March 13th, 2012 
T.C. The opening three races of the 2012 season have not exactly been what A.J. Allmendinger and his new Penske team were hoping for. Coming into the year, expectations were certainly higher for the sixth year driver after his off season move to the #22 Dodge. In December, Allmendinger asked for and was granted his release from his ride at Richard Petty Motorsports so that he could take over for the embattled Kurt Busch. But following Las Vegas, a race marred by fuel system problems for both Penske drivers, Allmendinger and the 22 crew currently sit 30th in the standings, 81 points out of the lead, and 53 points out of 10th.
Because of the aforementioned fuel issues at Las Vegas, and incidents at Daytona and Phoenix, Allmendinger has yet to finish on the lead lap in a race this season. These results are a far cry from the start of the 2011 season, when Allmendinger sat ninth in the points through three races.
The lone bright spot for Allmendinger, if it can be called that, is that the cause of the bad finishes to this point has just been straight bad luck. At Daytona, Allmendinger was the victim of a freak accident when he damaged his car’s cooling system after hitting a tire that came off Ryan Newman’s car on pit road. The following week at Phoenix, Allmendinger was caught up in a wreck not of his own doing. And Las Vegas was ruined by the fuel issues.
Moving forward, Allmendinger and company need to start finding ways to finish races. They won’t be stuck outside the top 25 in points all season, but climbing out of a 53 point hole won’t be easy. You can never count a Penske car out (see Brad K.’s late season march last year), but the 22 needs to start turning things around quickly.
Posted in 
I wouldn’t hit the panic button on A.J. Allmendinger yet, unless of course he falls outside the top 35 in points anyway. And I think both cars (#2 and #22) of Penske Racing will bounce back in a few races or so and show their strengths. Just look at 2011, it took several races for both drivers to really get into it.
I’ve been an AJ fan since he came over from CART. At the time I was impressed by his car control and ability to make a pass without punting the other car out of the way. I followed him as he adapted to NASCAR and just wanted to see him make it because of his different background. I still believe that he has the ability to be a chase contender. I sometimes wonder if he is able to give sufficient info to his CC as the race progresses. He rarely seems to have a good car for the entire race.
I’m concerned at how the year has started and hope that they don’t overpress to get the situation turned around.
If my recollection is right, I believe that Brad K. stuggled a bit in 2010 when he first joined the team so maybe it will all be good in the end.
Im assuming AJ is a feel good story with everybody? Lets just hope these bad 3 races dont get to him like the first few did to Danica (see her pre Vegas press conference). I want him to succeed more than anybody out there, lets hope for the best.
IMO AJ is a capable driver, but he better get a move on. Shell is not gonna want a car that’s not least sniffing around a Chase spot come August.
*When the car is right, AJ is fast. Top 5 fast.
*AJ is not very good at helping his team make the car right.
*AJ over dramatizes flaws in the handling of the car…making it very hard for his CC to adjust. When the car is slightly off…he makes it sound terrible. When the car is terrible…he makes it sound terrible. How is a CC supposed to adjust the car? This happened 1st stop at Phoenix. The car was…a little off…on the tight side. AJ made it sound just terrible…and Todd took a big swing…and over adjusted badly. AJ went from tight to wicked loose…and this ended up with AJ in the wall. Yes…he was run into…but only because he was wicked loose. It was AJ’s fault for communicating poorly….
*When the car is wrong…he gives up. He needs to get his head on straight and learn to keep the hammer down…especially when the car is bad. If he would just put his head down…and fight tooth and nail…instead of get going on and on about how bad the car is…he would not give up nearly as many positions when the car is bad.
If AJ could get over his head case issues and grow up a little more…learn to control his emotions in the car…and communicate effectively…he could contend for championships. If he does not get his head straight…he will struggle to even be in the top 10 at seasons end.