A.J. Allmendinger was interviewed on ESPN2’s NASCAR Now and he said he has been in meetings with teams at Talladega Superspeedway and hopes to have his 2009 plans set soon and hopes to be in a ride as soon as the Bank of American at Lowe’s Motor Speedway next weekend.(10-5-2008) UPDATE: Michael Waltrip Racing announced that AJ Allmendinger will attempt to qualify the #00 Champion Mortgage Toyota at Lowe’s Motor Speedway for the Sprint Cup Series Bank of America 500 Saturday night. “I look forward to it and I think this is a great opportunity,” Allmendinger said. “Over the past couple of months the organization has really picked up with how everyone has been running. Hopefully, I can go out there and do a good job and get the #00 Champion Mortgage Toyota team back inside the top 35.” This past weekend Kenny Wallace recorded the team’s best finish of the season by crossing the finish line in 12th-place at Talladega Superspeedway. Now, it is Allmendinger’s turn to strap into the #00 Champion Mortgage Toyota for the first time on Thursday for Sprint Cup Series practice and then qualifying. Allmendinger knows the team is only 39 points shy of 35th-place in the owner points. The coveted position is currently occupied by #7-Robby Gordon, who finished eighth on Sunday. Michael Waltrip Racing’s decided to make a driver change with the #00 Champion Mortgage Toyota after the team failed to qualify with Michael McDowell for the Sprint Cup Series event at Kansas Speedway. The objective remains the same and that is to qualify on time and return the Michael Waltrip Racing team to the top 35 before the checkered flag waves at Homestead-Miami Speedway.(full PR at MWR)(10-6-2008)
