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NASCAR Cup

A.J. Allmendinger: "My preference was to stay in Cup"

A.J. Allmendinger admits he would have preferred to remain a full-time NASCAR Cup competitor but remains thankful for the opportunity and confidence Kaulig Racing has in him.

Jim Utter

Published: Feb 14, 2024, 5:28 PM

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AJ Allmendinger, Kaulig Racing, Celsius Chevrolet Camaro

It wasn’t until the middle of December that Kaulig finally decided it would move Allmendinger back to driving full-time in the Xfinity Series while still running a partial Cup schedule in 2024.

After a slow start to the 2023 season, Allmendinger managed to earn his third career Cup win last fall on the Charlotte Roval. He missed the playoffs and finished 21st in the series standings.

“At the end of the day, my preference was to stay in Cup if we were going in the right direction,” Allmendinger said during Wednesday’s Daytona 500 Media Day.

“At the end of the day, what (owner) Matt Kaulig and Chris Rice and all the men and women of this race team have done for my life over the last six years and hopefully more years down the road of believing in me to drive their race cars – whether it’s Xfinity or Cup of if we ever go Truck racing – whatever it is that they believe in me to drive their race cars, that means the world to me.

“There’s no frustration at all. I’m still so fortunate in my life that they still want me to drive their race cars.”

AJ Allmendinger, Kaulig Racing, Action Industries Chevrolet Camaro

Photo by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images

When Kaulig was deciding its 2024 driver lineup, Allmendinger said he stated his preference to remain full-time in Cup but also told the team, “I’m going to live off what you want me to do.

“I keep hoping they want me to drive their race cars because they have really saved my happiness of my racing career with what we’ve been able to do over the last six years.”

Allmendinger, 42, returned to full-time Cup competition in 2023 after a four-year absence. He’s made a total of 430 Cup races in a career dating back to 2007, earning three wins (his other two were 2014 at Watkins glen and 2021 on the Indy Road Course).

Allmendinger has enjoyed tremendous success in the Xfinity Series, especially with Kaulig. He has 17 wins in just 98 starts and ended the year in the top-five in the series standings in both 2021 and 2022.

The former Champ Car series winner said he approaches each new season the same regardless of where he is racing.

“My mentality going into every season is just trying to prove that I can drive a race car to myself, first and foremost. You spend the offseason, and you think maybe it’s disappeared or maybe I wake up and I get in the race car and I can’t drive the race car anymore,” he said.

“It’s probably not the most healthy way living in the offseason every year, but it’s what I do in that way and how I push myself. No matter if I’m full-time Xfinity, full-time Cup, part-time driving race cars, it’s still about trying to prove to myself that I’m at an elite level.

“If I’m not, then I have to make decisions in my own self. It doesn’t change anything.”

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