A.J. Allmendinger

[FRANKY]

He sure can dish it out, unfortunately it's to himself. :( You just gotta feel for that guy.

[Hard Driver]

Yes, today was not his fault. That track was unworthy to be driven and he was just driving.

[fourrunner]

Aj just has to learn to check his emotions ... he has a jinx following him right now, and he's letting it get to him ... as long as the Team has patience (and they should) AJ is going to break out and not look back !

[GOFAST1]

A.J. is good racer and will overcome couple mistakes. Denver is the race!!!!!

[JohnnyQ]

Are you guys kidding? He turned in about 2 feet to early and ran out of road on the exit. Brake fade? Yeah that normally happens when you're on the gas only to lock up your brakes when the wall is coming at you. :shakehead

[RacinM3]

I never heard him say "brake fade". I heard "brain fade".


Yes, today was not his fault. That track was unworthy to be driven and he was just driving.

OK, but paraphrasing of AJ, "those other guys are managing to do it".

While AJ's acceoting of responsibility is refreshing, I'm afraid he's being a bit hard on himself to the point that crashing becomes his own self-fulfilling prophecy.

[Dirty Sanchez]

Are you guys kidding? He turned in about 2 feet to early and ran out of road on the exit. Brake fade? Yeah that normally happens when you're on the gas only to lock up your brakes when the wall is coming at you. :shakehead:gomer:

[Insomniac]

Yes, today was not his fault. That track was unworthy to be driven and he was just driving.

You can;t say that. I feel for AJ, and the self-deprecation probably doesn't help, but he was spot on oh his analysis. He screwed up and there were plenty of other drivers out there who didn't.

[Insomniac]

Are you guys kidding? He turned in about 2 feet to early and ran out of road on the exit. Brake fade? Yeah that normally happens when you're on the gas only to lock up your brakes when the wall is coming at you. :shakehead

A.J. said brain fade. He was very hard on himself for making the mistake.

[JohnnyQ]

A.J. said brain fade. He was very hard on himself for making the mistake.


So brain fade it is. I was on my 5th. Corona.

He still turned in way early. :rolleyes:

[spinner26]

You can;t say that. I feel for AJ, and the self-deprecation probably doesn't help, but he was spot on oh his analysis. He screwed up and there were plenty of other drivers out there who didn't.


What 8 outa however many started. They only survived cause there was no passing.

AJ, don't beat yourself upon tv man, the sponsors don't like that.

[Ed_Severson]

I'll probably get crucified for saying this, but while he's obviously fast, I'm still not very impressed with him.

Maybe he'll turn it around and start finishing races regularly, but right now he appears to be heading towards a bigtime flame-out. Not knowing much about Carl Russo yet, I suspect it will be Allmendinger who shows us how patient the guy can be.

[fourrunner]

The Good drivers make the track come to them .... Bordais, Tracy, Oriol, etc. came fraction of an inch off the wall turn after turn, lap after lap ...

AJ has to watch & Learn from them .... Each Lap Tracy & Bourdais took the rail tracks square on ... then dealt with the walls ... the others I watched took the tracks at angle thus trying to straighten the Chicane & exited with less control

AJ will mature & improve with time & age ...Russo seems like a patient guy .. AJ will quell the deamons!

[Rob]

I really hope AJ bounces back from this quickly. Aside from Jimmy he's my favorite driver, and I'd hate to see him "Townsend" himself out of a ride. I really admire his candor, but it's obvious that it's really eating at him, and that's not healthy.

[Dr. Corkski]

He made a driver error, and as hard as San Jose tried to kill the racing part of the event you can't blame them for a simple driver that even happened to Tracy.

But at least he ain't putting around miles off the pace like Marcus Marshall, who was going way too slow to even hit anything, even at T4.

[fourrunner]

I really hope AJ bounces back from this quickly. Aside from Jimmy he's my favorite driver, and I'd hate to see him "Townsend" himself out of a ride. I really admire his candor, but it's obvious that it's really eating at him, and that's not healthy.

I really think AJ sees how hard his team prepares the car, and it's usually a good car if not a great car ... and when he get's his "Brain Fade" he thinks he's failed them, and it's the last thing he wants to do ...

AJ is young and eager to please ... he looks at his lapses as personal failure .. Someone has to talk to him and tell him he has to balance this ... NOT go too much the other way but reach a middle ground !

It's a tough one.. it's deep seated... but he'll figure it out!

[Fio1]

AJ is one of the best drivers in that series, no doubt about it. He is over-driving the car alittle, but so did Paul Tracy in his first year or two. It's no biggie, it just takes time. He'll win some races soon enough and will most likely dominate this series in 4-5 year. Look, he is holding his own against his teammate who is VERY highly rated in England. Wilson's on par with Button in some people's minds. AJ has nothing to worry about, the talent is there. He just needs time to not over-drive the car so much. The last race, when he was leading was an accident waiting to happen. This one was just one of those things because of this track. I mean, pass champions hit the wall at the same place. 70% track, 30% his fault. No sweat it, dude! :cool:

[Lizzerd]

Some people are forgetting that AJ is a CCWS rookie. He said in last month's RACER magazine that the only fear he has is the fear of failure.

Let's cut AJ a break, okay? To Russo, AJ is certainly considered and investment for the future, just like PT was to Penske when he started him at MIS the Mobil 1 car. Which was, I think, one of the first times Penske had fielded a three car team. PT promptly shashed his sled in the fourth turn wall, right in front of me.

AJ is a future champion. Don't write him off just yet. Hopefully, he won't write himself off. Russo is the key player here. He has to keep his young shoe in the right frame of mind.

Edit: Fio, you posted while I was typing!

[Dr. Corkski]

Some people are forgetting that AJ is a CCWS rookie. He said in last month's RACER magazine that the only fear he has is the fear of failure.He hasn't been a rookie for about 7 races + San Jose now. ;)

[Jag_Warrior]

I haven't had a real favorite driver in Champ Car for a VERY long time (since Montoya left). As of today, I have one again.

Now I just have to remember how to spell his name.

[FanofMario]

AJ is the real deal, the San Jose "track" isn't.

[devilmaster]

Let's look at it this way.

How many remember Tracy as the guy who either won or crashed in amazing fashion.

How long did it take for PT to really put it all together.

AJ - your wins will come. Yer frustrated because you pretty much dominated everything up till now. Its like the Peter principle. You have kept moving up (and deservedly so) because you are good. Being down on yourself because you haven't destroyed the field like you used to do will just make it worse. Relax, enjoy your time in the car. Those wins will come.

[TorontoWorker]

AJ will be fine. How many of us could handle 800HP in a shoe box like track? All the rookies had trouble today.

[KLang]

The quote over at Champ Car is a little better then his statement when he got out of the car.


AJ Allmendinger #10 Western Union/RuSport Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: "To say I'm disappointed is a huge understatement. To say that I'm tired of making those kind of mistakes is a huge understatement. I've clearly got to fix the problem, but I'm not sure how to just yet, because these results are not acceptable. I know I can dive the car fast-I qualified well, but I've got work to do. I really wanted to win this one for everyone here in San Jose, so I'm sorry I didn't bring it home."


I think maybe he shouldn't talk to the pit reporters right after climbing out of the car.

[Easy]

At least he doesn't spend the entirety of his interview complaining about his car or his crew like Danica.

[Jervis Tetch 1]

I'll probably get crucified for saying this, but while he's obviously fast, I'm still not very impressed with him.

Maybe he'll turn it around and start finishing races regularly, but right now he appears to be heading towards a bigtime flame-out. Not knowing much about Carl Russo yet, I suspect it will be Allmendinger who shows us how patient the guy can be.No crucifixtion from me, but sometimes I do wonder. I'll say this though. He'll win and he'll do it before Danica (she won't win).

I think he's putting too much pressure on himself.

[TKGAngel]

He made a driver error, and as hard as San Jose tried to kill the racing part of the event you can't blame them for a simple driver that even happened to Tracy.

But at least he ain't putting around miles off the pace like Marcus Marshall, who was going way too slow to even hit anything, even at T4.

Did you folks hear DD in the booth taking about 4 tries to get Marshall's name right, finally settling on the "something Marshall" name. Sheesh, even Scott Goodyear can get the drivers names right.

Back to the topic. Dinger's got heart and passion. He shows it. Any driver that can candidly admit that he screwed up is alright in my book. Its refreshing to hear a driver not blame the crew/owner/the pigeon that s**t on him during the race as the reason for a dismal finish.

Dinger, Wilson and the rest of the RuSport crew are doing fantastic, considering this is only their 2nd year in the series. Once it "clicks" in Dinger's head, he'll go far.

[FTG]

3 shunts in 3 races. The most worrisome thing is the shunts keep happening earlier. I think he needs a sports psychologist. No shame, it'll fix him right up.

[Ed_Severson]

I think he's putting too much pressure on himself.

Absolutely. He's obviously physically gifted, but his mental game is lacking. It's early days yet in his career, but in that regard he reminds me an awful lot of Christian Fittipaldi -- he's throwing away race results left and right with silly mental errors.

Hopefully he'll learn that he doesn't have to drive every single lap on the ragged edge, but he seems determined to learn the hard way.

[P Hanley]

Let's look at it this way.

How many remember Tracy as the guy who either won or crashed in amazing fashion.

How long did it take for PT to really put it all together.

AJ - your wins will come. Yer frustrated because you pretty much dominated everything up till now. Its like the Peter principle. You have kept moving up (and deservedly so) because you are good. Being down on yourself because you haven't destroyed the field like you used to do will just make it worse. Relax, enjoy your time in the car. Those wins will come.
I agree with you 100%. Being a PT fan from his very early days, I can remember many races when PT crashed out of the lead. Once I think he did it while leading by almost 2 laps in Pheonix. If Paul hasn't already approached AJ I'm sure someone will point this out to him. It's much tougher to get a driver to go faster than it is to get one to control their speed. Did that even make sense? :confused: :confused:

[Rogue Leader]

If AJ keeps taking like he does he will never win a race.....

I may not be that old, but Ive changed a LOT in the past few years, this was helped by many outside activities and forces. But if there is one thing I know its that if you are that hard and down on yourself every event, you will NEVER win.