Ever feel like you’re living in a constant bad dream, just begging to wake up and have everything dissapear?
I bet AJ Allendinger is feeling that this week.
It was announced this week that Team Red Bull will be pulling him from the 84 Cup car temporarily to assess some problems the team has been having. The move makes sense for the team, AJ is new at the stock car game, and hasn’t been able to qualify for the races. If the team is to find out what is wrong with the team, they are going to need a more experiences driver behind the wheel to give feedback, and someone they are confident can qualify the car. They decided the best course of action would be to set AJ aside and have Mike Skinner step in, he will be trying to qualify the 84 in Atlanta this weekend.
AJ will likely be spending his time learning from Skinner, as well as running some Nationwide and Truck events to gain some seat time. He seemed okay with the decision, saying “Do I want to be out of the car? No. But, I know Skinner can help both me and my team. All I can say is he better be prepared for me to eat, drink, and sleep with him. … OK, well maybe not the sleeping part, but I’m ready to attach myself to him and learn everything I can.”. Quite typical of AJ’s humor, and gave the impression he is okay with it, and accepting the decision.
So, just as all that’s setting in he gets another heart-breaking blow.
Brett Favre is retiring from the NFL.
The saddest part is remembering something AJ said earlier this year. He was in Germany when the Packers lost thier playoff game, missing thier shot at the Superbowl. AJ was pretty ticked off about watching at 4am, in german and then having to catch a long flight back to the states. He had said “It’s ruined the rest of my year, I’m still mad. The only thing I’m happy about is that I’m pretty sure Brett Favre won’t end his career on an interception, so at least we’ll get another year of watching Brett.”
Nope, sorry AJ, we won’t even get that.
On a personal note, Brett’s retirement is a bummer and a shock for me as well, I had been planning on going to Tampa to see him play one last time, don;t get to now.
So, I think we can all feel quite a bit of sympathy for Allmendinger this week, it’s just one of those times when life won’t stop dumping on you, and personally I feel for him
-Katie
Katie, I’m fearing the final gong may have gone off for AJ when Mike Skinner put the 84 in the lineup Friday. I know I can’t prove it, but my gut instinct says it’s game over unfortunately.
I don’t think they’ve given up on him, but Skinner making the race can’t be good news for AJ. I think Red Bull wants to give AJ the chance to shine, and I know they want young drivers, so they aren’t going to use AJ until they feel better about the team as a whole.
On a better note…Brian Vickers is now up to 9th in the standings. Assuming he doesn’t DNQ at Bristol, I think he has to be added to the conversation in terms of Chase for the Sprint Cup contenders. Same thoughts?
The consistency certainly speaks volumes for that. He has to get past Bristol first, but if he runs just as strong there as he has the first four races, he should definitely not be overlooked as a contender for the Chase.
If he is ignored though, don’t be shocked, the media in general doesn’t like to talk about Toyota drivers not named Tony, Kyle or Denny.
He has been very strong though, and I would think people would notice.
Count on people noticing him when the circuit gets to Lowe’s and Pocono. He’s done everything but get the girl, er, win, at Pocono and at Lowe’s, he’s seen flashes of victory more often than not. While the 84 program is clearly struggling (I seriously think AJ should still be driving that car but also have some stints in the Trucks side), the 83 team minus the race at Bristol has been flourishing. As much as Rowdy’s grown up and matured, so the media says, we’ve seen that much brilliance in BV’s driving and it’s silent good. Just a few lucky breaks and he’ll win some before the Chase field is set, with him probably in.