had a guaranteed starting spot for the next race. He had his best career finish at the time at Kansas Speedway coming in ninth, but was released from the team two days later. He was replaced for the rest of the season by Scott Speed and Skinner. Allmendinger raced with for Michael Waltrip Racing for 1 race in the No. 00 and Evernham Motorsports for the last five races in the No. 10. Allmendinger posted 2 top 10's and improved in making races by only failing to qualify for just the first 3 races. 2008–2011: Richard Petty Motorsports After signing a one-race contract with Michael Waltrip Racing, Allmendinger replaced fellow former open-wheel star Patrick Carpentier at Gillett Evernham Motorsports, scoring an average finish of 15.4th 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 third in his Daytona 500 debut, also his personal best, and is the fourth-best Daytona 500 debut behind Lee Petty in the 1959 Daytona 500, Scott Wimmer in the 2004 Daytona 500 and Trevor Bayne in the 2011 Daytona 500. Allmendinger was one of two go-or-go-home drivers (the other being Tony Stewart, but Stewart had the past champion's provisional available) to successfully attempt the first five races of the 2009 season. At 1:27 am 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