A two-time winner of RACER Magazine’s “Most Promising Road Racer” award, Allmendinger has already earned four rookie of the year titles in his young career, twice capturing series championships in the process. As soon as the most successful American Champ Car racer in recent memory announced that he’d join Team Red Bull in the quest for the 2007 Nextel Cup, he was pegged as a favorite for top rookie honors yet again.
As a youngster, Allmendinger captured two International Karting Federation Grand National Championships. In 2000, his performance in the Champ Car Stars of Tomorrow program earned a test with Team Rahal. Then Allmendinger won the Barber Champ Car Karting Scholarship to participate in the 2001 Formula Dodge National Championship Series. He finished as vice-champion for the season and immediately ascended to the 2002 Barber Dodge Pro Series – claiming six race wins for Rookie of the Year honors and the Championship itself.
The up-and-comer climbed even higher in taking on the CART Toyota Atlantic Championship Series for 2003, shattering track records and logging eight wins. No greenhorn in the series’ history had ever taken so many season victories, and Allmendinger became the second-youngest driver to earn the Toyota Atlantic Championship. His Rookie of the Year Award was a foregone conclusion, and the American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association awarded him First Team honors.
At the end of his inaugural Champ Car World Series season, Allmendinger became the first American driver since 1991 to win Champ Car Roshfrans Rookie of the Year and the first American ever to win Autosport International Rookie of the Year.
In 2005, the RūSPORT driver scored his first Champ Car pole position and was on the podium four times, ending the season ranked fifth. After a mid-year shake-up in 2006, Allmendinger made two major changes: First, he got married. But perhaps more important to racing fans, he accepted a seat to finish the season with Forsythe Championship Racing.
Within three days of joining his new team, Allmendinger grabbed the provisional pole for the Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland. On race day, his No. 7 led a career-high 100 of the day’s 105 laps, and A.J. Allmendinger found himself celebrating his first Champ Car World Series victory. “Dinger” proceeded to win the next two contests (Cleveland and Toronto) to become the first American to win three back-to-back Champ Car races since Al Unser Jr. in 1994.
No one can deny that the transition from open-wheel racing to stock car contention involves a learning curve, but Allmendinger’s capacity for adjustment to new situations speaks for itself.
As he embarked on a new stage of his racing career, the 24-year-old driver commented, “I’m really excited about this next challenge. To race against some of the best drivers in the world in front of fans that are as enthusiastic about racing as I am is going to be a pretty big thrill.”
Perhaps his new NASCAR crew chief Rick Viers summed up the situation best when he voiced what everyone’s been thinking about the newest member of Team Red Bull: “Hopefully, he’ll be a solid rookie of the year candidate by year’s end.”
MOVING UP THE LADDER
Anthony James Allmendinger pulled up to life’s starting line in California on December 16, 1981. His dad raced midget and sprint cars. “Almost from birth, I’ve been at the track every weekend,” Allmendinger explains. “I loved racing, and I grew to be part of it. It’s a passion.”As a youngster, Allmendinger captured two International Karting Federation Grand National Championships. In 2000, his performance in the Champ Car Stars of Tomorrow program earned a test with Team Rahal. Then Allmendinger won the Barber Champ Car Karting Scholarship to participate in the 2001 Formula Dodge National Championship Series. He finished as vice-champion for the season and immediately ascended to the 2002 Barber Dodge Pro Series – claiming six race wins for Rookie of the Year honors and the Championship itself.
The up-and-comer climbed even higher in taking on the CART Toyota Atlantic Championship Series for 2003, shattering track records and logging eight wins. No greenhorn in the series’ history had ever taken so many season victories, and Allmendinger became the second-youngest driver to earn the Toyota Atlantic Championship. His Rookie of the Year Award was a foregone conclusion, and the American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association awarded him First Team honors.
FINDING HIS PLACE – AND NASCAR
By 2004, Allmendinger was ready for the Champ Car World Series. Champ Cars are methanol-fueled, turbocharged, open-wheel rockets. ”A Champ Car holds the closed-course record for road-racing cars, which is an average speed of 242 miles per hour, on an oval,” Allmendinger explains.At the end of his inaugural Champ Car World Series season, Allmendinger became the first American driver since 1991 to win Champ Car Roshfrans Rookie of the Year and the first American ever to win Autosport International Rookie of the Year.
In 2005, the RūSPORT driver scored his first Champ Car pole position and was on the podium four times, ending the season ranked fifth. After a mid-year shake-up in 2006, Allmendinger made two major changes: First, he got married. But perhaps more important to racing fans, he accepted a seat to finish the season with Forsythe Championship Racing.
Within three days of joining his new team, Allmendinger grabbed the provisional pole for the Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland. On race day, his No. 7 led a career-high 100 of the day’s 105 laps, and A.J. Allmendinger found himself celebrating his first Champ Car World Series victory. “Dinger” proceeded to win the next two contests (Cleveland and Toronto) to become the first American to win three back-to-back Champ Car races since Al Unser Jr. in 1994.
EARNING HIS WINGS
By October, with only one Champ Car race to go, Allmendinger had amassed five season wins and was solidly in the runner-up position for the series’ championship. He had also made his NASCAR debut with two events in the Craftsman Truck Series, finishing in the top five at Talladega. The invitation to join Team Red Bull’s 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup effort quickly followed, and Allmendinger signed a multi-year deal to race the No. 84 Toyota Camry.No one can deny that the transition from open-wheel racing to stock car contention involves a learning curve, but Allmendinger’s capacity for adjustment to new situations speaks for itself.
As he embarked on a new stage of his racing career, the 24-year-old driver commented, “I’m really excited about this next challenge. To race against some of the best drivers in the world in front of fans that are as enthusiastic about racing as I am is going to be a pretty big thrill.”
Perhaps his new NASCAR crew chief Rick Viers summed up the situation best when he voiced what everyone’s been thinking about the newest member of Team Red Bull: “Hopefully, he’ll be a solid rookie of the year candidate by year’s end.”
Jürgen Skarwan
Jürgen Skarwan
