There's an old saying about timing being everything in the racing world and newly minted Penske driver A.J. Allmendinger has it on his side – literally.
That's because whenever anyone asks him for the time, the NASCAR Sprint Cup regular will be instantly reminded of his overall win in the 50th Rolex 24 at Daytona when he checks his new watch.
“It's a cool, cool trophy to have,” said Allmendinger who received a special steel Rolex Cosmograph Daytona for the Jan. 28 victory driving for Michael Shank Racing.
“We had been close so many times with Michael Shank and I feel like we should have already had one, if not a couple of Rolex watches already, but it's one of those races that's just so tough. In 24 hours, there are so many things that can happen.”
“It was an amazing day and it's one of those things you never forget.”
Allmendinger along with Grand-Am drivers Oswaldo Negri and John Pew and IndyCar star Justin Wilson outpaced the field in a Ford Riley Daytona Prototype, crossing the line just 5.198 seconds ahead of the runner up team after 761 laps of the 5.73-km circuit, or 4,469 kilometres of racing.
Despite his historic victory, Allmendinger will be just another Sprint Cup driver in a few weeks when he returns to the scene of his triumph to prepare for the 54th Annual Daytona 500 on Feb. 26.
But again, timing played in his favour here too. The 29-year-old from Los Gatos, Calif., was coming off a breakthrough year in 2011 at the same time as he was released from his contract by Richard Petty Motorsport. Already on the radar of several teams, he got a huge break when Kurt Busch launched an embarrassing, profanity-laced tirade at a reporter after retiring from the 2011 season finale in Miami last November. When Busch left Penske soon after the incident, the door opened for Allmendinger, who joined the squad to replace the departed Busch in the No. 22 Pennzoil Dodge.
As a result, he heads into 2012 full of excitement after inking a deal with one of the biggest names in the racing business, Roger Penske.
“To have Mr. Penske say, ‘I want you in my race car’ and a sponsor like Shell Pennzoil that is used to having winners and champions in their cars gives me a lot of confidence,” he said.
“Now I have to go out there and win races. I feel like I am at the right place at the right time.”
But with the switch also comes expectations: Both Penske cars made the 10-race championship deciding Chase for the Cup playoff last year and that remains the team's goal for 2012.
Last year, No. 2 driver Brad Keselowski ended the season fifth overall while Busch was 11th.
With the season set to begin, Allmendinger feels his biggest adjustment will be fitting in with the Penske way and learning to work with a new crew chief, Todd Gordon, who will be in his first year heading a Sprint Cup team. For that reason, the new outfit will likely give him a bit of leeway in the first few races.
“There's definitely a grace period where we have to go out there and take time to get to know each other, but we know how this sport is now: We don't have a whole year,” he said.
“You just have to be consistent and that's what this sport is about. In a perfect world we'd win right away, but I think if we go out there and don't do anything stupid and hurt ourselves on points, we can be right there on the edge of the Chase or even in by just being solid and building on it.”
