Notebook: Penske hopes to have AJ Allmendinger back in the No. 22 car

Notebook: Penske hopes to have AJ Allmendinger back in the No. 22 car

July 15, 2012 (EDITORS: Corrects Edwards' deficit from 10th place to 46 points in 17th graf)

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

LOUDON, N.H. -- Team owner Roger Penske held out hope suspended NASCAR Sprint Cup driver AJ Allmendinger will return to the No. 22 Dodge for the July 29 Crown Royal 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

That will happen, however, only if the test of a "B" sample fails to confirm the positive test of the "A" urine sample Allmendinger provided June 29 at Kentucky Speedway. Allmendinger tested positive for what his business manager, Tara Ragan, characterized as a "stimulant" and was suspended from NASCAR competition before the July 7 Coke Zero 400 at Daytona.

Substituting for Allmendinger, Sam Hornish Jr. drove the No. 22 to a 22nd-place finish in Sunday's Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

"Obviously, this situation is disappointing because of the circumstances," Penske said after Sunday's drivers' meeting at NHMS. "I've said it before. I'm more concerned about the individual than the situation, because that'll take care of itself. There'll be facts and figures, and there'll be an outcome.

"I think, more importantly, if the results go (Allmendinger's) way, meaning that he can get back in the car, he'll be in the car at Indianapolis. If it's not, then we'll assess Sam's availability."

A test of Allmendinger's "B" sample, which was collected at the same time as the "A" sample, had not been scheduled as of Sunday, according to Ragan.

Should Allmendinger's "B" sample test result in an indefinite suspension from NASCAR competition, Penske has other options beyond Hornish, pending consultation with sponsor Shell/Pennzoil.

"We've had a lot of contacts, as you might expect," said Penske, who also fields the No. 2 Dodge for Brad Keselowski in the Cup series, along with two NASCAR Nationwide Series cars. "It's a great ride, great sponsor and, heck, we've got a great team. To me, we can't run around with one car. We've got to have two, and you'd like to have three in this competitive environment that we're in. Overall, we're going to deal with it."

Penske said he has been in touch with Allmendinger and hopes the issue can be resolved within the next two weeks.

"My communication with him is saying, 'Look, we're here, we're anxious to get the results, we're behind you, let's stay that way, and we'll deal with whatever the outcome is at the proper time,' " Penske said.

BITE YOUR TONGUE, CHAMP

Jimmie Johnson was sorely tempted to comment about the late caution in Sunday's race that trapped him a lap down and cost him a probable top-five finish.

Johnson had just short-pitted on Lap 231 when NASCAR threw the yellow for oil on the track, courtesy of David Reutimann's blown engine.

Though Johnson got his lap back as the highest scored lapped car and subsequently drove up to seventh place at the finish, the five-time champion tiptoed up to the edge of questioning the validity of the caution without going there -- perhaps because negative comments by drivers about such things have earned monetary fines in the past.  

"Yeah, I'm going to keep my mouth shut on that caution," Johnson said after the race. "Anyway, we had a great race car. There was a lot of speed in the car. It was the Gibbs cars and the Hendrick cars, and at times I was the best Hendrick car -- running top-two, top-three.

"But then that caution put us back in traffic. We still got through there decent."

EDWARDS NEEDS BATTLE PLAN

If Kasey Kahne got what he needed on Sunday -- a victory that left him in control of the wild-card race for a Chase position -- Carl Edwards certainly didn't.

Edwards, who lost last year's championship to Tony Stewart on a tiebreaker, is in danger of missing the Chase, and Sunday's 18th-place finish didn't help. Winless this season, Edwards is 11th in the standings, 46 points behind 10th-place Brad Keselowski.

The only routes to the Chase are to finish in the top 10 after 26 races or to secure the most or second-most victories among drivers in positions 11-20. Edwards is on the outside of both equations, and he'll use next week's open date to regroup.

"We'll go back to the shop and get a real war plan," said Edwards, who slipped back through the field after a two-tire call late in the race. "I say 'war plan' because I think it's going to be tough, but we've got to plan for the next seven races (after which the Chase field is set). 

"We can do it, though, and now we've just got to get it done."