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AJ champion, but RuSPORT misses 1-2 |
RuSPORT's Toyota Atlantic Championship weekend came within four laps of a storybook finish at the team's home race, and would have provided a fitting finish to an event in which rookie AJ Allmendinger clinched the drivers' crown.
The Californian youngster had begun the weekend well by twice breaking the Denver city circuit lap record in qualifying, garnering two extra points towards his title drive, and then went on to finish his dominating performance in style by bringing home not only his seventh victory of the year, but also the 2003 championship in his first year since graduating as champion of the Barber Dodge Pro Series.
“It's just unbelievable - I'm so lucky to be a part of a team like RuSPORT," Allmendinger said immediately after the race.
"It's rare that I'm at a loss for words but, right now, I just can't express what this means for me and for the team. My engineer Burke Harrison gave me a perfect car to cross the line as a champion.
"I'm just really disappointed for my team-mate, because it would have been great to cross the finish line 1-2 here at our home race. He deserved to be right here with me.”
While Allmendinger was pulling away at the front, team-mate Aaron Justus moved into second after executing a pass on the other front row starter, Michael Valiante. The pair maintained their 1-2 running positions until a congested restart on lap 33, when Justus mis-judged his line and found the wall on the outside of turn one.
“It's such a bittersweet day," the American sighed, "We've won the championship, which is great for RuSPORT - and I'm really happy about that - but it could have been better for me.
"The race was going really great too - we're were fast in all the right spots and doing what we needed to do - but we had a couple of minor problems on the restart that contributed to a stack-up and led to the end. I would have liked to have had a 1-2 for our home race, but that's racing.”
Team president Jeremy Dale said that he was pleased with the outcome of the result, even despite Justus' exit.
“All I can say is that I'm really proud of this race team," he said, "This particular weekend, because it's a home race for us, we came in with a lot of pressure, not only to win the championship, but to do well in front of our family, friends, and guests. The team remained focused and put two great race cars on the track.
"This could have been a 1-2 for RuSPORT without question. Both guys did a tremendous job and obviously we're happy to be a rookie team and win the championship. Everyone should be really proud because all the hard work we've done has paid off.”
