AJ Allmendinger was so excited to win his first NASCAR Sprint Cup pole he forgot that he knocked Scott Speed, the driver who took his place at Red Bull, off his first pole on Friday at Phoenix International Raceway.
Almendinger, who had been fast in practice in his Richard Petty Motorsports, said: “It is exciting to get that first pole. It is a small victory, but it means so much to this race team and me. In this sport, it is all about confidence. To know we have a good car and to go out there and back it up in qualifying is great. We seemed to be just missing it a little bit each week, so to go out there and get the job done is a big deal.”
But, what about revenge on Speed? “No, I didn’t think about it at all. I am not going to lie,” he said with a smile.
Speed, who has been steadily improving in the Red Bull Toyota named his car rattlesnake, in honor of the creatures around the hills surrounding the track, was asked why the top three drivers (including the Dodge of Sam Hornish Jr.) seemed to have an advantage in qualifying.
“Honestly my background and Sam’s background is about as different as coming from openwheel racing to NASCAR, honestly. In any case, coming from a different form, when you come to a track like this when you have to use the brakes quite a lot, it’s something that is not typical of a normal mile-and-a-half race track.
“A lot of the guys that have the experience in NASCAR, I think excel at those kind of race tracks but it’s a little bit easier to sort of transition to where you have to brake a lot.”
The flat one-mile oval also favored road racer, Marcos Ambrose, with a fourth place in a Toyota. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was the fastest Chevy driver in fifth spot.
Denny Hamlin, recovering from knee surgery, qualified 26th and has Casey Mears on tap to jump into his Toyota on Saturday evening if necessary.
David Stremme, Aric Almirola, Mike Bliss and Brandon Ash failed to qualify.
Almendinger, who had been fast in practice in his Richard Petty Motorsports, said: “It is exciting to get that first pole. It is a small victory, but it means so much to this race team and me. In this sport, it is all about confidence. To know we have a good car and to go out there and back it up in qualifying is great. We seemed to be just missing it a little bit each week, so to go out there and get the job done is a big deal.”
But, what about revenge on Speed? “No, I didn’t think about it at all. I am not going to lie,” he said with a smile.
Speed, who has been steadily improving in the Red Bull Toyota named his car rattlesnake, in honor of the creatures around the hills surrounding the track, was asked why the top three drivers (including the Dodge of Sam Hornish Jr.) seemed to have an advantage in qualifying.
“Honestly my background and Sam’s background is about as different as coming from openwheel racing to NASCAR, honestly. In any case, coming from a different form, when you come to a track like this when you have to use the brakes quite a lot, it’s something that is not typical of a normal mile-and-a-half race track.
“A lot of the guys that have the experience in NASCAR, I think excel at those kind of race tracks but it’s a little bit easier to sort of transition to where you have to brake a lot.”
The flat one-mile oval also favored road racer, Marcos Ambrose, with a fourth place in a Toyota. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was the fastest Chevy driver in fifth spot.
Denny Hamlin, recovering from knee surgery, qualified 26th and has Casey Mears on tap to jump into his Toyota on Saturday evening if necessary.
David Stremme, Aric Almirola, Mike Bliss and Brandon Ash failed to qualify.