AJ ALLMENDINGER NO. 47 HUNGRY JACK CHEVROLET SS
HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY PREVIEW
Track: Homestead-Miami Speedway
Event: Ford Ecoboost 400
Race Date / Time: Sunday, November 16th, 3 PM ET
TV / Radio: : ESPN / MRN / SiriusXM
TEAM QUOTES:
Homestead-Miami Speedway: “Homestead-Miami Speedway over the past few years has gotten really slick,” Allmendinger said. “It has always been pretty slick, but it has gotten slicker over the years it seems like and you run right by the fence. Obviously, that Florida weather, the humidity is a factor. Everything about it makes the track really slick. It changes a lot throughout the weekend. There are also a lot of cars running on it between all the series. It’s always a tough place because we only go there once a year at the end of the season and so much changes from year-to- year. So, it makes it a tough place especially if you don’t test there because it has been so long since the last time you were there. When you get there, it’s always tough to transition to the racetrack and get out there right away. It is completely different than any other mile-and-a-half that we run on. We have just got to always try to keep up with the racetrack.”
Hungry Jack: “We have Hungry Jack on our No. 47 Chevrolet SS as a primary for the second time this year,” Allmendinger said. “We hope to put on a really good show for them.”
Last season: “Last year, we had a really good car until our shock mount broke,” AJ Allmendinger said. “Even though the shock mount broke, it gave me a chance to run in the top 10 and learn some stuff.”
Good results: “I have had some good runs at Homestead-Miami Speedway,” Allmendinger said. “I’ve never really felt like it has been one of my better race tracks, but it has actually.”
Intermediate improvement: “We have had some good runs at the mile-and-a-half tracks and I think we just have to keep doing what we have been doing, but obviously we have to qualify better,” Allmendinger said. “To go to a mile-and-a-half track and qualify up front makes those races just so much easier especially at the start of it.”
Season ending goal: “I think seeing where we are at in the points and definitely not losing any spots there is what we need to accomplish at Homestead-Miami Speedway,” Allmendinger said. “Maybe we can gain a spot or two and finish off strong. It’s about putting a whole weekend together. We have been able to do that at the last couple mile-and-a-half tracks. Even though we haven’t qualified as well as we wanted, we have put good races together and had some decent finishes. So, going into Homestead, it is more of the same. We hope to have no mistakes, get what we can get and hopefully have a good points finish. We need to have a good weekend as a whole. It’s always important being that it’s the last race of the season to finish strong.”
Season summary: “If I had to summarize the season in one word, I would go with fulfillment,” Allmendinger said. “The first win at Watkins Glen International was something that I had worked towards for eight years. I had dreamed about it many times. I’m sure Tad and Jodi (Geschickter) did for 20 years when they started in a barn. This was the peak they wanted to get to and Brad (Daugherty) has been such a big deal to this race team the last five or six years. So, to get the fulfillment of a win together is a pretty big deal and to make the Chase through all the ups and downs. I look at the summer months like they were hard, but it was great to fight back from really what I felt like we were on the edge of falling apart. Everybody was down and to come back and get that win and get into the Chase was awesome – – just to run respectable and to be there. For a full year, it has been fulfilling.”
Breakthrough year: “Well, for 20 years we have been building an organization and heading towards a goal,” JTG Daugherty Racing co-owner Tad Geschickter said. “A large part of achieving goals is knowing you can, believing you can and knowing the steps to take. At the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series level, we hadn’t achieved the highest level of winning races and being with the elite teams in the Chase. Now, we have done that and competed at a high level against those guys. We know we can do it and we know the steps it took to do that. I believe this season can springboard us to the next level just having achieved some of our goals.”
Off season: “I’ve already filled up my off season,” Allmendinger said. “It’s good to go do some karting for me because I have always enjoyed that in the off season – – just to go do a couple races. Also, another good thing is that I get to go to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series banquet. It will be a first time ever going to the NASCAR banquet. So, I am looking forward to that. To be a part of it all, means a lot to me especially with the year our race team has had. I’m also doing a little bit of Rolex 24 testing to get ready for the Rolex 24 race. I’ll be back with Michael Shank again. We may do a test in December and then you always have The Roar Before the Rolex 24 at the beginning of the year in January and obviously the Rolex race at the end of January. My schedule will be pretty full and kind of roll right into the next year.”
________________________________
FAST FACTS:
Career Starts: 226
Wins: 1
Top-fives: 7
Top-10s: 35
Pole Awards: 2
First Start: 3/25/2007 Bristol
First Pole: 4/10/2010 Phoenix
Last Pole: 4/22/2012 Kansas
Best Start: 1 – 4/10/2010 Phoenix
Best Finish: 1 – 8/10/2014 Watkins Glen
Driver DOB: 12/16/1981
Hometown: San Jose, Calif.
Crew Chief: Brian Burns
________________________________
DO MORE WITH CLOROX:
You wouldn’t hire a kinda-respectable babysitter or eat kinda-fresh sushi, so why clean with kinda-whitening bleach? Clorox® Regular-Bleach packs the whitening and dirt-fighting power you demand, all in a smaller, easy-to-use package. Plus it disinfects to kill 99.9% of germs and bacteria, which is kinda awesome.
Learn more by visiting Clorox.com
________________________________
TUNE-IN:
Tune-in to the Championship Race this Sunday, Nov. 16, at 3 p.m. ET, when the remaining four championship-eligible drivers will vie for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship. The race can be seen and heard on ESPN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and NASCAR RACEVIEW MOBILE.
________________________________
AJ’S WHEREABOUTS:
Sunday, November 16th
12:30 PM JTG Daugherty Racing Meet & Greets
