December 1, 2020 | By Lee Spencer

AJ Allmendinger embraces full-time opportunity with Kaulig Racing

AJ Allmendinger will return to Kaulig Racing in 2021.

After an 11-race season—that produced two wins, six top fives and eight top 10s in the No. 16 Chevrolet—Kaulig Racing elected to expand Dinger’s schedule to full-time. The Los Gatos native, who turns 39 later this month, joins Justin Haley and Jeb Burton on the Kaulig Racing roster.

The decision is a win-win for a veteran such as Allmendinger and Matt Kaulig, who has thrived as one of NASCAR's youngest team owners.

"Kaulig Racing has come such a long way in only a few short years," said team owner, Matt Kaulig. "We started this team in 2016 and have made the playoffs every year. This year we stepped up even more and had two cars in the playoffs with one in the Championship 4 at Phoenix.

“With AJ Allmendinger added to our stable, and three fantastic drivers, we will have an even better chance at the championship.”

For the first time since walking away from the Cup Series and JTG Daugherty Racing at the end of 2018, Allmendinger will compete for a title—now in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

“It’s not going to be easy, but that’s what I love about it,” Allmendinger said. “If I didn’t feel like we had an opportunity to go out there and win races and possibly get to that final four and have a shot at winning a championship, then I definitely wouldn’t be doing this full-time.

“But I really believe as we keep moving forward at Kaulig Racing we can be one of those top tier teams.”

Ironically, the Xfinity Series is where Allmendinger should have initially earned his racing stripes in a stock car before being thrust in the Cup Series.

While the Los Gatos, Californian lit up the CART circuit in 2006 with five wins and seven podiums in 13 races, three truck starts weren’t enough to prepare the then 24-year-old driver for competition at the Cup level in 2007.

Allmendinger’s first and only Cup victory (Watkins Glen) wouldn’t come until seven years later—during his second tour in the series after being sidelined for violating NASCAR’s substance abuse policy in 2012. After five seasons with JTGD—and not performing at a competitive level—he needed a break.

Allmendinger found his happy place at Kaulig Racing. Prior to joining the team in 2019, Allmendinger had two wins and three top-fives in 11 starts. In 16 races at Kaulig, he has scored three wins--including his first oval victory at Atlanta--eight top fives and 10 top 10s.

“More than anything, it’s a family,” Allmendinger said. “I know, I’ve been on teams and it’s easy to say, ‘We’re a family,’ but with this organization, it starts with Matt Kaulig. He’s a sports guy. He played quarterback (University of Akron). He’s around a lot of athletes with everything that he does, especially in Ohio. And he has that personality.

“It makes it fun to be around him because he’s great on the business side of it but he’s also an ex-athlete that deals with a lot of athletes. So, he knows how hard it is. You don’t just show up immediately and start winning.”

Kaulig went from sponsoring a team in 2015 to ownership under the direction of veteran crew chief Chris Rice the following season. In 2019, he hired Haley and ran a second car for half of the year. With two full-time teams in 2020—and 12 races scheduled for Allmendinger—the company helped Haley advance to the championship round at Phoenix. Burton joins the fold as Kaulig expands to three full-time teams in 2021.

Allmendinger appreciated the baby-step approach Kaulig Racing took towards expansion.

“I love what this team has done from the start of being just one car—and staying one car for a long time until they finally felt like they were where they needed to be,” Allmendinger said. “They did that slowly and then it evolved into two full-time teams this year—and myself as a part-time third team.

“I told Chris (Rice), I don’t want to hurt the team. If we are stretching ourselves too thin trying to make it three cars full-time, I would rather be part-time and keep helping this company grow. He assured me we have all of the resources to make sure that when we show up at the racetrack all three cars are the same on the weekends. It’s up to us as the drivers and the teams to perform.

“It’s a family. Everybody has each others’ backs. We’re definitely truthful and Chris Rice will tell you I’m hard on him at times, on trying to go out there and getting better. But he can be hard on me. At the end of the day, we’re all going in the same direction—and that’s ultimately trying to win races and winning a championship.”

Kaulig isn’t just gaining a driver, Allmendinger has proven to be an excellent mentor to Haley and the younger drivers in the stable. And although winning his first NASCAR championship would be quite the accomplishment, Allmendinger sees a bigger picture—the future of Kaulig Racing.

“With the way championships are now, and it being one race at the end, anything can happen,” Allmendinger said. “Chase Briscoe is the same example in the Xfinity Series. You just can’t let one race base how you feel about the season. We go win five, six or seven races and we get to Phoenix and don’t win the championship, then no, it’s a disappointment. I think it’s all about continually trying to improve this team.

“You can’t just define it on, ‘OK, we have to win eight races this year or it’s a bad season. It’s about improving and getting better every weekend. If we do that, the wins will come.”