In 2014, two years after being let go by Team Penske, Allmendinger started a five-year tenure with JTG Daugherty Racing, co-owned by Tad and Jodi Geschickter and former NBA player Brad Daugherty.
“I’d seen A.J. throughout the years and … he was just a phenomenal road racer,” Daugherty told SPEED SPORT. “We really liked that road-race mentality because it kind of carries over to a couple of short tracks and a couple of intermediate tracks we were on, which are really odd in shape.”
For Daugherty, the first few years of their partnership, including a victory at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) Int’l, were “fantastic.”
“He was pretty darn fast everywhere, so we were excited,” Daugherty added.
As the years passed, the pairing struggled without manufacturer support as they were “out simulated, out engineered.” Adding to it was JTG’s move to a two-car team, which Allmendinger disagreed with.
“It just got to where it was too much,” Daugherty said. “I think he was frustrated with it. We were frustrated with it. So we decided it’s just probably better we go our separate ways.”
The partnership ended on the plane ride back from Homestead-Miami Speedway at the end of 2018.
“It was a little weird, honestly,” Allmendinger said of the final conversation with the team. “It was like, well, ‘This is what we’re doing,’ and I’m like … ‘I get it, totally understand.’ … Literally, it was like that and we walked off the plane.”
Three years later, Daugherty said: “You won’t find a bigger A.J. fan than me. … I wish we could have had more resources for him.”
Allmendinger was relieved that portion of his career was over.
“I was so burned out,” Allmendinger said. “I wasn’t a happy person. I felt bad for my girlfriend, now wife, Tara, because I just wasn’t a happy person every day at home. She had to unfortunately just kind of go along with it. I was smart enough to know, ‘You need a break.’ There’s no reason to jump right back in it and go find something else. Because God forbid, A. It’s not fair to whoever you do it with if your heart’s not fully into it. B. The last thing I want to do is jump back into it with somebody else and within the first two races go, ‘Oh, God, I don’t want to be here. This is awful.’”
While working as an analyst for NBC Sports in 2019, Allmendinger got a call from Chris Rice, general manager of Kaulig Racing.
The call proved beneficial for both parties.
Kaulig Racing’s announcement of its Cup Series plans for 2022 included its purchase of two charters from Spire Motorsports.
While Allmendinger, who has won nine times for Kaulig Racing since 2019, was included in the plans, it wasn’t as a full-time Cup Series driver. That duty went to Justin Haley. Allmendinger will stay full time in the Xfinity Series while possibly driving in 12 to 15 Cup Series races.
Why not have a former full-time Cup driver and two-time winner lead Kaulig’s first full-time endeavor in the series?
Allmendinger had said he’d be willing to do whatever the team needed.
“To take A.J. and say, ‘OK, you got to run 39 races,’ in a car that’s probably gonna run 15th to 25th, at his age he’s not interested,” Rice told SPEED SPORT. “You got to make decisions that make people’s lives better. And that was a decision myself and (owner) Matt Kaulig made to make A.J.’s life better. … We want to win an Xfinity championship. We want to win 12 to 15 races one year, we want to continuously do that. So to do that we need A.J. to help us with our Xfinity car. Be the dad, be the grandpa … to help us become the monster in Xfinity.”
The monster will have to wait another year to be fully awakened.
Allmendinger’s dream season ended with less than 20 laps left in the season finale when his No. 16 Chevy spun due to a loose right-rear tire.
He finished 14th and last among the Championship 4 drivers.
“Sure, it stings not having a shot at it today really,” Allmendinger said. “But we knew it was going to be a tough challenge to come here and contend against (Daniel Hemric, Noah Gragson and defending champion Austin Cindric) and have a real shot at it.
“At the end of the day, I wouldn’t change anything about this year. ….
“Hell, I threw up on the back straightaway at Indy at six in the morning from drinking too much after winning a Cup race. I’m not going to take that away.” n