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Allmendinger finds a lot to take in on his return to IMSA with MSR Acura

2012 Rolex 24 At Daytona winner AJ Allmendinger had plenty of things to think about as he climbed aboard Meyer Shank Racing’s Acura ARX-06 for the first time during the IMSA Sanctioned Test at Daytona on Friday.

The 15 laps he did in the morning session were Allmendinger’s first in a top-tier IMSA prototype since he drove the DPi-class Acura ARX-05 for MSR in 2021. It’s the first step towards Allmendinger’s 16th 24 Hours, all of them driving for team owner Michael Shank.

“I was on old tires, so that was some of it, but it was definitely tricky to drive,” Allmendinger said after his first run in the car. “I’m just trying to learn. A lot of it’s the braking, trying to get used to the braking and what the threshold is of not too much, or too much. I found ‘too much’ right away. But it’s all right.

“My biggest thing is just trying to learn as quick as I can. I know the the guys that I’m teamed up with are world-class, so I’m trying to not be the ‘slow guy’ completely and letting them down!”

His teammates – Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun and Scott Dixon – all ran last year’s Rolex 24 with Acura Meyer Shank Racing together, and have years of experience in the current crop of GTP cars. Meanwhile, Allmendinger was just trying to wrap his head around the ARX-06, a very different car than his usual ride in the NASCAR Cup Series, or most of the previous generations of prototypes he’d driven at Rolex 24s gone by.

“It’s been so long since the DPi, I don’t even remember what it felt like, honestly. I don’t know if that’s good or bad – but it’s a big step,” Allmendinger said. “It’s a proper race car, and it is about as different as you get from a (NASCAR) Cup car than anything – the grip level and all the controls that go with it; the braking, the physicality of it.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s like trying to learn how to walk again, but it’s a big step, trying to jump in it and know that you’re not going to get a lot of laps. I think the biggest thing for me is the stints that I’ll be in, you’re managing the race at that point.

“I’m just trying to get up to speed and, more than anything, just trying to leave here and, even at the Roar (Before The 24), just get comfortable being in the race car. Because once the green drops, you’re in full force out there.”

He may be a former Rolex 24 winner, but Allmendinger is staying humble in his approach. Logan Riely/Getty Images)

Elaborating on the physical aspect of driving the car, Allmendinger explained: “You’re not fully comfortable in it because you’re fitted to four different guys – I’m not overly tall, so I’m usually the short one in the group. It’s weird. The biggest thing, I could say, from a Cup car, it’s just the steering’s so much heavier, right away. It’s hard to turn the steering wheel.

“When you think about it, the Cup car is heavy, but there’s not a lot of downforce on it, and there’s a lot of power steering in it. Even around here, you’re sliding around a good bit, even through the banking, the steering wheel is still heavy. I’m just trying to get my hands used to it again. I mean, even those 10 or 13 laps, just going through the banking, you’re like, ‘OK, hands are sore!’ I’ve got to get used to that again.”

Allmendinger feels at ease watching his co-drivers behind the wheel – instead putting most of the pressure on himself to perform. “It’s stressful for me, being in the car. I have all the confidence in the world in them. It’s me trying to get the confidence back up,” he added.

“I just want you to know my job is to hopefully run good stints, and hand the car back off in the same position they handed it to me, and it looking pretty much the same. I have no stress watching them. Even watching Colin and Tom on the sim, I’m like, ‘Yeah, you make it look pretty easy!’”

Above all else, Allmendinger, who turns 44 next month, wants to fulfill his role and contribute meaningfully towards the No. 60 Acura’s result at Daytona, even if he is the fourth-quickest driver of the quartet – and make Shank proud to have kept his faith in him as a driver.

‘I know I’m going to be the weak link in the chain,” Allmendinger said frankly. “I just don’t want to be super weak in the chain. I want to do everything I can to go out there and just hold my weight.

“And that was the biggest thing I told Mike – I’m like, ‘I just don’t want to let you down.’ And he just was like, ‘Ain’t gonna happen, bud – you never have. We want you.’ You never know how many chances you get at it.

“I think this is year 16 that I’m running with him, so it’s been a fun ride. And hopefully, whether it’s the last one, or there’s more – hopefully we make this one a good ride.”