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Speed in, Allmendinger out at Red Bull Racing…maybe

Written by Ray Champagne · September 24, 2008

It was announced all over the internets this week that the writing that we all saw on the wall as of late was true.  A.J. Allmendinger is out at Team Red Bull Racing possibly as early as the Cup race at Talladega, and the very likely replacement for him next year is Scott Speed.  Mike Skinner, who is the current “mentor” for both Speed and Allmendinger, could be tapped to finish out the season in the # 84 Red Bull Toyota.  

Team Red Bull has seemingly come a very very long way in the two years of its existence in the NSCS.  With Brian Vickers at the helm, coming surprisingly close to joining the elite “superstars” in the Chase this year, and Allmendinger finally qualifying and competing mid-pack consistently at the end of the year, this team has much improved itself from a year ago.  The former seems to have figured out his new team and the new car, and the latter seems to have finally figured out how to finally be competitive in a stock car.  Both were ready, in this fan’s opinion, to seriously vie for Chase berths next year.  Up until a week or so ago, I would have argued vehemently with anyone who said that Speed should be in the #84 next year.  In fact, I made the prediction that Red Bull would most likely throw another car in the mix part time for the ‘09 season with Speed behind the wheel to get his feet wet.  How wrong I was.

I am going to go on record here and say that 2009 will be a failure for Scott Speed and the Red Bull 84, for the exact same reasons that it took AJ so long to adjust to the Cup Series.  This ain’t ARCA or the NCTS, it’s the elite series for Stock Cars in America.   It takes time to figure these things out, it’s a trial by fire every week, and that is only if you can actually qualify for the race.  Speed can thank Allmendinger for putting his car in the top 35 in points for the first 5 races, so he’ll make it on someone else’s merit, but after that, the goves are off.

Filed Under Commentary, NASCAR 

Comments

2 Responses to “Speed in, Allmendinger out at Red Bull Racing…maybe”

  1. Speed in, Allmendinger out at Red Bull Racing…maybe « Ray’s Weblog on September 24th, 2008 8:04 pm

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  2. Rich Hemstreet on September 25th, 2008 4:11 pm

    Hey Ray, Let me disagree a little on your prediction for next year. If Scott Speed does take over the #84 his crew will have a full year’s experience under their belts. I think it would be a shame that Allmendinger gets sent to the showers after just one year where he has made steady improvement. But I saw the Speed kid run an ARCA race on a very tough local track. A track that seldom has new names appear in the winner’s circle. Speed was very impressive on his way to victory that night. I agree ARCA and Sprint Cup are totally different. But Speed also has Formula 1 under his belt. I bet Speed wins Rookie of the Year and has at least one flat out victory next season if he takes over the #84 car. Hopefully Allmendinger gets another shot somewhere.

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