After being released from Red Bull Racing last month, A.J. Allmendinger has been working hard on finding a ride for next season and turning a few heads in the process.  Never one to give up and pack his bags for the open-wheel ranks, the sophomore driver told HardcoreRaceFans.com that talks with a number of teams are still ongoing, but that nothing has been set in stone as of yet.  In the meantime, Allmendinger has been called on to try and help turn two teams around.

When the series headed home to the Lowe's Motor Speedway for the Bank of America 500, Allmendinger climbed behind the wheel of the Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) No. 00 to see what he could do.  The results were not what either party was looking for.

Just over fifty laps into the run, Allmendinger got a bit too aggressive going down the backstretch.  Trying to fill a whole and making it three wide, he spun the No. 00 Toyota and hit the outside wall.  The damage ended their day earlier and resulted in a 43rd-place finish.

"I'm just sorry for everybody at Michael Waltrip Racing and Champion Mortgage and Toyota. That's not what they pay me to do," a visibly disappointed Allmendinger said of the incident.  "I just feel like an idiot honestly -- I didn't want to do that for these guys and I probably wasn't patient enough and I feel bad. It was all me."

This past weekend at the Martinsville Speedway, it was Allmendinger's first try with Gillett Evernham Motorsports (GEM).  After they announced the release of Patrick Carpentier, GEM decided to put Allmendinger behind the wheel of the No. 10 Dodge for the final five races of the year.  With this seat already filled for next season - Reed Sorenson will move from Chip Ganassi Racing - Allmendinger knows the ride is not up for grabs, but that's not going to stop him from impressing.

"I've been fortunate enough to have teams like MWR and GEM call me and ask for my services," Allmendinger told HardcoreRaceFans.com.  "With all of the talk going on with every team, you never know what could happen.  So, you go out there and do a job, have fun and make an impression on them and you never know what it could turn into."

Jumping behind the wheel of the No. 10 Dodge, Allmendinger was sixth-fastest during Saturday's opening practice and tenth-fastest in the weekend's final session.  Unable to post a qualifying time thanks to the rain, Allmendinger started the day in the back of the pack in 39th.  Showing an impressive level patience and maturity, the 26-year-old kept the No. 10 out of trouble and constantly moving forward all day.

When the checkered flag dropped at the end of the day, Allmendinger brought the car home in the 15th-spot, a career-best at the .526-mile track and just one spot shy of tying the season-best finish for the No. 10 car.

"It was a good start to the first five races that I'm going to be in the 10 car for Gillett Evernham," Allmendinger said after the event. "I think that we learned a lot throughout the race.  Martinsville is a place that I haven't had much luck at, it's almost kind of new to me. We had a good racecar.  Our pit stops were great.  With where we were pitted, we just couldn't get track position; we got blocked in a lot. It was good day overall for our Tow Truck in a Box Dodge."

This weekend, Allmendinger is headed back to the track Red Bull Racing benched him earlier in the year.  After failing to make the first three races of the season, it was at Atlanta where team officials decided to bring in Mike Skinner and give A.J. some time to watch and learn.  Now officially departed from the team, the California-native is hoping to better his run at Martinsville.

"We want to ride our momentum from last week into Atlanta," Allmendinger said of this weekend's upcoming Pep Boys Auto 500. "It's a fun track and real racy. There's a ton of room to move around and find different lines to run.  I've only raced there once in the Cup car but I really enjoyed it and we had a good finish."

In that one start, which came in the fall of 2007, Allmendinger started from the 31st-spot and worked his way up to the 16th-spot.

One of the nicest guys in the garage, Allmendinger is a genuine racer with a "never say never" attitude.  After his impressive run at Martinsville, the next four weeks should be promising for one of the best free-agents on the market - and something every car owner with an open seat should keep a close eye on.

"It's all about pride for me," Allmendinger explained.  "No matter what car I'm in, I'm always going to go in and run the wheels off it and try to do the best I can.  It's a small world and you never know what can happen.  I go out there and do my job and make a great impression on the guys and they like me or the whole team likes me and whether it's next year of down the line, you never know.  That's the approach you have to take toward it."