[TLK]

Two pieces of news.....

A.J. Allmendinger parlays Toyota Atlantic and Barber Dodge championships into a Champ Car ride.

For the past several months, A.J. Allmendinger and pundits of the Champ Car World Series discussed the concept of the flat-topped, 22-year-old Californian becoming a Champ Car driver.
Clearly, it was only a matter of time before Anthony James Allmendinger would officially become a member of the Champ Car World Series fraternity. In fact, the wheels were set in motion last August in Denver, when RuSPORT team owner Carl Russo declared that his newly-crowed Toyota Atlantic champion would be moving “to the next level” in 2004.

Nevertheless--at least from the outside--it was a long, cold winter, as there understandably wasn’t much news emanating from the RuSPORT camp, despite the fact that the team and driver were hard at work in the race shop and (quietly) on the test track. However, all of that changed with today’s announcement that the 2003 Toyota Atlantic championship-winning team and driver would indeed become the newest competitors to join the Champ Car World Series for 2004.

Finally, Allmendinger has the chance to talk about realizing what he refers to as “the first step” of his dream, as he is officially a Champ Car driver now.

“Really, to be honest, I still can’t believe it,” Allmendinger said. “I’m just starting to get into testing and everything, and it’s starting to hit me. I’ll be honest, it probably won’t even hit me until I’m on that grid at Long Beach on Friday morning practice. For me, it’s the start of a dream come true, because I’ve always said that this is the first part of it.

“My goal was never just to make it to Champ Car, it was to win races and ultimately, win the championship. The way I look at it is this is just the start of it. I still can’t believe it. The concept of what’s happening and actually what position I’m in and how fortunate I am still hasn’t really set in. I know as we get further down the line in testing, and especially when it gets really close to Long Beach, I’ll be so nervous and so excited and won’t be able to sleep, and just everything wrapped into one.”

This is a big step for the American road-racing program and the feeder system of ChampCar. Hopefully Allmendinger lives up to the hype, and hopefully he's competitive this year.....







I saw Kenny Brack yesterday on Speed and I couldn't even believe it was him. This is the number one reason why I'm not a fan of the IRL. Tha amazing thing is that Kenny still wants to race this year. The IRL chasis' and ovals do not mix. Here's hoping that they make it through this season without any more serious accidents......