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Underdogs Have Their Day In Daytona Duels

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By TONY FABRIZIO | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 12, 2009

DAYTONA BEACH A.J. Allmendinger put sunglasses on when he climbed out of his No. 44 Dodge. He didn't want to look like a crybaby during his TV interview.

Joy and relief overwhelmed him nonetheless. The former Champ Car phenom earned one of the last Daytona 500 spots left Thursday, joining Scott Riggs, Jeremy Mayfield and Regan Smith.

Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch won the Gatorade 150-mile duels, but they were already assured of starting somewhere in the 500 field because of their top 35 status.

Allmendinger, Mayfield and Riggs raced their way in. Smith made it when Tony Stewart, who doesn't have top-35 status with his new team, finished second in his race.

"I haven't slept well for a week and a half," Allmendinger said. "This year, I felt like I deserved to be in this race. I earned my way in. This whole team deserved it for how hard they've worked the last few weeks after we put this program together."

Mayfield said he understood how Allmendinger felt when he crossed the finish line and knew he was in.

"Nobody realizes how hard this stuff is," he said. "You can't imagine the pressure that's on a driver and team to do what we did today, to be out there sliding around, running for your life."

Allmendinger, trying to make a successful transition from open-wheel racing, was replaced by Scott Speed at Red Bull Racing last fall. He picked up a part-time ride with newly-forged Richard Petty Motorsports late last month.

The top-35 status he enjoyed when he signed the deal disappeared when a couple of owners worked deals to acquire the points from teams that aren't running.

"You learn about it and it kind of kicks you in the gut," Allmendinger said after finishing 10th in his Duel. "Valvoline had signed on with us because they thought they were in the 500. I had to promise them we were going to be in."

Mayfield has made only 25 starts since he was fired by Evernham Motorsports during the 2006 season. With no rides available for this season, he bought a few Toyotas and formed his own team.

His tiny operation is made up of people laid off elsewhere.

"That's something I'm very proud of, being able to at least employ 10 or 15 guys that had been laid off," Mayfield said.

"We had a little saying. We weren't going to hire anybody unless you've been laid off for three months and were kind of hungry like we are, ready to go. That's just a joke, by the way."

Riggs lost his job when Stewart became an owner-driver at Stewart Haas Racing, the former Haas CNC Racing, and brought Ryan Newman with him. He signed on with former crew chief Tommy Baldwin, who has started Tommy Baldwin Motorsports.

Realistically, such a small outfit doesn't have a chance in the 500.

"It was definitely rewarding today to have, I'm not going to say a rag-tag team, but to have guys that are there because of their love for the sport," Riggs said after finishing eighth in the first race. "I hope we've earned some respect from the other guys out there."

The two races had a combined 16 lead changes and went down to the last lap, as the next-generation car put on another entertaining race at Daytona – a track it's particularly well suited to.

"I just think this car was designed and built for Daytona and Talladega," Gordon said. "Sometimes we don't really care for it at some of the other tracks, but it makes up for it, in my opinion, at Daytona."

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