Home > Sports

A.J.'s 'Grand' homecoming win
Allmendinger takes lead at halfway point for first Denver win
By Jeremy Johnson
jjohn308@mscd.edu

Photo by Jenn LeBlanc/jkerriga@mscd.edu A.J. Allmendinger poses for pictures with the Face of Champ Car winners from left: 1st runner up Kady Zinke, winner Lauren Gardner, 2nd runner up Carly Walker.

Hometown hero A.J. Allmendinger (#7 INDECK Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) passed Sebastien Bourdais (#1 McDonald’s Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone)for the lead on lap 48 of the Bridgestone presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford, and 49 laps later took the checkered flag with a staggering 20-second lead for his first Denver Grand Prix win Sunday.

Allmendinger took the lead with a beautiful move in turn one on lap 48, in front of one of his sponsors, no less.

“To the right on turn one was a Red Bull energy station and, you know, that’s one of my sponsors,” Allmendinger said in an interview with the MetReport after the race. “So I kind of had to reporesent in front of everybody and make the move where it counted.”

The win pulled Allmendinger within 32 points of Champ Car Series points leader and Paul Newman prodigy, Bourdais. The Frenchman fought with Canadian driver Paul Tracy (#3 INDECK Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) for second place for the most of the second half of the race, but Tracy clipped Bourdais in turn eight of the final lap to send the two cars spiraling to sixth and seventh place respectively. Afterward, the two had a brief on-track scrap before returning to the pit.

The accident was of no concern to Allmendinger who had, by that time, put 13 seconds between him and Tracy.

Bourdais has been touted as one of the best open-wheel racers since Mario and Michael Andretti and is sponsored by one of the best racing teams in the country. Actor Paul Newman and billionaire auto parts importer and former racer Carl Haas own the Newman/Haas Racing Team. The Newman/Haas team includes Brazilian Bruno Junqueira (#2 Newman/Haas Racing Ford-Cosworth/Bridgestone/Lola), who slithered past Bourdais’ wrecked remains to take second place on Sunday’s podium.

Rookie racer Dan Clarke (#14 CTE Racing-HVM Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) also benefited from the tangle, twisting by for third place. It marked the first time Clarke has made the professional Prix podium.

Aside from Thornton resident Allmendinger, Colorado was represented by Loveland-based racing team RuSports. RuSports driver Justin Wilson (#9 CDW Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) began the race in the third pole position but slipped into an eighth-place finish. RuSports came to Denver short one driver. Brazilian and Champ Car veteran Cristiano da Matta is in an intensive care unit in Wisconsin after he struck a deer on a practice track nearly two weeks ago. Though da Matta is still in serious condition, doctors are pleased with his progress.

Wilson was in third place in the Champ Car World Series by just three points going into Sunday’s race. Wilson remains in third place but is now 19 points behind Allmendinger and 47 points behind Bourdais with five events to go.

The next Champ Car World Series race will take place Aug. 25, 26 and 27 in Montreal. It will be the last of four Canadian stops this season. The Champ Car World Series then travels to Wisconsin before again going international. The last three stops on the tour are Ansan, South Korea, Surfers Paradise, Australia and Mexico City, Mexico.

But in the meantime, Allmendinger can bask in the glory of his first Denver win.

“I had my other home race in San Jose two weeks ago where I grew up and we didn’t get the finish we wanted there,” Allmendinger said to MetReport sports broadcaster John Romero. “But this weekend we bounced back, had an absolutely amazing car.”

“To finally be able to (win the race) in front of the home crowd is amazing.”