On Tuesday, Red Bull announced that AJ Almendinger will pilot its #84 Toyota Camary in NASCAR’s Nextel Cup series for 2007. Although Champ Car co-owner Gerald Forsythe had offered the 24 year old American driver a multi-year contract extension, Almendinger could not resist Red Bull’s “Big Money” offer to jump ship. Almendinger has finished 13th and 5th in two NASCAR Craftsman Truck races with Bill Davis Racing in recent weeks. Almendinger will partner Brian Vickers at Team Red Bull, making his Nextel Cup debut at Atlanta this weekend…
Although Almendinger has revitalized his Open Wheel career by winning 5 Champ Car races this season at Forsythe, Almendinger accepted Team Red bull’s offer because it gave him MORE guaranteed money. Almendinger will also contest the Texas Nextel Cup race on November 5th before becoming a full time NASCAR driver next year…
“MAC” Montoya continues his steady progress towards his 2007 Nextel Cup debut at Daytona. Montoya’s ARCA short track debut didn’t fair quite as well as his initial ARCA series debut. While leading the race Montoya made a “rookie” mistake. Claiming he didn’t understand his spotter’s comments, Montoya moved “up-high” Veering into the direct path of eventual race winner Stephen Wallace. (Rusty Wallace’s son) Montoya’s ARCA stock car scorecard reads 1-1 with a Third place finish and DNF to his credit. Look for “MAC” to make his Busch Series debut at Memphis this weekend…
Italian Open Wheel veteran “Mad Max” (Maxamilo) Papis will also make his Busch Series oval debut at Texas on November 4th…
