The Frontstretch: Nextel Cup Rookie Report: Allmendinger is Awesome at Atlanta by Tony Lumbis -- Monday October 29, 2007

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Nextel Cup Rookie Report: Allmendinger is Awesome at Atlanta

Tony Lumbis · Monday October 29, 2007

 

Editor’s Note: Delve deeper behind the numbers of Sunday’s race for the rookies – and others – with Kim DeHaven’s Numbers Game. Click here to read.

Rookies in the Starting Lineup: Juan Pablo Montoya (21st), A.J. Allmendinger (31st), Paul Menard (36th), David Ragan (37th)

Unofficial Finishing Positions: A.J. Allmendinger (16th), Paul Menard (27th), David Ragan (33rd), Juan Pablo Montoya (34th)

Rookie of the Race: A.J. Allmendinger. Qualifying for their third race in a row, Allmendinger's Red Bull team rolled off the grid in 31st position and struggled for most of the first half of the race, falling down a lap early. However, the No. 84 Camry would regain that lap as the "Lucky Dog" later in the day when David Stremme spun down the front straightaway, giving the team another chance at a solid finish. With the car still not handling to his liking, however, Allmendinger would once again lose a lap, not even emerging from the Top 30 until lap 160. But as fate would have it, it was Stremme's ill fortune once again that granted the rookie his second "Lucky Dog" of the day, when the event's ninth caution was waved after the No. 40 car backed into the wall. This time, the team would capitalize on their gift – Allmendinger steadily worked his way into the Top 25, and then took advantage of a strong car and late race chaos among the leaders to bring home a career second best finish of 16th. It was the Californian's second top rookie finish of the year and second in the past three weeks.

A.J. Allmendinger continued his recent string of strong performances with a 16th place finish at Atlanta.

Tony's Take: The list of 2007 goals for A.J. Allmendinger has dwindled, especially after winning Rookie of the Year and securing a Top 35 spot in owner points no longer became obtainable. The objective for this team for the rest of the season is simply now to gain as much experience as possible and improve overall performance. Well, if the current trend continues, Allmendinger will accomplish both of those feats.

The challenges can become more difficult, however, as earlier this year, the team missed the show at Texas and Phoenix – the next two venues on the schedule – while Allmendinger has never even seen Homestead-Miami Speedway. I don't expect this to be a problem, however; as the guy whose initials purposely mirror those of the great A.J. Foyt, Allmendinger has become a much different driver than he was earlier this year. The Californian’s patience and maturity have him not only finishing races, but finishing well; as such, look for a solid run from his team next week at Texas. The 1.5-miler is a track very similar to Lowe’s and Atlanta – the site of Allmendinger’s two best career finishes.

Rocky Rookie Performances / Rookie Wreck of the Day: Juan Pablo Montoya and David Ragan. Both these rookies experienced equally miserable days that, oddly enough, emulated each other in many ways. Montoya was the victim of two right front tire failures within 25 laps of each other; both of them tore apart his fender, ending any chance of repeating the Top 5 finish he had in Atlanta earlier this season. Behind him, David Ragan also experienced a tire failure, brushing the wall on lap 150. 19 laps later, he was involved in an incident with the No. 66 car of Jeremy Mayfield on the backstretch, turning his car into the walking wounded while flushing a shot at a good run down the toilet. By the end of the day, Ragan and Montoya finished 33rd and 34th, respectively.

Who Wasn't Here?: Sam Hornish, Jr. and David Reutimann.
Hornish Jr.'s experience so far in 2007 may have him thinking about returning to the Indy Racing League for 2008, or any racing series that doesn't have a top 35 qualifying rule, for that matter. Hornish's qualifying speed was actually fast enough for the 33rd position on the starting grid; however, his car owner points were low enough to send him home.

Also, David Reutimann also fell victim to NASCAR's controversial owner points rule, failing to make the race for the first time since Bristol in August due to lack of speed. It was certainly a bittersweet weekend for him, though, as he won his first Busch Series race on Saturday in Memphis.

Rookie Quotes of the Week:
A.J. Allmendinger comments on this team's strong performance, and how critical a spotter is when navigating through mass mayhem on the track:

“It was exciting. On car speed, we didn't deserve to finish where we did. But on effort, we thought we deserved to finish higher. We never gave up. We just could never get a handle on the car. It was so loose, and we just could never get the right rear on the racetrack. This is stuff I'm learning, this is stuff the team is learning. When we're not very good, and, heck, to survive and almost have our best finish of the year with one of the worst cars that we've had, I think that shows that we're learning as a team. We can be struggling like that but we can have a good finish.”

Q: What was your view of the second-to-last restart when everyone bunched up?

“I don't know. I was so far back. It (the No. 11 car) might have been out of fuel, it didn't take off. When we went to take off I could see we weren't taking off for awhile. Either he was struggling all the way to come to the green or he was trying to check everybody up, whatever it was. But we just didn't really take off for a long time, so I knew something bad was going to happen. We started stacking up, and Timmy, my spotter, did an awesome job getting me through that.”

UNOFFICIAL Raybestos Rookie standings:
Montoya 232
Ragan 213
Menard 187
Reutimann 170
Allmendinger 153

Next Up: They say everything is bigger in Texas, and so are the steaks…I mean stakes for the ROTY candidates, as they now have only three more races to define their inaugural Nextel Cup season. Look for Reutimann and Allmendinger to avenge their DNQs at this track earlier this year, while Ragan and Montoya hope to regain their intermediate track success after a hiccup this past weekend. Paul Menard, meanwhile, will try to put on an encore performance after his 15th place run in the Lone Star State this Spring.

Tony's Top Finishing Rookie Pick: I had confidence that Allmendinger would back up his Lowe’s performance at its sister track, and I was proven correct. I love when that happens. Both performances echoed each other, as the open wheel star was quiet for most of the race before using a late race surge to top his rookie counterparts. I have closed to within nine of you, ensuring that this battle will go down to the wire in Homestead.

You Make The Pick: To hell with NASCAR's Top 35 rule … or so says the Sam Hornish legion of fans. the Hornish legion of fans said as a whopping 85% of you chose "Someone Else" (i.e. Hornish) to best the rest of the rookies in Atlanta. I'd admire your spirit and determination, but unfortunately, those two elements alone weren't enough to put the former Indy 500 Champ in the Pep Boys 500 field.

Tony's Pick for Next Week's Top Finishing Rookie: I like A.J. Allmendinger's record on the quad ovals of late, but I think the original rookie master of this track type, Juan Pablo Montoya, will resurface once again as the top rookie finisher in Texas this Sunday.

Event Track Tony’s Pick Finish Reader’s Pick Finish Top Finishing Rookie Finish
Subway Fresh Fit 500 Phoenix David Ragan 41st —- —- Paul Menard 25th
Aaron’s 499 Talladega David Reutimann 32nd —- —- David Ragan 17th
Crown Royal Presents The Jim Stewart 400 Richmond Paul Menard 16th Juan Pablo Montoya 26th Paul Menard 16th
Dodge Avenger 500 Darlington Juan Pablo Montoya 23rd Paul Menard 31st Juan Pablo Montoya 23rd
Coca-Cola 600 Charlotte Juan Pablo Montoya 28th No Pick DNS Juan Pablo Montoya 28th
Autism Speaks 400 Dover David Ragan 14th David Ragan 14th David Ragan 14th
Pocono 500 Pocono A.J. Allmendinger 39th David Ragan 26th Juan Pablo Montoya 20th
Citizens Bank 400 Michigan David Ragan 21st David Ragan 21st Paul Menard 12th
Toyota / Save Mart 350 Infineon Juan Pablo Montoya 1st Juan Pablo Montoya 1st Juan Pablo Montoya 1st
Lenox Industrial Tools 300 New Hampshire Paul Menard 39th David Reutimann 38th David Ragan 15th
Pepsi 400 Daytona David Reutimann 26th David Ragan 12th David Ragan 12th
USG Sheetrock 400 Chicagoland Paul Menard 42nd David Ragan 25th Juan Pablo Montoya 15th
Allstate 400 at the Brickyard Indianapolis Juan Pablo Montoya 2nd Juan Pablo Montoya 2nd Juan Pablo Montoya 2nd
Pennsylvania 500 Pocono David Ragan 33rd Juan Pablo Montoya 16th Juan Pablo Montoya 16th
Centurion Boats At The Glen Watkins Glen Juan Pablo Montoya 39th Juan Pablo Montoya 39th Ron Fellows 4th
3M Performance 400 Michigan David Reutimann 23rd David Ragan 18th David Ragan 18th
Sharpie 500 Bristol David Reutimann DNQ David Ragan 41st Juan Pablo Montoya 17th
Sharp Aquos 500 California Paul Menard 24th Juan Pablo Montoya 33rd David Ragan 12th
Chevy Rock ‘N’ Roll 400 Richmond David Ragan 3rd Paul Menard 26th David Ragan 3rd
Sylvania 300 New Hampshire David Reutimann 26th David Ragan 19th David Ragan 19th
Dodge Dealers 400 Dover David Ragan 25th David Ragan 25th Juan Pablo Montoya 10th
Lifelock 400 Kansas David Reutimann 31st David Ragan 16th David Ragan 16th
UAW-Ford 500 Talladega David Reutimann 22nd David Ragan 34th Juan Pablo Montoya 15th
Subway 500 Martinsville David Reutimann 17th David Reutimann 17th Juan Pablo Montoya 8th
Pep Boys Auto 500 Atlanta A.J. Allmendinger 16th Sam Hornish, Jr. DNQ A.J. Allmendinger 16th

Season Scorecard: Tony 7, Readers 8.

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