Notes From The Watkins Glen Notebook

AJ Allmendinger

AJ Allmendinger’s 10th-place finish yesterday at Watkins Glen International could secure the California native a full-time ride in JTG Daugherty Racing’s No. 47 car for 2014. In three starts for JTG Daugherty this season, Allmendinger has posted an average finish of 17^th, compared to an average of 26.8 for regular driver Bobby Labonte. In fact, Labonte has just one finish this season better than Allendinger’s 17^th-place average, a 15^th-place showing in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway. Allmendinger also has four Top-20 finishes in nine starts for James Finch’s Phoenix Racing Sprint Cup Series team this season, and a win in Nationwide competition for Penske Racing at Road America.

In a related story, JTG Daugherty Racing is reportedly investigating the possibility of a manufacturer change at season’s end. The team continues to campaign Toyota Camrys on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit, despite dissolving their technological partnership with Michael Waltrip Racing a year ago. Now, team principals Tad and Jody Geschickter and Brad Daugherty are reportedly negotiating with Richard Childress Racing and Chevrolet about an alliance for 2014 and beyond. 

Multiple sources say the sale of the Phoenix Racing Sprint Cup Series team to Turner-Scott Motorsports principal Harry Scott, Jr. is now complete, and will be officially announced on September 1 weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Finch will continue to operate the team until then, in an effort to maintain its 27^th-place owner points standing.

Brian Vickers

Michael Waltrip Racing is expected to announce Brian Vickers as full-time driver of their #55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Sprint Cup Series Toyota for 2014, tomorrow at 10 a.m. ET at the NASCAR Hall Of Fame in uptown Charlotte, NC. Vickers has made six starts for the team in a part-time role this season, sharing seat time in the No. 55 Toyota with team owner Michael Waltrip and Mark Martin. He won the Camping World RV Sales 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 14, and finished eighth at Bristol Motor Speedway in March. 

Tony Stewart was released from the hospital Sunday, three days after undergoing surgery to insert a metal rod into his broken right tibia. The former Sprint Cup Series champion suffered a Grade 2 compound fracture of his right tibia and fibula in a Sprint Car crash last week at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa. An initial surgical procedure was performed in the early morning hours Tuesday in Iowa, to stabilize and clean injury. The second surgery, performed by a specialist in North Carolina, inserted the metal rod to return Stewart’s broken tibia to its correct anatomic position.

Jimmie Johnson clinched a berth in the 2013 Chase yesterday with an eighth-place finish at Watkins Glen International. The five-time Sprint Cup champion left The Glen with a 75-point edge over championship runner-up Clint Bowyer, and is now guaranteed at least a Wild Card entry into this year's playoffs.

Richard Childress Racing has named Mark McArdle Director of Racing Operations, effective immediately. McArdle most recently worked for Furniture Row Racing as Executive Director of Competition. He will report to Dr. Eric Warren, Director of Competition at RCR, while overseeing the team’s technological partnership with Furniture Row Racing.

Tony Eury, Sr. has signed on to lead the No. 23 R3 Motorsports Nationwide Series team and driver Robert Richardson, Jr. Owner Robert Richardson, Sr. announced the signing, saying, “We are excited to have Pops on board with us. We feel with what he brings to the table, this is our opportunity to get our program turned around and become more competitive.” Eury said of the move, “I have known the Richardsons for a long time and am looking forward to working with Rob, Jr and the R3 Motorsports team. This is a great opportunity to get back to the race track and help this team achieve the performances I know they are capable of.”