Our Career Retrospective series returns for a fourth year, as we have another batch of past IndyCar drivers to consider. We will look at a few drivers and how they ended up in IndyCar, what they did while competing in the series and how the series changed between the driver's first appearance and today.
There is another theme in this year's set of drivers. It might not seem obvious, but it will become obvious once we get to the end.
The second part of this three-part series will be a driver who has made his name in a different discipline, but his short time at the top of North American open-wheel racing was inspiring. As a young driver, he was thrilling, but raw. Once everything clicked, it was clear he would be a winner. His career hit a rough patch and appeared lost, until it sprung an opportunity. It led to a rush of success and a near championship seemingly out of nowhere. However, the signs of the times led him away from a race winning seat. The Split drained away talent as money and opportunity was not in either of the series. Eighteen years later, the greatest thought is what could have been.
It is A.J. Allmendinger.
Where was Allmendinger coming from?
From his home in Los Gatos, California, Allmendinger started in quarter-midgets and karting before making his way into the Barber Dodge Pro Series system. He made three starts in 2001, and he finished sixth in his third start in Vancouver. This led to a full-time ride in 2002.
Prior to the full season in the Barber Dodge Pro championship, Allmendinger won the Team USA Scholarship and went to New Zealand to run a few New Zealand Formula Ford championship rounds. In the New Zealand Grand Prix at Teretonga Park, Allmendinger and Team USA teammate Bryan Sellers both finished on the podium. Sellers was second and Allmendinger was third behind future Supercars race winner Fabian Coulthard. That was the high point for Allmendinger, as he competed in seven of the 16 races and finished 11th in the championship.
Back in Barber Dodge Pro, he opened the season with a pair of victories and four victories in the first five races. Over the ten-race season, Allmendinger never finished worse than fourth and he easily won the championship.
Allmendinger's 2002 season led to a shot with Carl Russo's RuSPORT in the Atlantic Championship for the 2003 season. His winning ways continued at the next level. Allmendinger won seven of 12 races competing against the likes of Ryan Dalziel, Michael Valiante, Danica Patrick, Joey Hand and Luis Díaz. Allmendinger's success led RuSPORT to move up to Champ Car for the 2004 season.
What did IndyCar look like when Allmendinger started in the series?
The state of North American open-wheel racing also led to RuSport's move up.
CART was gone. Bankrupt at the end of 2003, the series was sold with Kevin Kalkhoven, Gerry Forsythe and Paul Gentilozzi taking over and re-branding as the Champ Car World Series. Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing were gone. Team Green was leaving for the Indy Racing League with Michael Andretti becoming a co-owner and Rahal Letterman Racing was leaving as well. Adrián Fernández announced his team's withdrawal and move to the IRL a month prior to the Champ Car opener from Long Beach.
All Champ Car had were Newman-Haas Racing and Forsythe Racing as powerhouses. RuSPORT's two cars brought the 2004 grid up to 18 full-time cars.
Allmendinger was one of five rookies in the 2004 season opener at Long Beach. One rookie spent the previous year in Formula One (Justin Wilson), one ran two CART races the year before and raced in World Series by Nissan two years prior (Roberto González), one was 17 years old and moving straight from ninth in Barber Dodge Pro (Nelson Philippe) and the other made two CART starts and a Barber Dodge Pro Series start the year before (Alex Sperafico).
The 14-race calendar visited four countries. Three countries hosted multiple races. There were only two oval races, and the final two races were outside the United States.
Push-to-pass was introduced for the first time, as were multiple tire compounds during a race, and teams started the 2004 season with a mandatory number of green flag pit stops, which was dropped after two rounds.
Though there was only one engine manufacturer, there were two chassis providers on the grid, Lola and Reynard.
How does IndyCar look now?
I think it has been pretty well covered.
Over two-dozen full-time entries.
One chassis manufacturer. Two engine manufacturers.
Seventeen-race calendar in two countries with only one race outside the United States.
Compared to Champ Car, more ovals.
Compared to the IRL, fewer ovals.
Newman-Haas, Forsythe, Kalkhoven and Gentilozzi are gone.
Push-to-pass is the norm, and there are now hybrid systems that essentially act as another form of push-to-pass. Multiple tire compounds are the norm, and they have even been used at ovals. Mandatory total of green flag pit stops has never really come back.
The big difference is IndyCar is not seeing teams join the series to fill the grid. Teams are joining because they see some value. The series is not desperate for cars. The series is full to the point that it is limit grid size at all races, especially now with the introduction of the charter system.
What did Allmendinger do in-between?
For a team that was new to Champ Car with a rookie driver, 2004 was a rather promising first year for Allmendinger and RuSPORT. The first two races were not great, but he was fifth in his third start at Milwaukee. He finished in the top six in three of the next four races, including a third at Vancouver, his first career podium finish.
He ended the season with five finishes in the top six in the final six races, including another podium finish in the finale in Mexico City. This stretch included a Montreal race where he led ten laps after starting second. He went on to finish fifth in that race. He started no worse than seventh in the final seven races.
There was not much of a sophomore slump in 2005. It was a slow start with finishes of eighth and tenth to open the season, but he was second at Milwaukee, fifth at Portland and second at Cleveland. After a bad race in Toronto, Allmendinger picked up his first career pole position in Edmonton.
In the inaugural Edmonton race, Allemendinger found himself in control approaching the final laps of the race, and his RuSPORT teammate Justin Wilson was in second. Under caution with nine laps remaining, Wilson spun behind Allmendinger running under caution speed. Allmendinger restarted with Sébastien Bourdais behind him and two laps after the restart, Allmendinger slapped the barrier exiting a corner while leading. It ended his race eight laps short of victory.
Allmendinger got back on the podium two races later in Denver. He closed the season with a pair of runner-up finishes and it lifted him to fifth in the championship, one spot better than his rookie season.
Expectations were high in his third year, but Allmendinger was caught in an opening lap accident in the Long Beach season opener. He bounced back with a third two races later in Monterrey and then he was fourth at Milwaukee. Through four races, he was up to fifth in the championship.
However, five days after the Milwaukee round, Allmendinger was released from RuSPORT in favor of Cristiano da Matta in Russo's hopes of being a greater threat to defeating Bourdais and Newman-Haas Racing. Unexpectedly out of a ride, Allmendinger caught a break when Forsythe Racing decided to replace Mario Domínguez with Allmendinger only four days ahead of the Portland round.
Allmendinger responded with a second-place qualifying run in Portland. He then took the lead at the start and never looked back, leading 100 of 105 laps on his way to his first career victory. This began a three-race tear that would see Allmendinger win three consecutive races. After Portland, he won from pole position in Cleveland. He led 38 laps and won from second at Toronto. This run lifted him to second in the championship, 23 points behind Bourdais.
Bourdais responded over the next two races but Allmendinger won at Denver while Bourdais tangled with Paul Tracy on the final lap. The gap was 32 points with four races remaining, unfavorable for Allmendinger, but not insurmountable.
The championship hopes nosedived in Montreal. Allmendinger led the first 13 laps from pole position, but a broken driveshaft ended his race on lap 14. Bourdais went on to win the race. Allmendinger struck back with a victory at Road America and the gap was 58 points with two races remaining. Unfortunately, the hopes vanished in Surfers Paradise after an accident on lap 19. Bourdais clinched the title with a race to spare.
During Allmendinger's run in 2006, he was also linked to a move to NASCAR through his Red Bull sponsorship. He made his debut in Truck Series at Loudon in September, a week prior to his Road America victory, and he ran at Talladega the week after that. Four days after his accident in Surfers Paradise, Allmendinger was announced as a member of Team Red Bull's inaugural driver line-up for the 2007 NASCAR Cup Series season. Allmendinger did not return to Forsythe for the 2006 season finale in Mexico City, but he still finished third in the championship.
NASCAR was tough sledding for Allmendinger, and he failed to qualify for his two attempted Cup races late in the 2006 season. He did not qualify for 19 races in 2007 and the first three races of 2007. He was sidelined for the next five races and veteran Mike Skinner took over to get the car some owner's points. Allmendinger returned and started the next 21 races, but he was removed for the final seven races with Skinner and Scott Speed splitting the Red Bull entry.
Allmendinger closed out the season with a race at Michael Waltrip Racing and five races with Gillett Evernham Motorsports. He remained with the GEM organization as it merged with the Petty Enterprises organization ahead of the 2009 season. Allmendinger was third in the rain-shortened Daytona 500, and he qualified for all 36 races, ending up 26th in the championship.
He would spend the next two seasons at RPM, rising to 19th and 15th in the championship. This led to an opportunity at Team Penske after Kurt Busch was released from the organization. Allmendinger had some tough races, but he was second at Martinsville and won his first career pole positional Kansas. Results started to improved and he finished ninth at Sonoma and Kentucky in consecutive weekends.
However, after the Kentucky race, Allmendinger was suspended from NASCAR due to a failed drug test after Allmendinger had taken Adderall. Allmendinger was released from Team Penske on August 1, 2012 and he was reinstated by NASCAR on September 18. He was able to run four races later that season for Phoenix Racing.
Despite the failed drug test, Allmendinger remained in the good graces of Team Penske. He was offered an IndyCar test in the winter of 2013. His speed led to a two-race run between Barber Motorsports Park and the Indianapolis 500. Allmendinger qualified tenth in his first open-wheel race in nearly five-and-a-half years and Long Beach was quickly added to his schedule. He finished 19th at Barber and he was 23rd after a mechanical issue in Long Beach.
At Indianapolis, Allmendinger was competitive immediately. He qualified fifth, the best Team Penske starter. He spent much of the first half of the race running in the top ten and he took the lead on lap 98. However, after leading 14 laps, Allmendinger was forced to make a pit stop as his seatbelt was coming loose. Despite the untimely pit stop, Allmendinger was able to rally to finish seventh, the second-best rookie behind race runner-up Carlos Muñoz.
Allmendinger had the Belle Isle doubleheader and the Fontana finale added to his schedule. Sadly, he was taken out in the first corner on the opening lap of both Belle Isle races. He qualified second at Fontana, but he had an accident on lap 189.
While competing in IndyCar in 2013, Allmendinger remained active in NASCAR. He started 18 Cup races between Phoenix Racing and JTG Daugherty Racing. He won both his starts in NASCAR's second division for Team Penske, his first victories in NASCAR competition. This run of form led to a full-time ride with JTG Daugherty Racing in 2014.
Allmendinger has remained in NASCAR ever since. His first career Cup victory came at Watkins Glen in 2014. He has since added two more Cup victories to his career, including the first Cup race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in 2021. He has won 18 races in NASCAR's second division, and he has been a regular championship contender, as he has spent three of the last four seasons full-time at that level.
In 2025, Allmendinger will return to full-time Cup Series competition with Kaulig Racing.
What impression did Allmendinger leave on IndyCar?
When thinking about A.J. Allmendinger and IndyCar, the first thought is always, "What could have been?"
Allmendinger leaves in 2006. By 2008, Champ Car and the IRL merge. If he remained with Forsythe for the 2007 season, Allmendinger was bound to contend for the championship again. I don’t know if he beats Bourdais and Newman-Haas, but he would have won races, and maybe it is enough to win the title. If Allmendinger had won the title or at least been competitive in 2007, where does he go in 2008? Is Allmendinger enough to convince Forsythe to remain on the grid in a reunified IndyCar Series? Is he a prize free agent and get hired early by Team Penske or Newman-Haas or another organization?
No matter what, IndyCar would have looked different.
Allmendinger might not have been the ball of energy he is today, but he was far more of a personality than anyone in either series at that time other than possibly Hélio Castroneves. A successful American, who was not afraid of speaking and engaging with the media and fans was something IndyCar needed around 2008, and it just missed it.
We have no clue how things would have played out, but there is a chance Allmendinger could have been the face of IndyCar for the last 15 years. He was comfortable on ovals as we saw in the handful of ovals races he did in Champ Car. All the road and street courses suited him. If it wasn’t Will Power filling in for Castroneves when the Brazilian was in court for tax evasion, it could have been Allmendinger, but Allmendinger could have gotten more all along. He could have been the one to replace Sam Hornish, Jr. heading into 2008. We will never know but that wouldn’t have surprised us.
Allmendinger would have helped IndyCar during that period. I don’t know if it would have flipped anything, but it would have been a driver willing to be the face of the series at a time where no one stood out and was also succeeding.
When considering the struggles Allmendinger went through in his first two years in NASCAR, the fact he is still competing there on a full-time basis and is a regular threat for victories, it is quite remarkable. He joined at a time when open-wheel talent was being offered opportunities left and right. Most of these drivers were mocked when they didn’t succeed, Allmendinger included. Some had short runs in NASCAR. Allmendinger has stuck it out, and now he can win anywhere.
It will be 12 years since Allmendinger made that brief return to IndyCar. At the end of 2013, I probably would have bet Allmendinger would be back again. About to turn 43 years old next month, I don’t think we will see him return to IndyCar or Indianapolis for another run. Coincidentally, Juan Pablo Montoya returned to IndyCar in 2014 with Team Penske, a year after Allmendinger’s cameo comeback. Montoya returned and was a championship contender after over a decade away. If the offers had not been there for a return to NASCAR, Allmendinger could have a fruitful second act in a unified series. The ability was there.
Sadly, like nearly everything in Allmendinger’s IndyCar career, it is a case of wondering what might have been.
