A.J. Allmendinger, who drives for Richard Petty Motorsports in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, participated in the second day of Rolex 24 testing behind the wheel of the No. 60 Ford Riley for Michael Shank Racing. 

Allmendinger, who has four previous Rolex 24 starts all with Michael Shank Racing, has a best finish of second in 2006. He plans on competing with Michael Shank Racing in the 2010 Rolex 24.

“Mike (Shank) and I are married until we win this race,” Allmendinger said. “We're sticking together until we win this thing. I love running with Michael Shank Racing. All the guys on this race team are hard workers.

“The test went well. It's good for me because only doing this one time, you've got to get use to it. The January test, there are so many cars here it's hard to get into rhythm. I won't be in a Cup car much before I come back here. Now that I have done test day, I'm in the rhythm of the Prototype.

“I love the series and I love driving the Daytona Prototypes,” Allmendinger continued. “They're a lot of fun. It's definitely a lot different. It takes about eight to 10 laps to get back into form and know where to brake. But I enjoy it, and being able to do the December test will make it a lot easier coming back in January. This will help me a lot. I'll be able to come back in January, jump right back in the car and it will be like I was in it all year.”

But even before the Rolex 24, Allmendinger plans on being back at Daytona competing in the Daytona KartWeek events on Dec. 28-30. Allmendinger will join fellow NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jamie McMurray in the annual post-Christmas karting event at DIS.

“I love kart racing,” Allmendinger said. “Unfortunatel, I don't get enough of it. I've never really had a chance to come down here and do the race. I'll be living here in Daytona for like two months.”