Catchfence

21 November 2010–AJ Allmendinger closed the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season on yet another high note as he finished fifth with the No. 43 Insignia HDTV/Best Buy Ford Fusion. The effort netted Allmendinger MRN’s “Mobil 1 Step Up Award” and moved him to 19th in the season-ending NASCAR Championship standings, his career-best.

The strong result in the Ford Championship Weekend event came after Allmendinger started the race from fifth on the grid, kept a strong race pace to run in the top five until the middle stages of the race before falling back with a loose condition, and then came charging back to the front in the closing laps to score his seventh top-ten of the year. Allmendinger has shown strength on the season-ending Homestead track in the past, and Sunday’s result was one more example of his top-ten habit at the south Florida track.

“This was such an up and down race for us–we started so strong and it was good to have so many Fords running up front like that on the Ford weekend,” said AJ. “ But we got really loose and lost some ground with that, and no matter what we tried, we just couldn’t make a difference with the car. I’m not sure if something broke or what. We’ve had problems with our bump stops before, I don’t know. I’m interested to see what we find when we get it back to shop.”

The weekend was not only the season-finale, but it was also a big one for Ford, which not only sponsored the race, but also put 43 Ford Fiestas in play if AJ were to win the race. While one lucky winner came out of the weekend with a brand new Fiesta, AJ had still been hoping to make a bunch of Ford race fan’s days with a new car.

“I really wanted to give away those other 42 ford fiestas, and one for myself, but this definitely is good direction for heading into 2011. This race weekend is kind of like the last day of school, and I just want to thank the fans for the support this year and sponsors we have involved that make it possible–Ford, Best Buy, Valvoline, Wix Filters, and  PVA.  I also want to thank everyone on the team–their families sacrifice so much with all the travel and long hours we all put in to be successful. The guys in the shop deserve so much credit for what we do on the weekend and I want to thank them as well. I also want to thank my own team-Lynne, my family, Skippy and Tara for all the work they all put in, all the time. It’s been quite a season and hopefully we can all have a good Thanksgiving and then get working on 2011. Hopefully we can start it off with a win in the Rolex 24!”

About Walldinger Racing, Inc.: Walldinger Racing was formed in 2006 to support AJ Allmendinger’s motorsports career by developing commercial opportunities and partnership programs.

- Walldinger Racing, Inc.. Press Release