Driving famous No. 43 has Allmendinger pumped up (cont'd)

Despite showing improvement after getting back in the seat for Red Bull, he was let go by that organization (some thought he had it coming when he hinted he might leave anyway) before the 2008 season was over. So this time last year, he was more or less in limbo with only a part-time ride from RPM lined up.

All of which made it quite humorous when he was asked during the recent Cup preseason media tour in Charlotte to list his greatest accomplishment since coming to NASCAR.

“

Being part of the King's race team at RPM is something where I fall asleep every night feeling lucky to be a part of. Now to be inside the race car with the 43 on the side of it is something that means so much to me.

”

-- A.J. ALLMENDINGER

"I think just still being in the sport is my best accomplishment so far," Allmendinger said, laughing. "Everything that I've had to go through, and the determination I've had to have -- there were times where I went home and just thought, 'Man, I ought to quit. This is just too hard.' Those times when we were missing all those races at Red Bull in '07 and then getting out of the car -- and then getting back in that car and running well, and still losing the ride on top of it -- that was tough.

"Last year at this point, I didn't even have a ride and barely made it to [preseason] media day. Then I went into the season and I only had five to eight races [guaranteed]. We just pieced that together."

He finished third in the season-opening Daytona 500, however, and soon pieced together a ride for the entire season. Even though it was his only top-five finish all year, he completed 97.3 percent of the laps in the 36 races and finished 24th in points -- one spot in front of Dale Earnhardt Jr., who had far more resources to work with at Hendrick Motorsports. Allmendinger also had six top-10s, one more than Earnhardt.

"I felt like for the resources that we had, and for the lack of money that we had with just trying to get that car to the race every weekend, we had a pretty good year," Allmendinger said. "I think still being here shows how much I want this. The best is yet to come. I don't think I've had any great accomplishment yet that I can stand on."

Robbie Loomis, director of competition for RPM, said he sees great potential in Allmendinger. Perhaps more importantly, Loomis said Petty does, too.

"A.J.'s really matured a lot. One of the great traits all the great drivers have is that they're not afraid to look in the mirror," Loomis said. "I think in hearing him talk, he knows the areas he can improve on."

Then Loomis smiled.

"Richard spends a little time with him, and every now and then some of that wisdom sinks in," he said. "If he just gets a little bit of it, we're going to be good."

Loomis added that he sees improvement in not only Allmendinger's approach off the track and the feedback he's able to give the rest of his team, but also in how he looks out for teammates while he's on the track now, recalling a race at Dover last fall when the slower Allmendinger waved the faster Kasey Kahne by at one point and then how Kasey, in a veteran's show of respect, later returned the favor.

"He really started learning in the last part of the year what it meant to be a teammate," Loomis said of Allmendinger. "When you first get here, it's all about fighting for your food and fighting to survive. I think that's part of the mode he was in."

Under the circumstances he went through, who could blame him?

Meanwhile, Allmendinger said he's ready to soak up whatever knowledge the King and others can impart on him. Being in and out of races and even a ride much of the time his first two years in NASCAR humbled him, making him appreciate the opportunity that now looms in front of him.

"When we were missing races [with Red Bull], I was there every weekend trying to watch and learn," he said. "I didn't have a lot of time in the car, and I think the outside world didn't see that. Going into Daytona in '07, I had literally six days in the Cup car. And they were like, 'Go try to make the Cup show.'"

When he didn't, he was devastated. But looking back now, he shouldn't have been surprised. He wasn't really ready. Now he feels like he is.

"Being part of the King's race team at RPM is something where I fall asleep every night feeling lucky to be a part of. Now to be inside the race car with the 43 on the side of it is something that means so much to me," Allmendinger said. "The tradition and the history ... the King was back in Victory Lane a couple of times last year -- but to do it in his own race car with his old number would mean a ton to him, and it would mean the world to me.

"I think last year at Daytona, finishing third was really great. But the best is yet to come. I have a lot of accomplishments that I want to do in this sport and that's what I'm focused on."

He also said he plans to have a good time doing it, and wants fans to know it.

"I don't do this for the fame and glory. I just love being a race-car driver. I love being in NASCAR," Allmendinger said. "It's all about just going out there and trying to win -- and having fun while you're doing it.

"We forget sometimes because this sport can be so stressful. ... But at the end of the day, we're out there racing cars and doing something we love to do. We're not curing cancer. We're doing something we enjoy every weekend and a lot of times we take that for granted. There are a lot of people in this world who don't get to go out and do something they love every day and I get to do that. Hopefully people see that on my face."