INDIANAPOLIS – The friendship between A.J. Allmendinger and IndyCar and IMSA team owner Michael Shank is so strong, they are almost like brothers.
When Helio Castroneves gave Shank his first NTT IndyCar Series victory as a team owner in the biggest race of them all, the 105th Indianapolis 500 on May 30, Allmendinger admitted he cried like a baby.
“Yeah, Memorial Day weekend there I sat in my house bawling,” Allmendinger admitted, just an hour or so after he won Sunday’s Verizon 200 at the Brickyard. “When Helio won, just knowing everything that Mike had been through, I like literally just couldn’t stop crying during the day because I was so happy for him. I just remember thinking, ‘God, I wish I could just share that with him.’
“Like to show who Mike Shank is, he came to our race at Mid-Ohio the next week. He had better things to do, but came and supported us, and we won there.”
On Sunday, Shank was at a bar on a lake near his home in rural Ohio watching Allmendinger compete in the NASCAR Cup Series Verizon 200 at the Brickyard.
At one time, Allmendinger was one of the top open-wheel drivers in the United States and was a member of the Red Bull program to develop an American driver for Formula 1. From there, he went on to become a multi-time winner in Champ Car before making the leap to NASCAR, driving for a time with Team Penske.
In 2013, team owner Roger Penske gave Allmendinger a limited schedule in IndyCar, which included the Indianapolis 500.
He led 23 laps in that year’s Indianapolis 500 and could have challenged for the victory had his seat belts not come undone. He was forced to make a pit stop to correct the issue. He still finished seventh in the race won by Tony Kanaan.
Allmendinger would later return to NASCAR as a Cup Series driver and later as a Xfinity Series driver with Kaulig Racing.
Just one day after finishing second to Austin Cindric in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard, Allmendinger and Kaulig were back at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the NASCAR Cup Series race.
Allmendinger drove a brilliant race and was in position to battle for the victory at the end. When Chase Briscoe punted race leader Denny Hamlin out of the way in overtime, only to be penalized for a move earlier in the lap where he short cut the race course, Allmendinger was suddenly in the lead.
“I was at a bar on my lake, and it was joy, just pure joy, total joy,” Shank told SPEED SPORT Sunday night. “We’ve been down a long, long path. Sixteen years he’s been with me at the Rolex 24. So much good. So much bad. So much in-between. The same year, we both hit the jackpot.
“We’re thankful and grateful. It’s good. It’s awesome.”
Three months after Shank’s team won in IndyCar for the first time at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Allmendinger earned his first win at the historic speedway.
“It’s just unbelievable to be able to like now have this rich history and be able to share that with him and do it in the same year,” Allmendinger said. “We’re all brothers and close friends, and you want success for that, and you want to be able to share that.
“To be able to do this now on the same year. We actually have his golf tournament tomorrow so that’s going to be fun. Like I don’t know what to do. Like it’s going to be insane. We’re going to be sitting there like, really?
“’Like the same year we just did this?’
“It’s so – special is not even – like the biggest understatement in the world.”
Shank watched Sunday’s race intently, even coaching Allmendinger through the TV.
“I watched that race all day today and I thought there is no possible way,” Shank admitted. “At one point, I thought, ‘Why are they taking tires right now?’ He was maybe 10th and went to 17th after the decision was made to get tires.
“Boy, did he fight for it from there.
“When you look at people, I always considered Tony Stewart the greatest transitional guy from IndyCar to stock car. I just don’t know how you can’t put A.J. Allmendinger in that argument as far as all-around guy if you look at what he has done. The only thing he hasn’t done is dirt and midgets.
“He’s done my stuff in sports cars. He’s done IndyCar. He damned near won the 2013 Indianapolis 500 with a seat belt coming undone.
“I think he is in the argument and deserves to be in the top three guys that has done all of it. That’s the thing I’m most proud of.”
Allmendinger is not just a NASCAR driver. He wasn’t just an IndyCar driver or a sports car driver.
Allmendinger is a race car driver.
“Yes, he is,” Shank said. “I just don’t think he gets enough credit. Shame on everybody.
“History will ultimately tell us when he and I are sitting on a beach in the Caribbean. I hope he gets that attention because he deserves it.
“A.J. is like my brother.”
Shank is holding a charity golf tournament Monday in Ohio. Allmendinger and Castroneves will be playing in that tournament.
“That’s just dumb luck,” Shank said.
Allmendinger may not hit the ball down the fairway, but after Sunday’s win, it won’t matter.
“I’m going to really enjoy this; but it means more to me to watch my close friends, my brothers have success than it does for me because I’m okay in life,” Allmendinger said. “Like life is good. I’ve got a great wife. My parents have been fantastic. I love driving for them. Like life is good.
“Seeing especially like Mike and me and him having our ups and downs together where there was times, he had to pull me up, like Dude, come drive for me, and there was times where he was like, I can’t pay you, and I’m like, I don’t care, I’ll drive for you, like whatever you need.
“That means more to me than anything is to see my friends and my close brothers have success, especially at the Indianapolis 500, you can argue the biggest race in the world so that’s what meant so much to me, and that’s why I was just lost for emotion there because it’s huge for him.
I love what we’re sitting here being able to do right now, but for me I’m like, this is awesome for me, but for them, I’m like, they deserve it because he puts so much of his own money into it. He puts every dying moment into this race team and all the men and women.
“I love it for myself, but I always say I drive really for a couple of people. I drive for myself because it’s pure enjoyment, challenging myself, and it’s really pushing myself for all the men and women at that race team because they’re the ones putting their heart and soul and really my life in their hands.
“That’s why I enjoy it so much really.”