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Written by:
Robin Miller
10/19/2006 - 07:00 PM
Surfers Paradise, Australia
A.J. Allmendinger (left) looks ready to hop a ride to Money Town on the NASCAR train. (Photo: Getty Images/Todd Warshaw) » More Photos
It's hard to fathom, considering all that's transpired during the past five months, but it's real likely we're looking at A.J. Allmendinger's next-to-last race in Champ Car this weekend here in Australia.
The 24-year-old American is the hottest property in open-wheel racing, winner of five of his last eight starts, and the only driver in the series who hasn't been mathematically eliminated from the Sebastien Bourdais Show.
From go-kart star to Barber Dodge titlist to Formula Atlantic champion, Allmendinger has always been climbing the open-wheel ladder. Now that he's reached the top rung and is an established winner, it appears he's stepping off.
It's that NASCAR Money Train, and it's about to derail the best thing that's happened to Champ Car in this decade.
We know the scenario: A.J. has a personal-service contract with Red Bull, and the energy drink is partners with Toyota in their entree into NASCAR. They love the cocky Californian, especially after his impressive showings in two Craftsman Truck races recently, and apparently they're throwing big money his way.
How big? Well, CSS Stellar Management (A.J.'s representatives) was asking Gerry Forsythe for $3 million a year to keep the kid he picked up off the unemployment line back in June.
Forsythe, who had offered Allmendinger a five-year contract with incentives and wanted his signature before this weekend, rejected that figure and basically stated they were too far apart to even continue negotiating.
That was a week ago, and everybody is pretty quiet on both sides. A.J. claims he hasn't signed anything, yet his fiancée told friends on Wednesday night, "We're going to NASCAR."
And nobody on his Forsythe crew seems to think he'll be back.
Besides being a PR disaster for Champ Car (your rising star is leaving to try tin-tops), it's an emotional blow because a winning American is exactly what this series desperately needs to win back its fan base. Sure, Graham Rahal is coming in 2007 and will create headlines, but one expects a learning curve even for somebody with his skill level.
A.J. was able to do something that's been nearly impossible the past three years -- beat Bourdais, straight up. He got the National Anthem back on the play list in victory lane, and people were starting to pay attention to this little badass who was named after that Foyt fella.
A lot of people have been trying to convince Allmendinger he's making a mistake and needs to stay in Champ Car. He's on a team that embraces him, he's got great chemistry with his engineer and he's become The Man to beat (along with Bourdais, of course).
Most importantly, he's leading and winning races, and that's why everyone
But you can also understand his logic. He came from good parents, just not rich ones, and he's suddenly got the opportunity to be set for life and help them as well. It's reported he was making $200,000 at RuSport, which is a decent wage by any standard, but three years at $9 million would be unfathomable for a kid from Hollister, Calif.
And let's not lose sight of the fact he's still a kid, and kids can be impulsive and impressed by people fawning over them. Plus, he's got agents advising him who obviously would benefit from this career change.
At his age, A.J. probably feels like if NASCAR doesn't work, he can always come back to Champ Car.
You can't fault Forsythe, either. He has no sponsors, but supports two cars and Champ Car out of his own pocket and made a reasonable offer to Allmendinger, especially considering the economic climate of open-wheel racing. He also hired the kid after he'd been fired and, yes, maybe it was more good PR to ensure the series retained its one Yankee, but it's worked out quite well for both sides.
In a perfect world, Champ Car's co-owners would dig into their pockets one more time and make sure Allmendinger doesn't defect. But, between buying television time, promoting races and helping teams, Kalkhoven and Forsythe are already spending silly money.
They can't afford to let him go, yet Forsythe won't have an agent hold a gun to his head. It's a standoff, and it appears Champ Car is going to lose.
The bottom line is that Allmendinger's heart may be in Champ Car, but his butt will be in a truck next season.
And that's going to be another major loss for open-wheel racing in North America.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDTV.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED Channel.
A.J. Allmendinger (left) looks ready to hop a ride to Money Town on the NASCAR train. (Photo: Getty Images/Todd Warshaw) » More Photos
Robin Miller covers open wheel racing for SPEEDTV.com, SPEED News and WIND TUNNEL. A lifelong resident of Indianapolis, an 18-year-old Miller stooged for his hero Jim Hurtubise at the Indianapolis 500 in 1968 and began covering motorsports for The Indianapolis Star in 1969. Besides working on Indy pit crews from 1968-78, Miller also competed on the USAC midget circuit from 1975-83. During the past 35 years he's also been a contributor for Autoweek, Autosport, Car & Driver, ESPN The Magazine and several publications that folded and still owe him money. He is single, a degenerate gambler and despises the NASCAR phrase, "We had a Top 20 car today."
Robin Miller is not affiliated with RACER magazine and his views should not be considered representative of RACER or of Haymarket Worldwide Inc.
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