Allmendinger says NASCAR fans have to be ‘tired of voting for Danica’

Allmendinger knows he can outdrive Danica Patrick and thinks fans should vote for him

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway on Saturday night is the last chance for drivers to qualify for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race on May 17 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. After Kansas, any driver still looking to get into that All-Star Race and hoping for a shot at the $1 million first-place payday could use a little help from their fans: a fan vote will put one non-qualified driver into that field.

Drivers' earn their way into the All-Star Race in several different ways: Drivers who have won races in the current and preceding year, drivers who are past Sprint Cup champions in the last 10 years, drivers who have won The All-Star Race in the past 10 years, the winning driver of the Sprint Showdown, the driver who finishes second in the Sprint Showdown, and the driver voted in by the fans. Voting opened March 16 and closes on May 16.

A.J. Allmendinger, short of a win at Kansas on Saturday night or a top-two finish in the Sprint Showdown on May 16, would need that fan vote to get into the All-Star Race. And Allmendinger says he has a few good reasons for fans to vote him into the race.

“Because they've got to be tired of voting for Danica [Patrick], I really feel like," Allmendinger said. “I'm a fun-loving guy. I was with Miss Sprint Cup last week. We were talking about it. I said I would do the worm across the stage if I get voted in, bust a move, whatever. We will have a good time with it."

Of course, Allmendinger knows he can still earn his way into the All-Star field.

“I've raced my way in a couple of times to the All-Star Race," Allmendinger said. “I love the new format now, with us racing on Friday [in the Sprint Showdown]. So if you do get your car into the show, you and your whole team, you can enjoy it a little bit more. [It used to be] when you raced your way in [on Saturday], you had no time to really have fun with your guys. It's like, turn the car around, OK everybody go up on stage, alright, boom, let's go race. I like the new format of knowing that after Friday night you are in or you are not in.

“It would be cool. It's just another chance to go out there and keep learning and keep improving. A fun race and hopefully the fans see, when we are in it, I have a good time with it." AutoWeek