DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — AJ Allmendinger is an 11-time Rolex 24 At Daytona entrant and the 2012 overall race winner. Even though the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver sat out the famous 2017 running of the Rolex, he returns to the great race this weekend driving in a new class but carrying an old designation: “favorite.”
Allmendinger joins WeatherTech Championship contenders Katherine Legge, Alvaro Parente and Trent Hindman driving the No. 86 Acura NSX GT3 for his longtime friend Michael Shank.
It marks the first time Allmendinger, 37, has competed outside the Prototype class, but he is eager and enthused to try out his skills in the highly-competitive GT Daytona (GTD) class, dicing door-to-door with Ferrari, Audi, Porsche, Mercedes and Lamborghini.
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“It’s always fun and this time definitely a different challenge,” said Allmendinger, who drives the No. 47 Kroger Chevrolet for JTG Daugherty Racing in NASCAR. “The GT class has always been so competitive and at times I think, the most competitive class of the three for sure — at least the most amount of cars with a chance of winning.”
Enjoying the experience is an important element to this race for Allmendinger, who won a Monster Energy Series race at Watkins Glen in 2014 to qualify for the NASCAR playoffs. He finished 27th in the points standings last season, however, and is eager for a good finish in the Rolex 24 to translate into a good start for the new Cup year.
Even having to learn a different type of race car has been a welcome challenge for Allmendinger, who will drive third in the rotation this weekend.
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Race traffic will be much different for Allmendinger this time around the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway road course, too. Instead of being in the fastest of the cars, he will now have to navigate as they whiz by him. And it can be a delicate situation.
“It’s a different mental outlook,” Allmendinger said. “In the prototypes you’re always the aggressor. In traffic, you’re making the moves, you’re judging what you want to do. In the GT cars you’ve got to make the decision if you’re going to turn down and make the corner coming in … mentally on that side of it, it’s a big challenge figuring out how to race in the GT class.
“The best GT drivers know when to give up a pass and when to take the corner. That’s stuff I tried to learn in practice but I won’t know until I’m in the race.”
Even so Allmendinger has reason to be optimistic. He has six top-10 finishes in 11 Rolex starts including the win in 2012, a runner-up in his 2006 debut and a third-place finish in 2013.
“You know, this has always been my background,” Allmendinger said. “It’s no different than Kyle Larson, Ricky Stenhouse and Christopher Bell doing all the dirt racing they do. There are not a lot of guys in Cup anymore with the background of road racing.
“If I could do this [kind of racing] nine times a year I would. I just love road racing.”