page_title: A. J. Allmendinger
section_title: 2008–2011: Richard Petty Motorsports
hierarchical_section_title: A. J. Allmendinger / NASCAR / 2008–2011: Richard Petty Motorsports
caption_attribution_description: Shot by The Daredevil at Daytona during Speedweeks 2008
context_page_description: Anthony James "A. J." Allmendinger is an American professional racing driver who is currently an analyst for IMSA on NBC and NASCAR America. He also competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing.
  Allmendinger's professional racing career began on the American open-wheel circuit. He earned five wins and third place overall in the 2006 Champ Car season.
  Allmendinger then began competing in NASCAR for Team Red Bull. He later drove for Richard Petty Motorsports, Penske Racing, Phoenix Racing, and JTG Daugherty Racing in the Cup Series. In 2019, he moved to a part-time schedule with Kaulig in the Xfinity Series.
  Moreover, he has competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona for Michael Shank's team every year since 2006, winning the event in 2012.
context_section_description: After signing a one-race contract with Michael Waltrip Racing, Allmendinger replaced fellow former open-wheel star Patrick Carpentier at Gillett Evernham Motorsports, scoring an average finish of 15.4th over five races in the team's No. 10 Valvoline Dodge. During the offseason, as part of the merger between GEM and Petty Enterprises, Allmendinger was to move to the No. 19 Best Buy Dodge replacing Elliott Sadler. However, Sadler was still under contract for the 2010 season and announced he would file suit against Allmendinger and the organization. In early January 2009, Richard Petty Motorsports announced a settlement where Sadler would remain in the No. 19 and Allmendinger would return to his 2008 team, which was renumbered 44. However, Valvoline did not commit to sponsoring the team full-time and they were forced to race without full-time sponsorship.
  Allmendinger's team ended the 2008 season 36th in owner's points, meaning it did not have exemptions for the first five races of 2009. The retro-styled Valvoline 44 raced its way into the Daytona 500, and third in his Daytona 500 debut, also his personal best, and is the fourth best Daytona 500 debut behind Lee Petty in the 1959 Daytona 500, Scott Wimmer in the 2004 Daytona 500 and Trevor Bayne in the 2011 Daytona 500. Allmendinger was one of two go-or-go-home drivers (the other being Tony Stewart, but Stewart had the past champion's provisional available) to successfully attempt the first five races of the 2009 season.
  At 1:27 am on October 29, 2009, Allmendinger was arrested for drunk driving by Mooresville, North Carolina police.  He registered a .08 blood alcohol level according to a police report.  NASCAR placed him on probation for the rest of the 2009 season.
  Allmendinger drove a Ford Fusion in the final three races of the season as part of RPM's transition from Dodge to Ford.
  During the offseason, Allmendinger replaced Reed Sorenson in the team's famous No. 43 car. He collected two top-fives, eight top-10s and a pole position in 2010, and finished 19th in the final standings.
  After finishing 11th in the 2011 Daytona 500, Allmendinger started the season 10th in points driving the No. 43 Ford sponsored by Best Buy. Allmendinger continued to have a career best year in 2011 with 10 top-10 finishes and an average finish of 16th. He finished the 2011 regular season contending for a wild card spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup but came up just short. Three races prior to setting the field for the Chase, RPM put former Roush Fenway Racing crew chief Greg Erwin on the pit box starting at the 2011 Brickyard 400. Allmendinger and Erwin recorded six top-10 finishes after their pairing. Allmendinger finished the 2011 season a career best 15th in the points. Allmendinger also announced that he would have a partnership stake in Mike Shank's IndyCar team MSR Indy.
caption: 2008 Sprint Cup Series car
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