DAYTONA BEACH — A.J. Allmendinger started his day shortly after 8 a.m. Tuesday morning in Charlotte, North Carolina. Roughly 10 hours later, the 36-year-old racer, along with his girlfriend, Tara, and cat, Mr. Tickles, were in their Ford Edge, headed south on Interstate-95.
Sandwiched in-between were nine straight hours worth of interviews — spanning from Sirius radio to Fox Sports — at NASCAR's annual media day. Now, he had a seven-hour drive in-front of him.
It didn't matter, though. For Allmendinger, making the annual hike to Daytona Beach for the Rolex 24 was well worth the long day.
"I think it's just being able to compete against the best in the world through different forms of racing," said Allmendinger, whose primarily driven full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series since 2009. "There are so many Indy Car drivers there, and sports car drivers, and, in the past, a decent bit of Cup drivers. Heck, you've even had some motorcycle drivers there.
"You just get so many different backgrounds, and they're the best in the world. The 24 Hours, it's so prestigious. It's one of the three or four biggest races in the world. I enjoy that competition."
Allmendinger will help pilot the No. 86 Michael Shank Racing Acura this weekend, along with Katherine Legge, Alvaro Parente and Trent Hindman. While the Los Gatos, California native is perhaps the most experienced of the group — this will be his 12th Rolex 24 — Allmendinger said he'll feel more like a rookie this time around.
Not only will this be his first Rolex since 2016, but it'll be his first time driving in the GTD class. Before taking last year off, Allmendinger had participated in 11 straight Rolex 24s, all in a Prototype.
"It was a little weird, but then I saw it downpour for about 14 hours, and I was like, 'well, my couch isn't too bad,'" laughed Allmendinger, who said minor injuries suffered at the end of 2015 NASCAR season, along with not being able to drive for Michael Shank Racing, contributed to skipping last year's Rolex. "It was definitely a little weird, though."
Allmendinger has driven for Shank every year since 2006, including winning the 2012 race, coming in third in 2013, and capturing the pole in 2015. Last season, Shank struck a deal with Honda to run Acura’s factory program with the GT Daytona class, and Allmendinger was left without a seat.
"At the time, Honda wanted their Indy Car guys in, which was totally understandable," he said. "I didn't really seek anything else. Part of the reason I do the race is being there with Shank and all the guys. He's one of my best friends. I felt like if it wasn't going to be with Shank I should probably just take a winter break."
It didn't take long for the two longtime friends to reunite. Last month, Shank announced that Allmendinger would return to the Rolex lineup in his No. 86 machine, joining Legge, Parente and Hindman.
"It’s really cool to be racing with a longtime friend in A.J.," said Legge, who helped earn Acura its first two wins last year (Belle Isle Park and Watkins Glen). "I'm really looking forward to the race. It's been a year since the car made its debut and the team, Acura and HPD have done a fantastic job at developing it from there."
While Legge and Allmendinger are the only two of the four-driver stable on the No. 86 team who have Rolex experience (Legge drove the DeltaWing Prototypes from 2014-16 before joining Shank last season), Allmendinger, 36, admitted the only thing that makes him a veteran this time around is his age.
"Well, I'm definitely the old one of group," he laughed. "But the veteran? Maybe in the Prototype car, but not the GT. I've felt like a rookie trying to learn this car. The biggest difference for me is the ABS brakes. They feel a lot different. They told me that would be the hardest thing to learn and it definitely has been. Anybody who's driven a street car with ABS on it, and you hammer the brake pedal to stop quick, and the pedal shakes and you have that feel. That's what it feels like in a race car at 175 mph.
"It's part of the fun, though. Having that new challenge. By that third day (at The Roar earlier this month) I had a bit more of feel for it. I felt a little more confident after that."
Still, Allmendinger, who spent most of Wednesday on the greens of LPGA International, said he plans to hit the track first thing Thursday. The first practice of the weekend starts at 9:20 a.m., followed by another session at 1:40 p.m. and GT Qualifying at 3:55.
Despite only having about four hours of practice ahead of Saturday's 2 p.m. start, the veteran vowed to be ready when the green flag drops.
"I didn't watch it a lot (last year) because I didn't want to sit there and miss it," he added. "It's definitely nice to be back, that's for sure."