Red Bull / AJ

[Chris]

OK folks,.. after AJ finally got some track time in a CUP car this weekend... lets see what your thoughts are...
whats do you think the rumblings are around Red Bull now that they have got to see him compared head to head against Nascar's best.

[Chris]

I'm thinking Team Red bull is gonna think they moved a tad bit too quick.
AJ may be a good driver,.. but not NEXT year.
When you skip completely over the CTS, and BGN series and try to come straight into CUP as your full time ride,.. well IMO thats a BIG mistake.

NOW,.. needless to say no doubt part of the reason the car was so slow was because the TEAM still lacks some experience.  BUT the driver has to be able to tell the team and crew chief what the car needs to get it up to speed.

I found this over on Jayski

Red Bull Finished for 2006, gearing up for Daytona: Word in the garage is that there were many very unhappy faces in the Red Bull camp on Friday after A.J. Allmendinger failed to qualify for Sunday's Dickies 500. Sources within the team say Allmendinger's qualifying speed, which was an embarrassingly slow 10 mph off the pole speed....

Not the words of a 'overly excited' bunch of owners.
NOt so much the speed off the pole is the problem... but the problem he's had such a 'big' buildup to be the greatest thing since sliced beard,.. then he goes out and runs the slowest of all the cars.  even guys like Derrick Cope, And Cope is under funded, and is lucky to even be there.  But still cope out run him by 2/10th's
To make matters worse,.. he missed just making the field by a whopping 1/2 a second.
It's one thing to miss by a couple thousand's,.. thats just a miniscule amount,.. but when you miss by 1/2 a second,.. thats some MAJOR ground.

Lastly,.. here's where I see AJ really BIG problem... I'm gonna assume he gets clearance to race at Daytona (no word on if Nascar has even cleared him to race at Daytona yet in a CUP car)  Hard to get cleared to race on "fast tracks when you have ZERO starts in a CUP car on ANY tracks.  According to Nascar rules,.. he SHOULD have run the short tracks, and work his way to to the superspeedways... SO he MAY not even be eligable to race come the Daytona 500.. especially since he didn't "prove" what he could do under race conditions in ANY races this season..??

But lets assume he IS...
Now he's gotta go and qualify... gonna be tough.  First they only lock in the top two spots.  Then the top 35 spots are locked in from 2006.  SO that means he has to RACE his way into the field for all practical purposes.
They'll probably be 70 cars show up at daytona,... so there'll be 35 cars in each race... so he'll have to get one of just a couple spots in each "150" to make the field.
THATS a TALL order.
Then if he does miss the field,... that'll mean when they switch to 2007 points after race #5... he'll be behind the 8-ball,.. and be having to qualify his way in on speed every week.
Looks like it's gonna be a tough year to me.
I could be wrong... and I'll admit it if I am,... but I don't expect a whole lot next season.
A new team, with a new driver rarely performs wel out of the box,... and with the added competition in 2007,... gonna be especially tough.

[smyler]

AJ is not Juan Pablo.  He is not ready for a full time ride in Cup, but he is going to do it anyway.  Even JPM struggles, so AJ is going to be near awful next year.  Let's see, we have a rookie stock car driver driving for a rookie race team for a rookie manufacturer.  Yeah, that sounds like a huge up hill climb to me.

[AfterShock]

Perhaps A.J. should give Pikes Peak a shot?

[Tyyrus]

I'm thinking Team Red bull is gonna think they moved a tad bit too quick.
AJ may be a good driver,.. but not NEXT year.
When you skip completely over the CTS, and BGN series and try to come straight into CUP as your full time ride,.. well IMO thats a BIG mistake.

NOW,.. needless to say no doubt part of the reason the car was so slow was because the TEAM still lacks some experience.  BUT the driver has to be able to tell the team and crew chief what the car needs to get it up to speed.


Lastly,.. here's where I see AJ really BIG problem... I'm gonna assume he gets clearance to race at Daytona (no word on if Nascar has even cleared him to race at Daytona yet in a CUP car)  Hard to get cleared to race on "fast tracks when you have ZERO starts in a CUP car on ANY tracks.  According to Nascar rules,.. he SHOULD have run the short tracks, and work his way to to the superspeedways... SO he MAY not even be eligable to race come the Daytona 500.. especially since he didn't "prove" what he could do under race conditions in ANY races this season..??

Well I just had to bring this topic back into the forefront since Chris and I have had different impressions of A.J.'s talent level initially. I have always been impressed with his talent within the Open Wheeled Ranks and the CTS. But having remembered this Thread I realize that Chris was not always doubting Dingers Talent , only his experience to really show his ability within a Cup Ride !
Actually I believe that Chris pretty well predicted the results that Dinger produced. But I will add that he drove with the limitations of the Car he was given , which would have made any veteran
look less than stellar. But having said this Chris is correct that a Veteran would have been able to tell the Crew Chief what the car needed to be more competitive. I hope Dinger does get to keep the #10 Ride since he did show during the latter part of the season that he can be competitive with decent equipment ! 

[Chris]

Wow dude..
You went back into the "way back" file to did this thread up... LOL
Nov 2006... That was even before the 2007 season... and now we are done with 2008.  Time sure flies when you are having fun.. huh.

I think you are right... in some ways we were both right..
AJ did struggle his first year...  But not so much because he is a bad driver,.. IMO partly because he had to get used to the transition from open wheels to full bodied stock cars.  I also think AJ's first year he also had problems communicating to the crew how to make the adjustments.

HOwever there were bigger problems with the crew, and team that held both teams back in the long run. As AJ improved and learned about the car,.. the team didn't have the knowledge or experience to keep up and make adjustments to help AJ improve.
2008 AJ could of been much better than he ran,.. and he did made substantial strides the second 1/2 of the season.   But IMO I think it's quite obvious just hom good AJ is, and how much he has learned and improved when he drove the GEM car the last few races of this past season.
That kid drove the wheels of that car and had some great runs.  Driving with the GEM team and their technology, and their equipment sure showed what he is capable of.
He could give that car quite a run next year... could even be the best GEM car next season...
think about now.... as close as Kahne has been to making the chase.... thats saying AJ 'could' make it

[Tyyrus]

You know I was just giving ya a jab Chris ! I have always liked Dinger , but you were right on with your short term prognosis ! I also hope your right with your predictions for this year for A.J. ! It's going to be a real strange type of season with the economic situation and teams cutting back due to lack of funding ! I guess we will see how things shake out for Daytona and the 1st half dozen races...Eh Chris ?   

[Chris]

yeah I know you were dude..
Thats one of the things that makes this place so fun...
We all can pick and poke at each other,.. and no one gets offended.
Interesting how we both looked at what we thought would happen,.. and both were fairly right..
Be interesting to see how it all plays out.  If AJ ends up at GEM, Loabonte is there, or what happens.
Definately gonna be a lot of shake-ups in the upcoming year.

When we make our annual "Predictions" at the start of 2009... sure gonna have to polish up that crystal ball.

[20forLogano]

I would like to see Dinger in the 10.  I think you folk are right and he could be the best car at GEM next year if there.  Kahne in odd years seems to struggle some so I expect him to be towards the tail end of the teens next year.

[Tyyrus]

Yep you right again Chris ! Also believe that 20FL has a point with Kahne , funny how drivers have their off yrs. Perhaps it's a more about the Team Member changes affecting the Balance of the Team ?

P.S. Yeah we won't be waiting long for the 2009 Season Predictions , time is flying by !

[Chris]

P.S. Yeah we won't be waiting long for the 2009 Season Predictions , time is flying by !

Yep.. already been almost a month since the last race...
With all the hustle and bustle, Christ will be here soon, and right behind that New Years...
Right after that it'll be time for racing to fire up..
I hear there are some races on New Years day.  Isn't there a race at Bristol on New Years day that starts 99 cars..??  3 rows of 33 cars..

[Tyyrus]

I hear there are some races on New Years day.  Isn't there a race at Bristol on New Years day that starts 99 cars..??  3 rows of 33 cars..

Didn't know about that one Chris ! Hope it's covered by Speed ?  Actually I get all caught up in the World Junior Hockey Championships right after Xmas into the New Yr. but I'll keep an eye on the T.V. listings for that 99 car field race. 

[Chris]

oops... I'm screwed up... It's at Rockingham... not Bristol.
It's called the Polar Bear 150.  Up to 99 cars can start.  If I'm not mistake it's for Street stock cars..??
It pays $5,000 to win

[Tyyrus]

Love watching Races at the Rock ! If you find the date and Channel for viewing pass it on Chris , sounds like some great action .