AJ ALLMENDINGER NO. 47 BETTER THAN BOUILLON CHEVROLET SS
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY PREVIEW
Track: Atlanta Motor Speedway
Race: Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500
Time: 1 PM ET on FOX/PRN/SIRIUSXM
TEAM QUOTES:
New look to 47: “This week we are Fueled with Flavor,” Allmendinger said “I can’t think of a better weekend to unveil our No. 47 Better Than Bouillon Chevrolet scheme than Atlanta Motor Speedway. It’s going to be so cold there and I’ll be opening up a jar of Better than Bouillon – which is a Southeastern Mills brand – to make some chicken noodle soup. You can use it for so many different meals. Visit www.betterthanbouillon.com to learn more about all of the ways you can use it. I really like this paint scheme, it looks fast.”
Hold on: “Every year my assessment of mile-and-a-half tracks changes as to which ones I like,” Allmendinger said. “I used to like Atlanta Motor Speedway. Then last year was awful. It’s a racetrack as we all kind of say it’s like an old NASCAR racetrack. It’s slick. You really have to drive the thing. There are so many lines. It changes throughout the course of the race. So, it makes it a lot of fun. You really have to kind of get up on the wheel and just hang on to the race car at times. Even the leader is screaming how bad his car is, 30th is screaming how bad his car is. So, it’s one of those things where it makes it fun when it is a good race car and makes it tough when it is a bad race car.”
Testing helps: “Testing at Atlanta will be big for us,” Allmendinger said. “We’re lucky to have had the Las Vegas Motor Speedway test although Atlanta Motor Speedway is different than Vegas. It’s important that we have those few hours on Thursday to get back in the rhythm and see where we are these first five or six races. They are so important because it really shows you where you are at as a team. Hopefully, we will get a good start at it and kind of keep rolling from there. It would be nice to have a good race at Atlanta to give us momentum going into the West Coast swing.”
Carrying over: “You hope that if your car is good on a mile-and-a-half that you can take it to the next one and be just as good,” Allmendinger said. “However, Atlanta and Vegas are two totally different racetracks. From the top view, you would say ‘Oh, same racetrack, same setup,’ but Vegas – although it’s starting to get a few more bumps in it – still has a ton of grip in it and doesn’t use up tires much.”
Staying the course: “Obviously, our goal for this year is consistency,” crew chief Brian Burns said. “We look at last year and we want to run better. Atlanta was one of our worst performances last season. Post Atlanta we found some things that will make us stronger. We have a lot of good things going this year with our cars. This is one of the places where AJ can shine. It is a very aggressive track, a lot of bumps and characteristics. He seems to be better at places like that.”
Cohesive unit: “We wanted to finish the race and we figured if we did that we would get a decent finish at Daytona International Speedway to kick off the season,” Burns said. “However, the 20th-place finish at Daytona didn’t show or reflect the gains that we have made as a team compared to last year’s efforts. Watching the way the crew worked together, they are a more cohesive unit and the communication has already improved. That’s a bigger result. I feel like we will be able to show that at other tracks.”
Racing-Rewards.com: “If you haven’t already, please go sign up at www.Racing-Rewards.com,” Allmendinger said. “You don’t have to be an AJ Allmendinger fan to do it. You can earn points towards some really cool prizes.”
Hero growing up: “It was both my parents, but my dad for sure,” Allmendinger said. “They did everything they could for me. My dad had a huge passion for racing. We never had a lot of money. It all started with my dad racing locally at dirt tracks. I just grew up watching him and we loved the World of Outlaws and Sprint Car racing in general. We were always at a Sprint Car race watching and as I got older, it was just always a family thing between myself and my parents. I have said many times they mortgaged their house three times as I was going through karting into car racing. It was just a family thing. I never had to worry about what I was doing on the weekend, it was always going to some sort of a race. As I got older, I looked up to Jeff Gordon. That was a guy really from Sprint Car racing my dad would tell me stories about back in California when he was 14 sitting on phone books. It was cool to see Jeff Gordon going out there and just kicking everybody’s butts. I used to love watching him on Thursday and Saturday night thunder. It’s pretty cool I get to race against him now.”
Biggest fear: “I’m afraid of heights for sure that’s why I stopped growing at 5’ 6”, Allmendinger said. “I didn’t want to get any taller. I got scared. Honestly, I hate spiders, I hate snakes, but my biggest fear is just failing in general, failing in life. It drives me to work harder and try to be better. It’s a strange thing in my head. I don’t get that excited about winning, but I really get stressed and hate when I am failing. So, that is what drives me is failure and not wanting to do that.”
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FAST FACTS:
Career Starts: 228
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
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FUELED WITH FLAVOR:
Nothing goes better with racing than our Spicy Buffalo Chicken bake. It’s the perfect dip for race day or any day! Made with Better Than Bouillon, it has all the flavor of Hot & Spicy Buffalo Wings in one delicious dip! It’s Fueled With Flavor!
Better Than Bouillon offers a richer, more natural flavor. Try our Premium, All-Natural Reduce Sodium, Organic and Vegetarian varieties, it’s the perfect choice for any dish.
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AJ’S WHEREABOUTS:
Thursday, February 26th
8:30 AM to 10 AM Clorox Plant Visit
Sunday, March 1st
10:30 AM JTG Daugherty Racing Sponsor Meet & Greets
