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closeRed Bull may bench Allmendinger
JENNA FRYER
The Associated Press
Sunday, Mar. 02, 2008
Red Bull Racing is considering temporarily pulling A.J. Allmendinger from his Toyota as it reevaluates that struggling program.
Allmendinger failed to qualify for Sunday's race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, making him 0-for-3 on the season. In contrast, teammate Brian Vickers has made all three races in the other Red Bull car.
"We can't keep missing races. It's just not an option," said general manager Jay Frye, hired in January to turn around the second-year Red Bull program.
"We’re looking at several different ideas, all aimed at figuring out what's wrong with that program, how we can fix it and how we can get that car into races. But it can't continue the way it is. It just can't."
One of the options being considered is pulling Allmendinger from the seat and replacing him with a veteran who can help assess the program and get the car into races. Among the available drivers are Mike Skinner and Johnny Benson, who are currently both pitching in to fill an open seat at Bill Davis Racing, and Sterling Marlin and David Stremme.
"We love A.J. and we're 100 percent committed to him and want to develop him," Frye said. "This is not at all giving up on A.J. But we just can't do nothing and risk having a season like that team had last year."
Allmendinger is in just his second season of NASCAR after a successful open-wheel career. The 25-year-old left the Champ Car Series to drive for Red Bull, and the team gave him a Sprint Cup ride he perhaps wasn't prepared for.
He qualified for 17 of 36 races last season, and his best finish was a 15th at Charlotte in October.
Red Bull is also working on securing seat time for Allmendinger in Nationwide Series and Truck Series races to help his adaptation to NASCAR. Options in the Nationwide Series are rides in a Joe Gibbs Racing or Chip Ganassi car, and there could be some seat time available in a truck owned by Billy Ballew.
"He needs seat time, there's no question about that," Frye said. "But it takes time to put it altogether and we're working on it. We want A.J. in as many races as we can get him into, and we want him to gain as much experience as he can.”
