we’ve had some of our stronger performances on the tracks that haven’t been too kind to me in the past. We’re hoping we can have that kind of ‘flip-flop’ situation again this weekend at Darlington.”

After five career starts at Darlington, Dinger enters this weekend looking for his first notable mark in the NASCAR record book. His best start to date was seventh in last year’s Darlington race. His best career finish, a 17th, came in the 2009 visit. His average start is 20.6 and average finish is 27.4 entering this weekend.

Crew chief Todd Gordon believes that the occurrence of doing well on Allmendinger’s “less-than-favorite” race tracks can and will continue this weekend at Darlington. In fact, he fully embraces the “Flip-Flop Phenomenon.”

“We talked last Friday about how much he didn’t enjoy racing at the Talladega track and it was music to my ears when he said he had the same intense feeling about racing at Darlington,” chuckled Gordon. “There have been so many times this season where we’ve entered the race just hoping to be respectable. Then, we’ve been pleasantly surprised with the way things went during qualifying and in the race.

“I look back at races like Vegas, Bristol – and most recently last weekend at Talladega,” said Gordon. “They were not among AJ’s favorites and he was openly honest in pointing that out. But, during all of those races we showed a lot of strength and had some really fast race cars. We ran top-five or top-10 in all of them and had the potential to finish up there.

“That’s the approach we are taking to this weekend’s race at Darlington,” said Gordon. “We know what AJ and our Shell-Pennzoil Dodge Team is capable of, so we always come into a race weekend thinking positive and hoping to do well. We know that if we can have a fast car ready for him, AJ will have it up front there on Saturday night.”

Allmendinger can’t forget the first time he ever saw the “Track Too Tough to Tame.”

"I thought they completely messed up the design of the race track when I got there,” Dinger recalled. “I said, ‘This can't possibly be an oval. What's going on here?’ It's insane to me. The race track is awesome with how narrow it is. What's exciting for me, honestly, is the history of the race track. When you roll through the gates and get there, the history behind the track is something that always excites and motivates me about NASCAR in general.

“It is definitely a tough race track, though,” Dinger added. “I drove on it once before it was repaved and it was such a challenge then. Now that it's been repaved, it's demanding in a different way because it's so fast you can't make a mistake. It's a tough place. That's all you can say. There's not a lot more to describe it."

Allmendinger, Gordon and crew will be racing their “PRS-812” Shell-Pennzoil Dodge Charger this weekend at Darlington. This chassis has been raced only once to date; in the March 11 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Dinger started 14th and had moved up to sixth in that race before fuel system issues relegated him to the garage for repairs. The “PRS-814” chassis will serve as the backup. It is a new Dodge Charger and has yet to make it onto a race track.

This weekend’s Darlington action gets under way on Friday with practice scheduled from 11:30 a.m. till 1:30 p.m. and from 2:15 p.m. till 3:00 p.m. Friday’s 5:10 p.m. single round of qualifying will establish Saturday’s 43-car starting field. Saturday’s Bojangle’s Southern 500 (367 laps, 501.3 miles) has a 7:00 p.m. EDT starting time and features live coverage by FOX-TV and MRN Radio (also on Sirius-XM NASCAR Channel 90 and streaming live at www.motorracingnetwork.com.)

Credit - Penske Racing PR

Darlington Notes of Interest

--AJ Allmendinger and his Todd Gordon-led Penske Racing No. 22 Team will be racing their “PRS-812” Shell-Pennzoil Dodge Charger this weekend at Darlington. This chassis has been raced only once to date; in the March 11 race at Las Vegas. Dinger started 14th and had moved up to sixth in that race before fuel system issues relegated him to the garage for repairs. The “PRS-814” chassis will serve as the backup. It is a new Dodge Charger and has yet to make it onto a race track.

--Shell-Pennzoil Dodge driver AJ Allmendinger says the best word to describe the 1.366-mile egg-shaped Darlington Raceway is “tough.” “It is definitely a tough race track,” Dinger said. “I drove on it once before it was repaved and it was such a challenge then. Now that it's been repaved, it's demanding in a different way because it's so fast you can't make a mistake. It's a tough place. That's all you can say. There's not a lot more to describe it."

--Shell-Pennzoil Dodge crew chief Todd Gordon believes that the occurrence of doing well on Allmendinger’s “less-than-favorite” race tracks can and will continue this weekend at Darlington. In fact, he fully embraces the “Flip-Flop Phenomenon.” “We talked last Friday about how much he didn’t enjoy racing at the Talladega track and it was music to my ears when he said he had the same intense feeling about racing at Darlington,” chuckled Gordon. “There have been so many times this season where we’ve entered the race just hoping to be respectable. Then, we’ve been pleasantly surprised with the way things went during qualifying and in the race. I look back at races like Vegas, Bristol – and most recently last weekend at Talladega. They were not among AJ’s favorites and he was openly honest in pointing that out. But, during all of those races we showed a lot of strength and had some really fast race cars. We ran top-five or top-10 in all of them and had the potential to finish up there. That’s the approach we are taking to this weekend’s race at Darlington. We know what AJ and our Shell-Pennzoil Dodge Team is capable of, so we always come into a race weekend thinking positive and hoping to do well. We know that if we can have a fast car ready for him, AJ will have it up front there on Saturday night.”

--Shell-Pennzoil Dodge driver AJ Allmendinger recalled the first time he ever saw Darlington Raceway: "I thought they completely messed up the design of the race track when I got there,” Dinger recalled. “I said, ‘This can't possibly be an oval. What's going on here?’ It's insane to me. The race track is awesome with how narrow it is. What's exciting for me, honestly, is the history of the race track. When you roll through the gates and get there, the history behind the track is something that always excites and motivates me about NASCAR in general.”

--Shell-Pennzoil Dodge crew chief Todd Gordon stopped to reflect on the last few races along the Sprint Cup trail: “We know that we had a potential top-five car at Richmond and again last Sunday at Talladega. At worst, we were solid top-10-capable in both races. But we left with a 16th at Richmond and a 15th at Talladega. We still can find some good out of the last two weeks when it comes to the big picture. They still were days that we had positive momentum. We did progress and move forward. We’re only 10 races into the season and have 16 races to go before the Chase cutoff. So much can happen between now and then. AJ and our whole team see the potential we have. We’ve had fast race cars and have shown the strength to run top-10 every week. You can look at the 24 team (Jeff Gordon) and see a parallel. Two races ago we were 23rd in points; 64 points out of 10th and 32 out of 15th. Even after not getting the finishes we wanted, we still showed positive momentum. We’re up to 20th in points; 60 out of 10th and only 17 out of 15th. What’s most important is for us to continue moving forward.”

--After five career starts at Darlington, Shell-Pennzoil Dodge driver AJ Allmendinger enters this weekend looking for his first notable mark in the NASCAR record book. His best start to date was seventh in last year’s Darlington race. His best career finish, a 17th, came in the 2009 visit. His average start is 20.6 and average finish is 27.4 entering this weekend. He is looking to lead his first lap at Darlington. He has an 88.248% lap completion average (1,622 of 1,838 laps).

--AJ Allmendinger and his Todd Gordon-led Penske Racing No. 22 Team have road course testing at Road Atlanta (May 15) and Virginia International Raceway (May 29) on tap in preparation for the June 24 Toyota/Save Mart 350 in Sonoma, Calif. Test days are also on the calendar for Michigan (June 14), as well as testing at the Milwaukee Mile (June 26).

Credit - Penske Racing PR

Talladega Race Recap

Shell-Pennzoil/AAA Dodge driver AJ Allmendinger started today’s Aaron’s 499 here at Talladega Superspeedway from the outside pole and was among the threats for getting the win until a late-race skirmish. Dinger and his Todd Gordon-led Penske Racing No. 22 team still soldiered on to a 15th-place finish and made it a good day as for the NASCAR Sprint Cup points race.

Allmendinger was running solidly in the top-10 for a restart with only three laps remaining in the scheduled 188-lap battle when he fought for the same space with Denny Hamlin and helped ignite the fifth and final caution. In typical fashion for the restrictor-plate races here and at Daytona, before the dust had settled, at least 10 cars encountered damage.

Dinger sustained heavy damage to the right-front fender area of his Dodge and was forced to hit pit road lap after lap during the ensuing caution to make repairs. He lined up 19th for the “overtime” green-white-checkered finish and was able to climb back up to the 15th spot after 194 laps.

“My guys did a good job, fast motor, fast race car,” a dejected Allmendinger said as he walked back to his team transporter. “I’m happy the 2 car won. I had a chance to win the race until it all went down the drain. On the restart, everybody was getting after it. I tried to block, if Denny (Hamlin) was already there, my apology. Everybody on the Shell-Pennzoil/AAA Dodge and the Penske organization gave us fast race cars. We had a chance to win. I’m happy the 2 car won.”

Dinger was eager to see the replay of the incident that eliminated his chances at winning, yet was proud for his teammate Brad Keselowski. His impressive victory here this afternoon marked Penske Racing’s first Cup victory here on this massive 2.66-mile Alabama speed plant.

Keselowski managed to shake Kyle Busch out of his draft coming out of the final turn and took a popular 0.304-second win over the No. 18 car. Matt Kenseth, who led the most laps, finished third, with Kasey Kahne fourth and Greg Biffle fifth. Clint Bowyer, David Ragan, Trevor Bayne, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Burton rounded out the top-10 finishers.

Jamie McMurray, Aric Almirola, David Gilliland, Marcos Ambrose, Dinger, Travis Kvapil, Paul Menard, Casey Mears and Michael Waltrip completed the 19 drivers who finished on the lead lap.

“Just typical Talladega racing in trying to survive till the very end,” offered crew chief Gordon. “I’m not exactly sure what happened on that restart and intend on watching the video as soon as I can. At the end of the day, it was a 15th and not as good as we wanted. However, with the attrition we had here, we have to think that it will be a good points day for our Shell-Pennzoil/AAA Dodge Team.”

Gordon was correct in that assessment in that Dinger is now up to 20th in the Cup point standings. He trails leader Biffle by 136 points, but has now closed the gap to 10th to 60 points. He is currently only 17 points out of 15th.

The Sprint Cup tour now returns to Darlington Raceway for next Saturday night’s battle under the lights on perhaps NASCAR’s most historical track. This weekend’s Darlington action gets under way on Friday with practice scheduled from 11:30 a.m. till 1:30 p.m. and from 2:15 p.m. till 3:00 p.m. Friday’s 5:10 p.m. single round of qualifying will establish Saturday’s 43-car starting field. Saturday’s Bojangle’s Southern 500 (367 laps, 501.3 miles) has a 7:00 p.m. EDT starting time and features live coverage by FOX-TV and MRN Radio.

Credit - Penske Racing PR

Talladega Qualifying Quotes

AJ Allmendinger (No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T)
Qualified Second
“The Shell/Pennzoil Dodge qualifying run was a little surprising. I didn’t get to make a full-blown Q (qualifying) run yesterday, so we weren’t really sure what we had. It had nothing to do with me. All the guys in the Penske organization back at the engine shop, everybody that design these cars and puts the horsepower under them; it shows them off on a day like this. It’s really cool to see that we’ve got some speed. I don’t think that will be pole, but it was a good surprise. It’s really cool to see the Shell/Pennzoil Dodge have this much speed. It shows the effort everybody in the Penske organization puts in these race cars. It was a good lap for sure. It shows we have a lot of horsepower and a fast racecar for tomorrow.”

STARTING UP FRONT, IS THAT IMPORTANT AT THIS TRACK? “No. Qualifying in the end doesn’t really matter. If you get the pole, you can at least feel like you’re best for a day. We’ll be at the front to the back, the back to the front a hundred times during the race. You just hope when you’re at the front, it’s at the right time, at about lap 185 and you stay up there and have a chance to win the thing. Today is a relaxing day for a driver. You just go out there have fun, joke around with the guys, see where it puts you and then go out tomorrow and race.”

WHAT ABOUT THE PENSKE POWER TODAY, SURPRISING? “On a day like this, it shows off the engine shop, the body shop, everybody in the Penske organization. I had a lot more chance to mess it up than help it. The guys did a good job. It puts us near the front and shows all the effort that’s being put in these race cars.”

ARE YOU STARTING TO FEEL YOU’RE GETTING CLOSER TO A WIN? “We’re running up front every weekend. We’re just not getting the finishes. We just need to put a complete day together. There have been a lot of little mechanical things that have cropped up and got us. Last week, we had a good car all day, but had a tire going down and that hurt us. Of course, I always put the pressure on myself to go out there and win for Mr. (Roger) Penske. The good thing is we have the speed to go do it; we just have to put a complete race together. Once we start doing that and having some luck, we’ll win a lot of these things I think.”

DID YOU GET A CHANCE TO DRAFT YESTERDAY? “Not a lot. We got out for maybe five or six laps in a seven- or eight-car pack, but did not get in a big group drafting. It really doesn’t matter. We’ve got 188 laps to get it all figured out.”


ALLMENDINGER INTERVIEW -- MEDIA CENTER
“This is a day that’s more about the engine shop and the race team getting the car ready. It’s good for everybody at the Penske organization on the Shell/Pennzoil Dodge to put a fast racecar together. They worked hard to get a little bit more motor than what we had at Daytona. Obviously, I think it’s showing. I would love to have gotten the pole for the guys, but from where we were in qualifying for Daytona to where we are at Talladega, they’ve definitely made a lot of gains. I’m excited for the guys and excited for tomorrow.”

FOR A LONG WHILE, IT LOOKS LIKE YOU WERE GOING TO WIN THE POLE, BUT (JEFF) GORDON CAME OUT AND TOOK AN UNCONVENTIONAL LINE. DID YOU NOTICE WHAT HE DID AND WILL THAT MAKE PEOPLE RETHINK THE WAY THE QUALIFY HERE? “I think a lot of it had to do with the heat. It’s so warm out, I think most of the cars down pit road had to leave open a little bit of tape because they were going to push water too much. I didn’t see if he was fully taped up or how much tape he had, but I think that’s the idea he had. If you can fully tape up, you’re going to get a little bit of advantage on everybody and the only way you can do that is run low the whole time. Definitely a new strategy, but those guys are fast no matter what. So, it’s not like he snuck up on us. We knew that was going to be one of the cars that could beat us there at the end. It’s something to think about next time we’re here.”

YOU FIND YOURSELF 20-21ST IN THE POINTS WITH A LOT OF GUYS BETWEEN YOU AND THE CUTOFF FOR THE CHASE. DO YOU FEEL PRESSURE TO DO A LITTLE MORE TO GET A GOOD FINISH, A WIN? “Here, there’s no strategy. You just pray that you’re there at the end when it comes down to it. It’s still early in the season. For us, we have had fast racecars every weekend. We’ve had a lot of little mechanical failures. Last week, we missed on a long-run setup a little bit and that’s what killed us at the end. More importantly, we’ve got to keep doing the same things we’re doing and keep improving on it. Obviously, I’m the first to say I’m not happy where we’re at in points. I put a lot of pressure on myself. I don’t have a lot of it from the race team because they know, Roger especially knows, all the things that have happened is why we are where we’re at in points. It’s not indicative of how fast we’ve been and what kind of speed we’ve had this whole year. We’ve just got to put a whole race together. It takes time to do that. Some have been self-induced with mechanical failures. Last week, we know what happened. We missed the setup a little bit on long runs. The more important thing is that we have speed in our racecars. Even when we’re at our worst right now, we’re running 15th or 16th. And when we’re at our best, we’re inside the top five. We just have to keep doing those things and put a whole race together. This weekend, it’s kind of a crapshoot, so whatever happens happens. Next week at Darlington, that’s the focus – keep doing the things we’re doing and keep improving on them.”


Todd Gordon (crew chief, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T)
“The impound race here levels out a lot of the qualifying stuff teams can do that we try to stay above board on. I’m proud of the guys. I don’t know where it will stand, but it’s an improvement over where we were at Daytona and something that we can build on. We’ve got to manage water temperature with the heat we have here and the restricted radiator opening. We only had one opportunity to draft yesterday, so it’s a bit of an unknown. It’s the same package we had at Daytona. These two tracks (Daytona and Talladega) are very much alike, so I feel we’ll be all right come drafting time. We just need to take care of our stuff, stay out of trouble and see what we have at the end.”

Talladega Race Preview

Shell-Pennzoil/AAA Dodge driver AJ Allmendinger is quick to say that the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway is nowhere near the top on his list of favorite race tracks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit. On the verge of starting his eighth race on the mammoth Alabama track, Dinger is taking a realistic approach to this weekend’s Aaron’s 499.

Last Friday at Richmond International Raceway, Allmendinger was asked about this weekend’s return to Talladega for the second restrictor-plate race of the 2012 season:

DO YOU LOOK FORWARD TO RACING AT TALLADEGA? "I look forward to hanging out in the infield at Talladega,” Allmendinger said with a smile. “You know, when you flip down the front straightaway it kind of takes the excitement level away. I think for me, I’m excited to get back and hopefully have that big pack racing again. Hopefully, that kind of stays the same as Daytona. To me, to get back in the big packs and getting back to that will be a lot better than over the last couple of years. Hopefully, it continues the same way it was at Daytona. Daytona, to me, was great racing throughout the whole race. I wouldn’t say that I’m ever excited to go to Talladega, but I look forward to getting back to how big pack racing used to be there."

DO YOU THINK ALL THE RULE CHANGES COMING FROM DAYTONA WILL BE A GOOD FIT FOR TALLADEGA? "Man I hope so,” Dinger said. “To me, I think it’s only going to help it more because, although it’s not, it seems like it’s so much bigger. The cars heat up so much quicker at Talladega. Obviously, the weather is a lot warmer than when we’re at Daytona in the beginning of the year. I’d be surprised if we go there and all of sudden we’re back to tandem racing for whatever reason. But the good thing about these race teams is they’re always finding advantages. I think it’ll be big pack racing for the most part. At the end, it’ll be still the same thing: you’re going to try to hook up with whoever you’re working with and try to push each other to the win. Hopefully, it’s back to big pack racing. I think that’s what the fans wanted. I think the drivers, for the most part, enjoyed it back in Daytona. So hopefully it’s the same way."

In seven career starts at Talladega Superspeedway, Allmendinger is still looking to make his mark in the win, top-five and top-10 columns. He has an average start of 23.7 and an average finish of 27.3. The amazing thing is that Allmendinger has an impressive 97.2 lap completion average in spite of two DNFs. Dinger was involved in last-lap accidents in the April 2008 and October 2010 races that saw him officially not running at the finish.

Crew chief Todd Gordon enters the Talladega race weekend thinking that the “flip-flop scenario” that has been so common for the No. 22 Penske Racing team could be the case once again.

“Talladega is another one of the tracks that AJ doesn’t think is one of his strong points,” said Gordon. “There have been several races already this season where he’s said that and we have seen him get there and have a very competitive weekend.

“Really, it’s been a case that every place we’ve been so far this season that he doesn’t particularly care for, we’ve done really well at,” Gordon said with a chuckle. “Call it the ‘flip-flop’ or whatever, but we’re certainly looking for that to be the situation again for our team again at Talladega.

“I think we’ll be about where we were at in Daytona as far as qualifying goes,” Gordon said of his 18th-fastest lap of 46.603-seconds (193.121 mph). “We finished eighth in our qualifying race and will never know how strong we could have been in the 500 because of the run-in with the 39 (Ryan Newman pulled out in front of Allmendinger, lost a tire and abruptly stopped. Allmendinger ran into Newman, puncturing his radiator and relegating him to the garage area for a change).

“From what we saw at Daytona, AJ can run with the best of them in the huge pack-style of racing that’s apparently back in the plate races at Daytona and Talladega,” said Gordon. “We’re confident that he’ll come in there with the mindset knowing how strong we were at Daytona and what potential we had there. We can be that strong or stronger at Talladega this weekend.

“It’s the same as it has always been in the Talladega races,” Gordon added. “At the end, if you have air in the four tires and water in the motor, you’ve got a shot at winning the race. We’re hoping that’s the case for AJ and our team there on Sunday.”

Allmendinger, Gordon and crew will be racing their “PRS-642” Shell-Pennzoil/AAA Dodge Charger this weekend at Talladega. The team debuted this car during Daytona Speed Weeks back in February. Dinger started 10th and finished eighth driving this chassis in the first Gatorade Duel qualifying race. He started 15th in the Daytona 500 and finished 34th after a run-in on pit road relegated the team to the garage area to replace the radiator. The team will have their “PRS-626” Shell-Pennzoil/AAA Dodge Charger on hand as their backup car. “This is a car that was part of the No. 2 team’s fleet last season,” Gordon said. “Brad and the Miller Lite Team had it on their transporter as a backup, but they never raced it.”

This weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule at Talladega Superspeedway gets under way with Friday’s opening practice from 1:00 p.m. till 1:45 p.m. The final session of Sprint Cup practice is set to run on Friday from 2:30 p.m. till 3:30 p.m. Coors Light Pole Award qualifying to establish the starting grid for Sunday’s 43-car starting field is scheduled to begin at 11:10 a.m. on Saturday. Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 (188 laps, 500.08 miles) has a 12:00 noon CDT starting time and features live coverage by FOX-TV and MRN Radio (also on Sirius-XM NASCAR Channel 90 and streaming live at www.motorracingnetwork.com.

Credit - Penske Racing PR

Talladega Notes of Interest

--AJ Allmendinger and his Todd Gordon-led Penske Racing No. 22 Team will be racing their “PRS-642” Shell-Pennzoil/AAA Dodge Charger this weekend at Talladega. The team debuted this car during Daytona Speed Weeks back in February. Dinger started 10th and finished eighth driving this chassis in the first Gatorade Duel qualifying race. He started 15th in the Daytona 500 and finished 34th after a run-in on pit road relegated the team to the garage area to replace the radiator. “Just like all the cars we run in the plate races, this car has gone back and been completely redone in the fab shop and has had significant wind tunnel time before this weekend.” The team will have their “PRS-626” Shell-Pennzoil/AAA Dodge Charger on hand as their backup car. “This is a car that was part of the No. 2 team’s fleet last season,” Gordon said. “Brad and the Miller Lite Team had it on their transporter as a backup, but they never raced it.”

--Shell-Pennzoil/AAA Dodge driver AJ Allmendinger says he welcomes back the huge pack racing that will most certainly be the case in this weekend’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway, the second restrictor-plate race of the season: “To me, to get back in the big packs is getting back to that will be a lot better than over the last couple of years,” Allmendinger said. “Hopefully, it continues the same way it was at Daytona. Daytona, to me, was great racing throughout the whole race. I wouldn’t say that I’m ever excited to go to Talladega, but I look forward to getting back to how big pack racing used to be there."

--Shell-Pennzoil/AAA Dodge driver can’t help but remember the wild finish of the October 2010 race on the massive 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway. "I look forward to hanging out in the infield at Talladega,” Allmendinger said when asked how much he is looking forward to this weekend’s return to the track. “You know, when you flip down the front straightaway it kind of takes the excitement level away.” To view what Dinger is talking about, please follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JT6psfETYMw

--Shell-Pennzoil/AAA Dodge crew chief Todd Gordon is hoping for the continuation of the “flip-flop situation” his team has experienced this season this weekend at Talladega: “Talladega is another one of the tracks that AJ doesn’t think is one of his strong points,” said Gordon. “There have been several races already this season where he’s said that and we have seen him get there and have a very competitive weekend. Really, it’s been a case that every place we’ve been so far this season that he doesn’t particularly care for, we’ve done really well at. Call it the ‘flip-flop’ or whatever, but we’re certainly looking for that to be the situation again for our team again at Talladega.”

--Perhaps nobody has said it better as for the prospects of winning a race at Talladega Superspeedway than did Shell-Pennzoil/AAA Dodge crew chief Todd Gordon earlier this week: “It’s the same as it has always been in the Talladega races,” Gordon added. “At the end, if you have air in the four tires and water in the motor, you’ve got a shot at winning the race. We’re hoping that’s the case for AJ and our team there on Sunday.”

--RICHMOND LEFTOVERS: “It certainly wasn’t what we wanted or what we deserved, but it’s what we came out of there with,” crew chief Todd Gordon said of the 16th-place finish in last Saturday night’s Capital City 400 at Richmond International Raceway. “We had a strong Dodge Charger. We qualified fourth and ran in the top-seven for 90 percent of the race. We were just one caution away from a top-five finish or a legitimate shot at winning. We just had too much camber and burned the tires off. We were super fast for 30 to 40 laps and with only five cautions the entire race, it just didn’t go our way. If we’d had another yellow somewhere between Lap 350 to 370, it would have allowed us to get fresh tires and go after the win. Instead, we were forced to take the wave-around twice to stay in the lead lap. It really hurt because those 10 spots we lost at the end would have us up to 17th in the standings now. We came out of there knowing that we can compete up front and we learned a lot for when we go back to Richmond in September. We still climbed two spots in the points, so we’re headed in the right direction.”

--Shell-Pennzoil/AAA driver AJ Allmendinger on what makes a good restrictor-plate driver: "You know, when it came to the tandem racing, a lot of it was just luck. I mean, just getting hooked up and kind of getting that right hole at the right time and being pushed at the right time. But I think when it comes to big pack racing, the first thing is having a fast race car. It’s not just because Dale Jr. and guys like Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon, they’re great plate racers and everybody just wants to beat ‘em. They also have fast race cars, so it makes everybody want to kind of hook up with ‘em. But you know, I think it’s just timing, knowing when to go. A lot of it is still luck, getting in that right time at the right place and not getting caught up in that big wreck, knowing when to go, knowing the right position to put yourself in. It’s a combo between having a fast race car and being smart. You see those types of guys that are up front when it comes time to get going at the end."

--In seven career starts at Talladega Superspeedway, Shell-Pennzoil/AAA Dodge driver AJ Allmendinger is still looking to make his mark in the win, top-five and top-10 columns. He has an average start of 23.7 and an average finish of 27.3. The amazing thing is that Allmendinger has an impressive 97.2 lap completion average in spite of two DNFs. Dinger was involved in last-lap accidents in the April 2008 and October 2010 races that saw him officially not running at the finish.

--Entering this weekend’s Aaron’s 499, Shell-Pennzoil/AAA Dodge driver AJ Allmendinger’s best career Talladega finish is the 11th he recorded in last year’s edition of the Aaron’s 499. His best career Talladega start was fourth in the 2008 edition of the spring race.

--In case you missed it, last Friday Shell-Pennzoil announced that they will serve as the primary partner for AJ Allmendinger’s karting scholarship. Kyle Kirkwood, the 13-year-old 2012 scholarship recipient, was on hand in Richmond for the announcement. Dinger discussed the scholarship:

"I started this scholarship program this year. I’ve watched him over the last year or so and he’s got a lot of speed. Ultimately, it’s exciting to start this program and have Shell come on board, to me, is a huge deal. It shows their support of me, to want to be a part of this program, but more importantly to show that they want to try to build a scholarship program and be a part of helping get young drivers into this sport, which I think we need more help with. To have this karting scholarship, to have Shell wanting to step on board, is a big deal. Kyle ran a few weeks ago with us and has a first, a second and a sixth. Ultimately, I think it’s really cool to have Shell be a part of this. It’s just exciting to be able to give back to karting the best that I can, but to have a huge company like Shell wanting to be a part of it and already step up, it’s pretty amazing. I’m excited about it. You can tell that Kyle is really thrilled and it’s really cool, so I look forward to it.

"I think for everybody that doesn’t know my background to the full extent, I had Paul Tracy have a karting team and when I was 16, 17 years old trying to figure out what I was going to do, Paul Tracy had his karting team and really stepped up and at that point it was amazing to me to have such a superstar in the kart world series wanting me to be a part of his race team. That was something that I took to heart and knew that it was something that, once I got to the right time in my life, I wanted to kind of do the same thing. And, you know, I think karting doesn’t really get the recognition that it deserves here in the U.S. Across the world, it’s such a big deal but in the U.S., to me, it doesn’t get the recognition because it’s where all the young guys start. I think in NASCAR racing, they look at late model racing and that’s where kids start, bandeleros, things like that, but for me it was always karting. To me it’s the most pure form of racing there is, whether you’re six, seven years old or on up through the ranks or somebody like me that’s still trying to relive my old glory and still race go karts. That’s something that was always important to me. That’s why I wanted to start the karting scholarship. I wanted to do this the last couple of years and I felt like this was the right time."

--Shell-Pennzoil/AAA Dodge driver AJ Allmendinger and his Todd Gordon-led No. 22 Penske team were on had for last week’s tire testing at Pocono Raceway. Dinger weighs in on how things went: "I mean, it’s definitely a lot faster. They did a good job there. It’s fairly smooth. There are still some little rumbles in the racetrack. You could see even on the second day of the test it was starting to get some character already built into it, but a decent amount of grip already. We were running lap times that were heck, by the end, three to four seconds faster than a race pace there. But it’s not like scary fast. You’re not like holding your breath getting down into the corners. The biggest thing is it’s smoother. The bumps in one and two are gone for the most part. I think what it’s going to come down to is if the groove widens out. You know when you’re there with five or six cars; the fastest way around the racetrack is right around the bottom. So you get one groove built up. That groove had a good amount of grip in it. I think it’s just about trying to work in our line. Nobody is really going to work that line in until probably the truck race because I don’t see why any driver is going to want to try to work that line in practice by himself. It’s well done. I was the first car on the racetrack, so I was scared it was going to be like ice. We were going to be doing 200 down the straightway and going into (Turn) one, it was going to be like ice like it was at Phoenix. You know, it had a decent amount of grip to start with. They did a good job on it and I’m looking forward to racing there. I think it was probably because I was really bad there the last couple of years (laughs), so something new will be good."

--AJ Allmendinger and his Todd Gordon-led Penske Racing No. 22 Team also have road course testing at Road Atlanta (May 15) and Virginia International Raceway (May 29) on tap. Test days are on the calendar for Michigan (June 14), as well as testing at the Milwaukee Mile (June 26).

Credit - Penske Racing PR