Talladega Cartoon by Buck Jones (courtesy of Red Bull Racing)

AJ Allmendinger will be back in the No. 84 Red Bull Toyota Camry this weekend at Talladega, taking over for Mike Skinner who had the ride for the last 5 races. That’s good for him, I know having to sit out “for the good of the team” must have been a hard thing to do. But really, maybe the time off lit a fire under his butt and a serious urge to prove himself, we shall see. Oh and his car will have a new silver paint scheme which I think is a brilliant idea, it’ll make spotting him out of the crowd a lot easier for the fans and his spotter alike.
New No. 84 silver paint scheme (courtesy of Red Bull Racing)

Allmendinger still faces the dreaded go-or-go-home qualifying situation, and this week it comes at a track where driver is at the mercy of machine.

“After seeing Mike drive the No. 84 car and seeing him struggle with some of the same problems I had been having,” Allmendinger said, “it was a little bit of a relief for me to realize that while I had plenty of room to improve as a driver, we also have a long way to go as a team. Collectively, we still need to get better.”

In other news…

Travis Kvapil and his Yates Racing team have a sponsor for this weekend’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega. Northern Tool + Equipment stepped up to sponsor the No. 28 Ford Fusion:

“I’m thrilled to have Northern Tool + Equipment as the sponsor of our No. 28 Ford Fusion for this weekend,” commented Kvapil. “This is a very exciting time for our Yates Racing organization because we’ve had some really great races to open the season with, and because of that, we’re able to showcase our strengths and the benefit that a sponsorship with our team will entail. I’m very flattered to represent Northern Tool + Equipment this weekend and I know that our team is going to do them proud on Sunday.”

So go on over to Northern Tool + Equipment’s website and buy a Go-Kart. 🙂

Jon Wood will make his Sprint Cup debut at Talladega this weekend. I post this because it is an interesting thing, someone to look for this weekend to see how he does, but I’m also posting it ’cause he’s driving the No. 21 Honey Buns Ford Fusion and I just think that’s funny. 🙂 (Nutty Bars are better in my humble opinion, but whatever)