When AJ Allmendinger steps foot in a race car, he knows one thing is for sure. When he gets out, his wife Tara will always be there to greet him, no matter if it was a win, or a finish deep in the pack. I sat down with Tara following AJ’s win at the Charlotte Roval, and to say the excitement level was blowing the roof off the media center is an understatement, and that wasn’t just from the driver.
Steve Conley: AJ has always worn his emotions on his sleeve, and with the ups and downs of his career, those emotional swings have been even Bigger, What have you seen from AJ over the last couple of years, both on track, off the track and at home as well all of the good that AJ deserves to have around him.
Tara Allmendinger: “I would say that he is the most consistent person, so he’s always going to be who he is, and he champions that and I love it.
But, like he said the other day in his press conference he’s become more comfortable and confident in his skin. And I think as far as the sport, all the changes really came back to him in the road courses and everything. I just saw a more calm, confident person instead of someone that was sporadic.
“And I do really think it was a lot of the people that was around him, he’s always had a lot of good people around him. But I would like to say or hope that, you know, I’m one of those influences.
“But, you know, he’s really influenced me a lot as well, and I think the circle changed when I came in to the picture. He just deserves good people around him.”
SC: So, how much of that changed for AJ with the situation at JTG/Daugherty and the 47 car?
TA: “The tide kind of changed after the 47 deal. We were able to sort of take a step back and reevaluate. I think, when you’re doing it with someone else, you evaluate life, maybe not differently, but you want to really go for it, because you have those people in your life to like to do the work. So I really love the guy that he’s become because he’s really capitalized on the people around him, and he’s made everyone around him better. I can say that for sure. Like I’m thousands of times better. Seems like everybody that talks about him just, they immediately become upbeat.”
There is no question, anyone that talks to AJ, spends time around him, works with him, just has a more positive and upbeat attitude.
TA: “It doesn’t matter if it’s Chris or Matt or anybody on this team. When they talk about AJ, they’re positive. Yes, it really kind of goes around.”
SC: I have to ask you about next year. When he brought the idea of going full time cup racing to you, did you heart maybe hit the floor a little in surprise?
TA: “No, we had kind of talked about this for a while. You know, the talks of alright, this might happen we might do it again halftime, there were a lot of variables. But you know, the leader he is and even when he’s out there, with Justin Haley, Justin is a different driver. He just has this, I don’t know, leadership and kind of almost a calmness about him. So I saw where it was going.
SC: But you did have to look at the situation a little differently, knowing what he wanted?
TA: “As we layed everything out on the table, I took a step back and took myself out of the equation, I’m like, this seems like the best thing if you’re gonna keep going forward, and why would you not use him? I mean, my goodness, if you’re gonna build a program, and you have AJ Allmendinger, like, yeah, he’s the best one. But he’s a really great teammate that he becomes like a brother, a dad– a friend. And I think, you kind of step back, and it’s like, how do you know you made the right choice.
“And it’s really how he carries himself with other people. And I love that I knew that it was going to happen, I knew that they would love him. So no, my heart didn’t hit the floor.”
SC: Knowing how much he loves to race, how much fun he’s having with Matt, Chris and the entire Kaulig organization that had to make it a little easier it seems, but did you have any reservations when it came to the safety aspect, especially with what we’ve seen this year?
TA: “You know, obviously, I have some concerns. So the whole conversation about safety is out there, but I have heard good things. And honestly, people have been coming to me like don’t worry. Things I haven’t even had to askabout. To me that says that people want the best for us and they don’t want anything to happen. They’ve at least been really forthright coming to me and saying, It’s okay, we’re working on it. And we’re gonna get this right.
SC: And I think when it comes to the fans, hearing that from the drivers families, has to set their mind at ease knowing we’re working on this going in the right direction and getting fixed.
Speaking of being at the track, for any fan, or media member in my case, walking up and down pit road prior to the race, we see the family interactions, we see drivers and their wives/girlfriends and kids. But, when it comes to you and AJ, you can almost feel the fun you two have together. You can see how things bounce back and forth between you two. It seems there is the ol’ yin and yang one balances the other and vice a versa, is it that balanced?
TA: “He really grounds me, like I say, I’m the crazy one, which I know is hard to believe, but he really does calm me down. Plus he set a standard in the house, he goes, You know, I’m going to be the emotional one. So I need you to hold it together. So that has made me a stronger. It’s really made me a better person, because I’ve had to do some work to make sure that I’m that person. And because of all that work and the fact I’ve had a teammate that has almost pushed me and kept me accountable to being the best him to me and me to him. I think we really like being teammates with each other.”
SC: When you have someone that has so much fire and drive to win, you know there will be competition. Especially, when the other half has just as much drive. (Author’s Note: When we sat down after the ROVAL win, Tara was about to compete in a karate tournament the following day, which resulted in her winning her match and bringing home a nice prize that now hangs right along side of one of AJ’s trophies.)
Tell us about the battle of the swords and how that balances your relationship.
TA: “I do American freestyle karate, and with each win we get a katana sword. And so it’s kind of like a cooperative, and it’s not competition, it’s ‘coopetition.’
We love making each other better. And I think that is why it comes off to everyone because we’re we’re in it together and it’s real, and in real time. We enjoy it.
(Author’s Note: After the karate match, Tara mentioned how the experience was incredible on a spiritual level while she presented her Kata perfectly.
“I made my sensei so proud. I walked over hot coals. It’s not as bad as you would think.”
Just once again, proving mind over matter and allowing her faith to drive her to overcome.)
Both, Tara and AJ’s faith drives them to succeed and to overcome challenges, Tara wrote the following quote after her eventful evening and allowed us to share it.
TA: “I am proof you can lead by faith and not by sight. That you can overcome the deepest sorrow and use it to fuel your passion (miss you mom). You will never be burned by the fire with real belief in God. I am thankful for this ceremony and for the opportunity to celebrate my life and thow who are in it.”
Before we wrapped our time at Charlotte, racing and winning at home means a lot to drivers and their families, I asked Tara what North Carolina has meant to her. The pagentry and the success of AJ, they’ve given a lot to the state, but, what do you feel like it has given to you?
TA: “I love the support, I tell everyone a crown a trophy, a sword, those are all great. But the peer to peer recognition that really is human capital to make things happen.
“I really feel like we are in the best place. And I feel like we’re ready to take it to the next level. Like we have the entire state support, they’re excited. And that excitement makes us want to do more, we want to win more, we want to make them proud. And we feel that love and support.
“So like I really feel that you know, this time, it’s a great time to take our message to a national platform, and why wouldn’t we feel like we could win with and for a whole state and our country, like that is a really cool feeling. So, if we can just continue to make ourselves the best version of ourselves and be really good friends and be that example.
“To me, North Carolina has given us just a continued fire to want to see where we can take all of this.”
With a full Cup Series ride on the horizon for AJ, national, and international pageants for Tara along with karate, they may be on the go more than ever. But, they will never be far apart from each other.
As Tara said, “The passion that we have for God, life and competition is something we all could take and make better versions of our own selves.”
