"You Only Get One Chance."

Team Red Bull has recruited AJ Allmendinger to race alongside experienced NASCAR driver Brian Vickers in the NEXTEL Cup 2007. In part one of the interview, AJ compares NASCAR and Champ Cars, talks about his penchant for things Japanese and outlines his goals.

Team Red Bull will be running two Toyota Camrys in 2007. Have you already had an opportunity to try out the Toyota? How did the first test runs go?

During a test I was able to compare the Camry to the Dodge Cup car I practiced in before the Texas race this year. I personally liked driving the Camry a lot better. For me, there were some aspects of the car that made it a lot friendlier to drive and easier to get along with. I was faster in the Toyota than in the Dodge, so that was a positive step for us for next year.

How does it feel to be racing the first "Japanese" car on the NASCAR Nextel Cup circuit?

Well, I’m learning some Japanese right now because one of my managers is married to someone who speaks Japanese, but he’s only teaching me the bad words. But seriously, I think it’s a big step for NASCAR to have a manufacturer like Toyota coming in. I’m excited to be a part of it because I’ve seen the success Toyota has had in every series they race in. They’re dominating the Truck Series right now and have been quick to get accustomed to that series, so hopefully the same situation will transfer over into their Cup efforts. I know Toyota want to win and I know they’ll do whatever it takes to get there, so for a driver, that’s a great scenario to be in.

What are the differences between the open-wheel cars that you are used to and a NASCAR racing car, and how difficult is it to make the switch?

Everything is different. There’s not one thing that is the same. I will say that I respect stock car racing a lot more now than I did before I ever got behind the wheel of one. The Cup car is probably the most difficult car I’ve ever had to learn how to drive. When you’re learning a new car on an oval, there’s no room for errors because you’re going to go straight into the wall when you make a mistake.

So, your success in Champ Cars in the last few years doesn’t really seem to be too helpful, then?

I think it’s easier to have never driven a race car and jump into one of these things, than to have driven an open-wheel car and try to learn how to drive it. I’m coming from open-wheel cars that I’ve known my whole life, and I just have to erase that out of my memory and start over – that’s how different these cars are. You can’t even really explain it to anyone who’s never done it before. It’s difficult, it’s tough and it’s a lot of learning.

In the 2004 season, you were Rookie of the Year in the Champ Car World Series. Who will be your biggest rival for that honour in NASCAR?

Juan Pablo Montoya will be a big rival, since we both came over from open-wheel racing and all eyes will be watching to see how we do in the Cup series. David Reutimann was quick in the Trucks and he’ll be with a new team in a Toyota, so he’ll be someone I’ll want to compare myself to. David Ragan will be another rival next year. Both, David and Juan have an advantage over me in that they’re both driving for teams that have previous Cup experience. In some ways, they can just jump in the car and drive it instead of really being the one who has to lead the team in the learning process.

Is winning the Rookie of the Year title your main objective – or have you set yourself quite different goals for your debut season?

My goal for next year is to win 36 races, and if I don’t, I’ll quit. No, really one of my goals is to win the Rookie of the Year title because you only get one chance to win it. But the most important goal is to improve from the start of the year to the end of the year. Whether we’re running 40th every weekend at the beginning, and by the end of the year we’re running 20th or even 30th, we’ve at least improved. At the end of the year, we’ll have come a long way and we’ll have a lot more knowledge to work with during the off-season. I will improve as a driver, and we’ll all improve as a team.