Allmendinger hasn’t turned his back on one day racing in NASCAR.

“There’s a lot of appeal there,” he said.

But he’s not in any great hurry to make the switch.

He likes that he can still walk down the street unnoticed, but he’d certainly give that up for a chance to race for a well-financed and well-run NASCAR team.

And for the right reasons.

“Money is nice, don’t get me wrong,” Allmendinger said. “It lets us have bigger houses and not worry about paying our bills. But for me it’s more important to win. To have the right situation to win, like I have right now with Forsythe Racing.”

No one knows better about being in a competitive ride in NASCAR than his mentor Tracy, who has driven five Busch races this year with a fairly uncompetitive team.

“He is a very, very good driver, ” said Tracy, who admits that Allmendinger has taken more than just a casual look toward NASCAR recently.

Tracy would like to see him stay in Champ Car for a few more years, but he knows that the appeal of NASCAR is very strong for Allmendinger – and the financial rewards are extremely lucrative.

“If he gets the right opportunity, it will be extremely hard to pass up,” Tracy said. “He’s got a long career ahead of him. The sky is the limit for him.”

For now, Allmendinger is quite comfortable being the only American-born driver in the Indianapolis-based Champ Car World Series – though Graham Rahal, the 18-year-old son of racing legend Bobby Rahal, is poised to enter Champ Car, quite possibly as soon as next year.

But for now, Allmendinger is the main attraction for American race fans that want to support one of their own.

“I take a lot of pride in that,” Allmendinger said.

Yahoo Sports