DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. — AJ Allmendinger thought he’d learned plenty about pressure during his sometimes bumpy first two years racing in the Sprint Cup. Then seven-time NASCAR champion Richard Petty put his hands around Allmendinger’s neck.
Before getting into his Richard Petty Motorsports Dodge and attempting to race his way into the Daytona 500, Allmendinger received a message from the King.
Get it done.
“It kind of puts a little incentive to make it happen,” Allmendinger said. “It ultimately came down to that I felt like I deserved to be in this race.”
He drove like it Thursday, securing a spot in NASCAR’s biggest race by finishing 10th during the second 150-mile qualifier.
The former Thornton resident quickly flipped on his sunglasses after emerging from his car so nobody would see him cry. Blame it on pent-up emotions two years in the making. He narrowly missed qualifying in 2007 and 2008 before getting let go by Red Bull Racing toward the end of last season.
He agreed to a short-term gig with Petty Motorsports in the offseason.
“We had a little chip on our shoulders,” Allmendinger said.
Allmendinger, who was unceremoniously dumped by Red Bull Racing with eight races left in the 2008 season, managed to land on his feet by taking a temporary job with Gillett Evernham Motorsports to end the year, finishing inside the top 16 four times in five starts.
Yet he found himself without a job — again — when the offseason started before eventually signing a deal to drive a limited schedule for RPM this year. Allmendinger failed to land a front-row spot during pole qualifying Sunday and was left with a daunting task: locking up one of the four open spots remaining during the 150s.
“When you’re out of the show, you pretty much got two options: make it or bring it back on a wrecker,” Allmendinger said.
His car made it off the track intact with a spot on row 10 next to Paul Menard for the 500.
“You just had to drive hard,” Allmendinger said. “We had nothing to lose.”
He wasn’t the only driver who ended a run of tough luck Thursday. Jeff Gordon picked up his first victory — albeit an unofficial one — in more than a season by taking the first qualifier.
“Because of the pressure that we felt from being winless last year, you know, it’s important for us to gain some momentum and confidence that we’re doing the right things,” he said.
The three-time Daytona 500 winner will start in the second row next to Kyle Busch, who rolled to victory in the second qualifier, the first step toward wiping away the sour taste left by last fall’s Chase for the championship when he faded from first to 10th.
Busch, Gordon and 37 other drivers were already assured of a spot in the 500 before they took the green flag Thursday thanks to NASCAR’s confounding qualifying system for the season-opener.
Allmendinger thought his No. 44 would have a spot a week ago by getting in on owner points from last season. He found out he needed to race his way in on his way to Florida.
“You can sit and whine about it, moan about it, just worry about it, or you can go out there and get the job done,” he said.
“That’s the only option you have. You can’t change it. It’s the system. It’s the way they worked it. So you got only one option and that’s to go get the job done. That’s what we focused on when we got down here.”
NASCAR-Sprint Cup-Daytona 500 Lineup, race Sunday
At Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Fla.
Lap length:2.5 miles, (Car number in parentheses)
1. (1) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 188.001.
2. (5) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 187.817.
3. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 187.402.
4. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 186.896.
5. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 187.336.
6. (83) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 185.858.
7. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 187.727.
8. (42) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 187.743.
9. (20) Joey Logano, Toyota, 186.753.
10. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 186.451.
11. (8) Aric Almirola, Chevrolet, 187.649.
12. (96) Bobby Labonte, Ford, 187.211.
13. (2) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 185.38.
14. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 187.079.
15. (9) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 185.517.
16. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 186.389.
17. (36) Scott Riggs, Toyota, 185.893.
18. (41) Jeremy Mayfield, Toyota, 185.082.
19. (98) Paul Menard, Ford, 187.044.
20. (44) AJ Allmendinger, Dodge, 185.77.
21. (26) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 186.509.
22. (33) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 186.726.
23. (47) Marcos Ambrose, Toyota, 186.012.
24. (12) David Stremme, Dodge, 185.391.
25. (07) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 185.426.
26. (31) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 185.958.
27. (55) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 185.805.
28. (00) David Reutimann, Toyota, 186.827.
29. (77) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 185.079.
30. (19) Elliott Sadler, Dodge, 186.066.
31. (7) Robby Gordon, Toyota, 185.51.
32. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 183.602.
33. (6) David Ragan, Ford, 186.374.
34. (43) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, 186.07.
35. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 186.889.
36. (39) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 187.778.
37. (34) John Andretti, Chevrolet, 185.59.
38. (82) Scott Speed, Toyota, 186.842.
39. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 186.614.
40. (21) Bill Elliott, Ford, 187.739.
41. (28) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 187.574.
42. (78) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 186.924.
43. (66) Terry Labonte, Toyota, Past Champion.
FAILED TO QUALIFY
44. (187) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 186.807.
45. (08) Boris Said, Ford, 186.78.
46. (09) Brad Keselowski, Chevrolet, 185.571.
47. (127) Kirk Shelmerdine, Toyota, 184.854.
48. (171) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 184.847.
49. (37) Tony Raines, Dodge, 184.106.
50. (73) Mike Garvey, Dodge, 184.004.
51. (175) Derrike Cope, Dodge, 182.02.
52. (123) Mike Skinner, Chevrolet, 181.928.
53. (51) Kelly Bires, Dodge, 181.701.
54. (146) Carl Long, Dodge, 181.032.
55. (64) Geoff Bodine, Toyota, 180.81.
56. (157) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 177.396.
