INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV) -- NASCAR driver AJ Allmendinger was getting ready for the driver introductions and drivers meeting for the Coca-Cola 600 when Meyer Shank Racing's Felix Rosenqvist won the Indianapolis 500 in the closest finish in race history.
Allmendinger said he immediately sent a text to Mike Shank, the team owner of Meyer Shank Racing.
"I have the itch right now to go party and drink with Mike Shank," Allmendinger said on Wednesday. "I don't know if I've ever been that happy in my life. Watching Helio win it from my house at the time, and then coming back here and winning it (the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard) the same year was pretty awesome. But God, I love me some Mike Shank. And the Meyer family as well, they've been just absolutely amazing to me. I was so lucky to be able to run Rolex again with him one more time.
"As I got in my car after the race, he was the first person I called," Allmendinger added. "And let's just say he was pretty tuned up when I called him, and he hadn't even gotten back to the racetrack yet."
Allmendinger drove in the Indy 500 back in 2013 with Team Penske. He finished seventh, qualifying fifth. He said he has no interest to race in the Indy 500 again.
"I honestly was probably more happy watching Mike win, especially the Indianapolis 500 than maybe if I ever would do it, just because I know what that guy's went through and he deserves everything he gets right now."
Allmendinger currently drives for Kaulig Racing and is 22nd in the NASCAR Cup Series standings. Allmendinger, along with Cole Custer, Ryan Preece, and John Hunter Nemechek, were at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Wednesday for a tire test ahead of next month's Brickyard 400.
