Monday, December 22, 2014

2014 Driver Spotlight Review: AJ Allmendinger

AJ Allmendinger 2014 Review


By Richard Tix

Season Grade: B+

2013 was the initial come back campaign for AJ Allmendinger but 2014 marked his appearance back in a full time Cup ride. It was a long road for AJ but it paid off in the end. His 2014 story line was one of the better ones when it comes to underdogs.

After not having a full time ride at the Cup series for a few years, JTG-Daugherty gave him a chance to sit in the #47 ride. A one car team, JTG took AJ in like family and in the end it paid off.

The biggest success of the season was when AJ Allmendinger brought the #47 to victory lane at Watkins Glen which clinched his spot in the new Chase. It was AJ's first Cup win and his first appearance in the Sprint Cup Chase.

The greatest part of the win was to see the true emotion drivers and owners get when they win. Its not that Johnson, Hendrick, Gibbs, Gordon, etc don't have the same real life emotion, but they have so many wins you don't always see that raw emotion with everyone of there victory lane trips. With AJ and Brad Daugherty, you saw every littler ounce of emotion, and the sport, fans, and media loved it.

In short, AJ was the underdog and comeback story of 2014 and we can just leave it at that.



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