Allmendinger to drive the No. 00 Toyota at Lowe's

CORNELIUS, N.C. -- Michael Waltrip Racing announced Monday that A.J. Allmendinger will attempt to qualify the No. 00 Toyota at Lowe's Motor Speedway for the Bank of America 500 Cup Series race Saturday night.

"I look forward to it and I think this is a great opportunity," Allmendinger said. "Over the past couple of months the organization has really picked up with how everyone has been running. Hopefully, I can go out there and do a good job and get the No. 00 team back inside the top 35."

This past weekend Kenny Wallace recorded the team's best finish of the season with a 12th at Talladega. Now, it is Allmendinger's turn to strap into the No. 00 on Thursday for Cup Series practice and qualifying.

Allmendinger knows the team is 39 points shy of 35th-place Robby Gordon in the owner points. Allmendinger's crew chief, Peter Sospenzo, feels good about their chances of reclaiming a top 35 spot.

"Finishing 12th with Kenny was the strongest finish we have had and that was nice, but at the same time Robby Gordon had a little better finish than we did so we didn't gain any points on him," Sospenzo said. "Obviously we are looking forward to going to Lowe's Motor Speedway because we had a productive test there. We were good in qualifying and race trim. We feel confident about going back. A.J.'s a good driver and we know he can get everything out of the car."

In 21 starts this season, Allmendinger has two top-five qualifying runs and six top-10s. His career-best finish is ninth-place recently at Kansas Speedway driving the No. 84 Toyota for Red Bull Racing.

During the May race at Lowe's, Allmendinger started 27th and finished 20th.

"We didn't do as well as we liked, but we were pretty fast," Allmendinger said. "I feel comfortable around Lowe's Motor Speedway because it is a track that I have been able to race around a lot in my career. I feel like missing the test doesn't make a big difference."

Michael Waltrip Racing's decided to make a driver change with the No. 00 after the team failed to qualify with Michael McDowell for the Cup event at Kansas. The objective remains the same and that is to qualify on time and return the team to the top 35 before the checkered flag waves at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

"Our singular focus with the No. 00 team is to reposition the team in the top 35 in owner's points and be there in end," Waltrip said. "The decision for us to continue to make changes is about our organization. Kenny Wallace did a tremendous job for us at Talladega and recorded the team's best finish of the season. I know A.J. will do a great job for us too.

"We're still closely evaluating the remaining Cup races. We're moving in the direction of having multiple drivers based on their experiences at particular tracks."