A.J. Allmendinger meets the press at Atlanta Motor Speedway as Red Bull Racing announces his deal to drive in Nextel Cup in 2007. (Photo: Getty Images/Rusty Jarrett)

Allmendinger, meanwhile, didn't get a lap on the track Friday due to the rain, and when qualifying was rained out and the grid made up by points, Allmendinger and the Red Bull team had to pack up and go.

High-spirited Allmendinger, however, saw that as no more than a momentary setback, and he spent the minutes before the cancellation announcement at 3 p.m. outlining his goals for the season's remaining races.

He said the differences between Champ Car races and schedules and NASCAR's are eye-opening but not daunting. Races of 500 miles? No problem. The endless season? Can do.

"The thing that bothered me most about the [18-race] Champ Car season, whether you won or DNF, you could have four weeks before the next race. That was just rough. You were just bored at home.

"Now I know every weekend I can go out and run that race and get right back after it next weekend. You don't have time to think about it. If it's a bad weekend, you want to get back at it and fix it. If you win, you've got the momentum of a good weekend and you want to get right back at it again.

"Obviously, it's not going to be as bad as everybody makes it out for me."

Allmendinger had the line of the day when asked about having to give up normal life to the NASCAR grind.

"My life's not that interesting," he said. "I sit at home, work out and play video games. I put video games on my bus and a stationary bike on my bus, so it's like I'm back home again. It's not like my life is being taken away from me."

Without giving numbers, Allmendinger confirmed that he will make more as a NASCAR rookie than he did in Champ Cars, where he won five races before migrating from Forsythe. "It's a bit more money," he admitted, "but it's a lot more work."

Craftsman Truck points leader Todd Bodine says he does not favor applying the so-called "chase" championship format to the Truck series.

"It brings a playoff type of format to help the TV audience and create excitement, and it's done the job," he said. "I understand all that, but I don't agree with it.

"If you look at the past two of three years, Jimmie Johnson was way ahead in the points. They did the job all year long to put themselves in position to win a points championship, and they didn't win either one. Because of bad luck, they didn't do it.

"I think one thing that would help would be a mulligan. Give everyone a mulligan, one bad race. Take the nine best out of the final 10 races and see what happens."

International Race of Champions XXX concludes this afternoon with the fourth and final round at Atlanta. Four drivers still are in the picture for the championship -- Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Max Papis and Ryan Newman.

Under one layout, if second-place Kenseth wins and gets all the possible bonus points, Stewart would need to finish third or better to win his first IROC. Stewart stands to win his first IROC adding that trophy to national honors in USAC Midget, Sprint and Silver Crown, Indy Racing League, and NASCAR.

Kenseth won IROC in 2004.

The 66-lap, 100-mile race is scheduled to begin shortly after 3 p.m. Other competitors in the field are Martin Truex, Sam Hornish, Frank Kimmel, Mark Martin, Scott Sharp, Wayne Taylor, Steve Kinser and Ted Musgrave.