Allmendinger started his racing career at the age of five, racing BMX bikes. He advanced to quarter-midgets on ovals on the West Coast by the time he was eight, and within a few years, he began racing karts, winning two International Kart Federation Grand National championships.
Allmendinger participated in the Formula Dodge National Championship in 2001, which earned him a spot in the Barber Dodge Pro Series championship in 2002, a championship he won. He also raced in New Zealand in 2002 in the New Zealand Formula Ford Championship. In 2003, he was signed to Carl Russo's RuSPORT team and won the Champ Car Atlantic Championship, winning nine pole positions and seven races.
On February 29, 2004, RuSPORT announced their entry into the Champ Car World Series, fielding two entries for Allmendinger and Michel Jourdain Jr. Around this time, Red Bull signed Allmendinger to their family of athletes. Allmendinger scored his first podium of the season in the Grand Prix of Vancouver. In the second half of the season, Allmendinger finished sixth place or higher five times, including another podium finish in Mexico City. Allmendinger ended the season sixth in points, winning the Roshfrans Rookie of the Year Award over Justin Wilson.
In 2005, Wilson replaced Jourdain Jr. at RuSPORT, becoming Allmendinger's teammate. Throughout the season, Allmendinger finished on the podium five times, finishing runner-up in four of those podium finishes. In July, Allmendinger qualified on pole for the first time in his Champ Car World Series career at the Grand Prix of Edmonton.
On June 9, 2006, after four races in the season, RuSPORT announced that Allmendinger would be replaced by 2002 CART champion Cristiano da Matta, as the team believed that de Matta would be a better challenger against Sébastien Bourdais, who had swept the first four races of the season. Five days later, Forsythe Championship Racing announced Allmendinger as their new driver, replacing Mario Domínguez. In the first race with Forsythe, Allmendinger won the Grand Prix of Portland. Allmendinger won the next two races at the Grand Prix of Cleveland and the Grand Prix of Toronto, giving him three consecutive victories. Allmendinger would enter the eighth race of the season second place in the standings behind Bourdais.
Allmendinger earned two more wins during the 2006 season, winning the Grand Prix of Denver and Road America. Despite being second in points heading into the final race of the season, Allmendinger left Champ Car before the race to accept a lucrative offer from NASCAR's Red Bull Racing Team. In 2007, Allmendinger commented that a lack of marketing and sponsorship due to the CART-IRL split played a role in him and several other open-wheel drivers moving to NASCAR, adding "it needs to be one series. To have all the best open-wheel drivers on this continent racing against each other, you'd hopefully get some sponsors back and get a decent TV package."
It was reported in late 2012 that Allmendinger could move to the now-unified IndyCar Series with Michael Shank Racing for the 2013 season. This did not materialize; instead, he participated in IndyCar's winter testing at Sebring with Team Penske. In March, it was announced that Allmendinger would compete part-time in the IndyCar series for the team at Barber Motorsports Park and in the 2013 Indianapolis 500, with the goal of adding more races later in the season. After finishing 19th in his IndyCar debut, Allmendinger was put back into the car for the following race at Long Beach. In May, Team Penske announced that Allmendinger would participate in the Chevrolet Indy Dual races in Detroit.
Allmendinger qualified fifth for the 2013 Indianapolis 500. He led 23 laps and finished seventh despite pitting with around seventy laps to go due to his seatbelt loosening during the race. Allmendinger failed to complete a lap in the Chevy Indy Dual races, crashing out in the first race on lap one after contact with Scott Dixon and crashing out on lap 1 in the second race after hitting the wall. In October, it was announced that Allmendinger would race in the season finale at Fontana in an attempt to help Hélio Castroneves win the championship. Allmendinger would qualify second in the race behind polesitter and teammate Will Power. He would finish in sixteenth after crashing on lap 190.
Despite claiming he would be willing to race full-time in IndyCar if Roger Penske offered, Allmendinger hasn't raced in the series since. After the death of Justin Wilson, who died after getting struck in the helmet with debris in a 2015 IndyCar race at Pocono, Allmendinger stated that he would not return to IndyCar unless IndyCar made safety modifications to the cockpit. Despite IndyCar introducing the aeroscreen in 2020 and NASCAR driver Kyle Larson running in the 2024 Indianapolis 500, Allmendinger has stated he is not considering running another race in IndyCar.
Allmendinger made his NASCAR debut in the Craftsman Truck Series driving for Bill Davis Racing at New Hampshire International Speedway on September 16, 2006, in the No. 24 Toyota Tundra. He crashed his primary truck in qualifying but started the race 32nd in a backup truck from teammate Bill Lester and finished on the lead lap in 13th. He also competed at the Talladega Superspeedway in October with a fifth-place finish. In his third career truck series start, he qualified in second place at Atlanta and led five laps before he wrecked and finished 34th.
Red Bull officially announced Allmendinger as part of its 2007 Nextel Cup Series driver lineup on October 25, 2006. He attempted his first Cup Series event at Atlanta in October 2006 driving the No. 84 Red Bull-sponsored Dodge Charger, however, due to qualifying being rained out and a lack of owner's points, Allmendinger was unable to make the race. He also attempted to make the race at Texas Motor Speedway, failing to qualify again.
Allmendinger and Brian Vickers were named Red Bull's drivers for 2007, with Allmendinger piloting the team's No. 84 Toyota Camry with Vickers in the team's No. 83. Allmendinger failed to qualify for the 2007 Daytona 500 after a crash in the first Gatorade Duel race. He also failed to qualify for the next three races before making his first Cup start at the fifth race of the season, the Food City 500 at Bristol. As the season progressed, Allmendinger made a handful of races, predominantly in the "Car of Tomorrow.” Allmendinger failed to qualify in nineteen races that season, running a total of seventeen races. To assist him in the transition to stock cars, he participated in selected Craftsman Truck Series races in the No. 00 Toyota Tundra for Darrell Waltrip Motorsports, and in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge Charger in the Busch Series. In May, in the Craftman Truck Series race at Charlotte, Allmendinger ran towards the front of the field for the first time in his career, leading seven laps during the race. He would finish in second place in the race after being held off by Ron Hornaday Jr. on a green-white-checkered finish.
Allmendinger again failed to qualify for the 2008 Daytona 500. After three failures to qualify in two attempts, he was temporarily replaced by veteran driver Mike Skinner. Allmendinger returned to the Cup Series at Talladega. On May 17, 2008, he won the Sprint Showdown at Lowe's Motor Speedway during NASCAR's annual All-Star weekend. The win qualified Allmendinger for the Sprint All-Star Race later that evening, where he finished seventeenth. Due to Allmendinger's eleventh-place finish at Watkins Glen, for the first time in his career, he had a guaranteed starting spot for the next race. He had his best career finish at the time at Kansas, finishing in ninth, but was released from the team two days later. He was replaced for the rest of the season by Scott Speed and Mike Skinner. Allmendinger raced with Michael Waltrip Racing for one race in the No. 00 and Evernham Motorsports for the last five races in the No. 10. Allmendinger posted two top-tens and improved in making races by only failing to qualify for just the first three races.
After signing a one-race contract with Michael Waltrip Racing, Allmendinger replaced Patrick Carpentier at Gillett Evernham Motorsports, scoring an average finish of 15.4 over five races in the team's No. 10 Valvoline-sponsored Dodge. During the offseason, as part of the merger between GEM and Petty Enterprises, Allmendinger was to move to the No. 19 Best Buy-sponsored Dodge replacing Elliott Sadler. However, Sadler was still under contract for the 2010 season and announced he would file suit against Allmendinger and the organization. In early January 2009, Richard Petty Motorsports announced a settlement where Sadler would remain in the No. 19 and Allmendinger would return to his 2008 team, which was renumbered 44. However, Valvoline did not commit to sponsoring the team full-time, and they were forced to race without full-time sponsorship.
Allmendinger's team ended the 2008 season 36th in owner's points, meaning it did not have exemptions for the first five races of 2009. The retro-styled Valvoline 44 raced its way into the Daytona 500, and finished third in his Daytona 500 debut, also his personal best. Allmendinger was one of two go-or-go-home drivers to successfully attempt the first five races of the 2009 season.
At 1:27 a.m. on October 29, 2009, Allmendinger was arrested for drunk driving by Mooresville, North Carolina police. He registered a .08 blood alcohol level according to a police report. NASCAR placed him on probation for the rest of the 2009 season.
Allmendinger drove a Ford Fusion in the final three races of the season as part of RPM's transition from Dodge to Ford.
During the offseason, Allmendinger replaced Reed Sorenson in the team's famous No. 43 car. He collected two top-fives, eight top-tens, and a pole position in 2010, and finished nineteenth in the final standings.
After finishing eleventh in the 2011 Daytona 500, Allmendinger started the season tenth in points, driving the No. 43 Ford sponsored by Best Buy. Allmendinger continued to have a career-best year in 2011 with ten top-ten finishes and an average finish of sixteenth. He finished the 2011 regular season contending for a wild card spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, but came up just short. Three races before setting the field for the Chase, RPM put former Roush Fenway Racing crew chief Greg Erwin on the pit box starting at the 2011 Brickyard 400. Allmendinger and Erwin recorded six top-ten finishes after their pairing. Allmendinger finished the 2011 season a career-best fifteenth in the points. Allmendinger also announced that he would have a partnership stake in Mike Shank's IndyCar team, MSR Indy.
At the end of the 2011 season, Allmendinger left Richard Petty Motorsports when the driving spot for Penske Racing's No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil-sponsored Dodge became open. Before his suspension, his best finish was a second at Martinsville Speedway.
After failing a random drug test on July 7, 2012, Allmendinger was suspended from participation in the Coke Zero 400. Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR's senior vice president for racing operations, said that Allmendinger had up to 72 hours to request a B test sample. The next day, Penske said before the Honda Indy Toronto race that Allmendinger's B sample would be tested on Monday or Tuesday. Allmendinger requested a B sample test on July 9, 2012. On July 11, 2012, Allmendinger's camp said a stimulant caused the positive drug test. The B sample test had not yet been scheduled at that time.
On July 24, 2012, it was announced by NASCAR that Allmendinger was suspended indefinitely after the B sample tested positive for a banned stimulant, which was revealed to be amphetamine. He chose to participate in the Road to Recovery program. On August 1, 2012, he was released from his contract by Penske Racing. Allmendinger was replaced in the No. 22 by Sam Hornish Jr.; he later stated that the cause of the positive test was Adderall that he had unknowingly taken, being told it was an "energy pill". Allmendinger was reinstated by NASCAR on September 18, 2012 after completing the Road to Recovery program.
In October 2012, Allmendinger returned to NASCAR at Charlotte Motor Speedway, driving for Phoenix Racing, substituting for Phoenix's intended driver Regan Smith, who had been hired by Hendrick Motorsports to drive the No. 88 for Charlotte and Kansas while Dale Earnhardt Jr. was sidelined with a concussion.
On June 1, 2013, Roger Penske announced that Allmendinger would drive for his team at Road America and the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. In his first race of the season, the Johnsonville Sausage 200 on June 22, 2013, he won after winning the pole position and leading 29 laps, which was the most of any driver. At Mid-Ohio in August, Allmendinger dominated the race, saving fuel through a green-white-checkered finish to win and sweep the year's Nationwide Series road-course races for Penske Racing.
Allmendinger drove part-time for Phoenix Racing in the No. 51 Chevrolet in the Sprint Cup Series. He had several strong finishes in the first part of the season: eleventh at Phoenix, thirteenth at Bristol, sixteenth at Fontana, and fourteenth at Richmond. His first finish worse than twentieth was at Pocono, where he finished 33rd. Afterward, Allmendinger moved to the No. 47 Toyota at JTG Daugherty Racing in place of Bobby Labonte for two races, with a nineteenth-place finish at Michigan and a 22nd-place finish at Kentucky. At Daytona, Allmendinger returned to the No. 51 and was running near the top-ten for almost the entire night until lap 148, when he was part of a wreck in the tri-oval with Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, and David Reutimann, reducing Allmendinger to a 35th-place finish.
Returning to the No. 47 at Watkins Glen, Allmendinger had another breakout run, qualifying fourth, and running in the top fifteen for most of the day, finishing in tenth place.
On August 29, 2013, the Sporting News reported that Allmendinger would be the full-time driver for JTG Daugherty Racing in 2014. This was confirmed a month later with Allmendinger signing a multi-year deal with the team.
Allmendinger had a few poor opening races, but did well at Fontana, recovering from a late speeding penalty to finish eighth, as well as having top-tens at Richmond and Talladega.
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