Allmendinger Talks This Week’s IndyCar Series Test with Penske Racing

AJ Allmendinger

AJ Allmendinger joined Adam Alexander on SPEED Center Sunday evening to discuss his upcoming IndyCar Series test with Penske Racing and his future in racing. Below are excerpts from the interview:

Alexander: You’re turning your eyes to IndyCar now. Roger Penske is giving you an opportunity to test an Indy car this week at Sebring. What’s the anticipation like?

Allmendinger: “I’m so excited for it — to be back with Mr. Penske and the whole Penske organization. I’m so grateful to have this chance to get in one of his Indy cars. I’m also nervous. It’s been seven years – 2006 was the last time I was in an open-wheel race car. The cars have changed a lot but I know I’ll have the best team to learn from."

Alexander: You’ll have good teammates to lean on.

Allmendinger: “Between Helio Castroneves and Will Power, I’ve got two of the best guys to learn from. They’ve already been helping me just kind of go through the race car and learn what it’s about, look at the data, video, notes, so I’ll be well prepared. I know Sebring pretty well from my days back testing a Champ car there, but I’m excited. I’m ready to go."

Alexander: I’m a ‘glass half full’ kind of guy. So, if everything goes well on Tuesday with the test at Sebring, where does all this lead?

Allmendinger: “Well, the sky’s the limit. You never know with Roger Penske. But just really focused on this test, see how it goes, see kind of where it could lead to. I hope to be able to make it through a race and then go run the Indy 500 … that really all starts with this test and kind of seeing how that goes and seeing how things progress from there."