When A.J. Allmendinger left the NASCAR Cup Series following the 2018 season, he was pretty sure he was finished with NASCAR’s premier series, and maybe finished with stock car racing altogether.
He was moving on.
But working on television and pursuing his hobbies wasn’t fulfilling enough, so when Kaulig Racing team owner Matt Kaulig and team president Chris Rice approached him about running a limited schedule of races, Allmendinger accepted.
But as his schedule picked up, Allmendinger realized, “This feeling is not going away, it is getting worse. Seeing the cars on the race track and me not being in them, was getting worse and worse.”
He went full time NASCAR Xfinity Series racing in 2021 and again this year, winning consecutive regular season championships while running a limited schedule in the Cup Series.
And next season, he’ll be returning to the Cup Series full time as a teammate to Justin Haley.
“I told them from day one that I will do whatever you want me to do to make this team successful — whether that is be in the race car, not be in the race car, whatever it may be,” Allmendinger said. “We’ve had a lot of discussions about the Cup side of it. What Justin (Haley) is doing this year on a weekly basis, making this team stronger and being able to be in the car for 17 or 18 races, whatever it is going to be this year, I love being a part of it. I told them I will do what you want me to do. As we kept talking about it, they told me the Cup program is where I needed to be, and I am all for it.”
Allmendinger believes Kaulig Racing is a different kind of race team and that’s reigniting his passion for racing.
“It is crazy how the last four or five years of my life have gone but more than anything I love this organization. I know everybody probably gets tired of me talking about ‘all the men and women at Kaulig Racing, that’s what it’s all about.’ But it’s true,” Allmendinger said. “This is not a race team. This is a huge family. You saw it when Daniel (Hemric) and Landon (Cassill) came and hugged me after the race. I won that race because of those guys. That’s because this is what this team is all about.”
Allmendinger has earned 11 victories since joining Kaulig Racing and his confidence has grown greatly.
“I am who I am. I’m 40 years old,” Allmendinger said candidly. “I will be 41 when we start the Cup deal next year. I am not changing and I hope they don’t ever want me to change because it’s all about going out there and trying to win races and be better.
“What it is about is that I see the growth of this race team and I’m in a different time in my life in the sense that with all of the success we have had — 11 wins, two regular season championships — I am more comfortable in my skin than I have ever been.
“That may sound weird because I have always been outgoing and outspoken and you could see me where my emotions on my sleeve,” Allmendinger said. “But there was always a lot of self-doubt. Every day I wake up with self-doubt and every day, it is what drives me.”
He acknowledged his outlook hasn’t always been that uplifting.
“Four years ago, as my wife who has been with me for nearly 10 years now can attest, there were a lot of dark days — not fair to her— that she couldn’t fix. These guys don’t allow that,” Allmendinger said. “We have a time period. If it is a bad weekend, I am mad, they shut it down and we have fun after that.
“More than anything, I am so comfortable with what I have been able to accomplish. I’m more confident in myself and I am way better in a race car than I have ever been. Are there going to be tough times and growing pains, still? Of course, but this is what being a new Cup team entails in trying to get better, but I love what they are all about. They believe in me and that is all I need to know, whether it is good or bad.”
Allmendinger wants to finish his driving career with Kaulig Racing.
“At the end of the day, this is where I want to be and this is where I will finish my career — no doubt about it — in whatever capacity that may be, and I hope when I do I will be part of this organization moving on forward,” he said. “I’m pumped to be back in the Cup Series and we are going to keep trophy hunting.”