Allmendinger rejoins Michael Shank Racing for Brickyard Grand-Am

Allmendinger drove with Ambrose for Shank at the Rolex 24

AJ Allmendinger will rejoin Michael Shank Racing for the Grand-Am Rolex Series race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 26. Allmendinger will share the driving duties in the No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Ford-Riley with Gustavo Yacaman.

Allmendinger has experience with MSR that stretches back to 2006, when he joined the squad for a run to the Rolex 24 At Daytona podium with a runner-up result along with Ozz Negri and Mark Patterson. Yacaman, the promising young Colombian who moved to Grand-Am full time in 2013 after establishing a winning record of success in Indy Lights competition, partnered with Antonio Pizzonia in the opening rounds of the season as the duo netted a best finish of fourth at the Circuit of The Americas. Sponsorship challenges then led the team to revise the driver lineup, with Justin Wilson co-driving with Yacaman at Watkins Glen on the way to a sixth-place result.

“I am really looking forward to having AJ race with us again and hopefully, he can have the same kind of magic at the Speedway that he's always had for us at Daytona," said team owner Michael Shank. “Gus has continued to adapt to racing in Grand-Am and we are excited to have him teaming with guys like AJ and Justin (Wilson)."

The return to Rolex Series competition for Allmendinger continues a swirl of activity in 2013 that has seen the Californian racing in IZOD IndyCar Series competition as well as NASCAR Sprint Cup, with a road course debut in Nationwide competition netting a breakthrough victory in June.

“It has been a really busy summer, but I am grateful for every opportunity I get," said Allmendinger, who will be experiencing both the full oval in NASCAR Sprint Cup competition as well as the road course configuration during the Brickyard Grand Prix weekend. “I love racing for Mike so I am really looking forward to the weekend.

"It is going to be a little weird to be going through Turn 1 one way, and then going through it the other way later in the day, but I think it is going to be a lot of fun and hopefully we can get Mike another trophy."