Addition of veteran driver AJ Allmendinger to full-time Cup seat was made for all the right reasons.
- Kaulig Racing recently announced a deal for AJ Allmendinger to drive its Camaros for the full 2023 Cup Series season.
- It’s tempting to look at Kaulig Racing and expect it to quickly impact NASCAR just as relative newcomer Trackhouse Racing has done in a short time.
- Kaulig took a huge step forward by signing Allmendinger to run Cup, especially considering NASCAR’s increasing number of road courses (six next year). Allmendinger has two Cup Series wins on road courses in his career.
Kaulig Racing has created news in recent weeks concerning NASCAR’s top two series. Unfortunately for the North Carolina-based company, much of it has been overshadowed by the Cup Series Championship Playoff Series that recently trimmed its original 16-driver Playoff field to eight.
And, of course, news about the nagging controversy surrounding the Next Gen car that has been sucking much of the oxygen out of any recent NASCAR news. Against all odds of being noticed, Kaulig has forged onward.
It recently announced a deal for AJ Allmendinger to drive its Camaros for the full 2023 Cup Series season, teaming with veteran Justin Haley. The company also has renewed with defending series champion Daniel Hemric for another Xfinity Series season and lured Chandler Smith from the Camping World Truck Series to replace Allmendinger in its Xfinity entry.
AJ Allmendinger has five wins in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and is second in the Playoff standings after his win at Charlotte.
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It’s tempting to look at Kaulig Racing and expect it to quickly impact NASCAR just as relative newcomer Trackhouse Racing has done in a short time. Kaulig took a huge step forward by signing Allmendinger to run Cup, especially considering NASCAR’s increasing number of road courses (six next year). His two Cup victories came at Watkins Glen and Indy, and 10 of his 15 Xfinity victories came on road courses.
The former IndyCar/sports car star looms as a threat in Kaulig’s No. 16s. He’s been affiliated with young and ambitious owner Matt Kaulig’s teams since 2019, when he ran full-time Xfinity and part-time Cup. Ironically, Allmendinger will reverse that next year, moving from full-time Xfinity and part-time Cup to part-time Xfinity and full-time Cup.
After racing Cup for almost a dozen years with Red Bull, Petty Enterprises, Team Penske, Phoenix Racing, and JTG Daugherty, “the Dinger” stepped back in 2018 after several down years. Kaulig lured him back part-time in 2019-2020, which led to full-time Xfinity in 2021. All told, he’s won 15 Xfinity races (two for Penske, 13 for Kaulig) and given Kaulig its first Cup victory on the road course at Indy last year. In addition to four Xfinity victories this year, he’s been top-10 in six of 14 Cup starts.
“When I first went to Kaulig to compete part-time in 2019 and 2020, I remember how I felt on the weekends I wasn’t racing and how much I missed it,” the 40-year-old driver said in a statement when the team made its Cup announcement last week. “Competing full-time is a mentally tough battle at times. No matter how much work you put in as a driver, there’s a chance you will not achieve success.
“For a while, I think I lost that competitive drive to be the best. Kaulig helped me find that again. I now feel more competitive than ever and believe there is more success to be earned as a team. I’m all for this team, which is more like a huge family. This is where I will end my career, in whatever capacity.”
Allmendinger, 40, recently won the Xfinity race at Talladega in a photo finish to reach Round 3 in the four-round Playoff Series. (Those races are upcoming at Las Vegas, Homestead, and Martinsville. The championship-deciding finale will be near Phoenix on Nov. 5).
He was fourth behind Hemric, Austin Cindric, and Noah Gragson in the 2021 standings, and goes into Las Vegas next weekend 12 points behind leader Gragson and six points clear of Ty Gibbs … younger by a mere 20 years.
Keyword: How Kaulig Racing Just Became an Intriguing NASCAR Cup Pick for '23