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AJ Allmendinger: 2025 NASCAR Driver Profile

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | Last updated Jan 27, 2025 6:18 PM ET

[Editor’s note: The following article is from Athlon Sports’ 2025 Racing Annual magazine. Order your copy online today, or buy one at retail racks and newsstands nationwide.]

He’s baaa-ack! After spending the 2024 season racing for the Xfinity Series title and falling just short, AJ Allmendinger returns to the Cup Series with Kaulig Racing’s No. 16, the team who delivered his most recent Cup win at the Charlotte Roval in 2023.

That win came too late to propel Allmendinger into the playoffs, and by then, a decision had been made to detour him back down to Xfinity. But the upset showed Allmendinger could still deliver at NASCAR’s highest level, and it’s not out of the question 2025 brings his first Cup postseason appearance in 11 years (2014).

Kaulig Racing is the poster child for just how difficult competing in the Cup Series is. In nine seasons in Xfinity, the organization has 10 top 10-point finishes to go along with 27 wins among seven drivers. Allmendinger raced his way into the Championship 4 in 2024 in that division.

But the team’s five-year Cup run, by comparison, hasn’t produced the same success, with just two wins to date and zero playoff appearances. Daniel Hemric was the team’s lone full-time Cup driver last season, with five others making starts, led by Allmendinger’s 16. Hemric struggled, posting just four top-10 finishes – one fewer than Allmendinger had in a part-time role.

AJ Allmendinger 2024 stats

Starts	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles	DNF
16	0	0	5	0	4

Those statistics are why Kaulig turned to Allmendinger to go full-time at 43 years of age. He’s produced Kaulig’s only two wins on the Cup level, both on road courses, and the decision to drop him back to NXS after an inconsistent 2023 led to disappointment on all sides.

Re-promoting Allmendinger makes sense. He’s a good communicator, and the team needs a driver who brings years of Cup experience at many of the tracks. It’s not just his knowledge of the track surfaces and racing lines that he brings to the table, but his success racing Cup competition both in the pack and up front.

The 2025 Kaulig lineup also includes Ty Dillon in the No. 10; he’s not likely to bring the team wins, but could contribute through increased help from his grandfather’s Richard Childress Racing team. That’s no small factor, and certainly benefits Allmendinger, who expects to have backing from Celsius and LeafFilter in the sponsorship department – both of which backed him in multiple Xfinity Series races last year.

Allmendinger’s specialty is road courses, and with six of those on the schedule, he has a good chance to win. His two best are Watkins Glen, where he owns one victory and a 10.8-place average finish, and the aforementioned Charlotte Roval. He’s only finished out of the top 10 once in five Cup starts there and no worse than sixth in the last three.

Allmendinger also enjoys flat track success, which demands some of the same skills as road racing. And he’s become solid at Daytona, despite stating an unease on superspeedways. Any wins on these tracks would produce a playoff berth that leaves Allmendinger playing with house money the rest of the year.

AJ Allmendinger career stats

Years	Starts	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles
17	446	3	20	80	4

Allmendinger’s Achilles heel remains the intermediate tracks, and at this point in his 17-year Cup career, that’s unlikely to change. He also possesses a special type of aggression that pairs with Kaulig’s “Trophy Hunting” mentality but also results in playoff-destroying DNFs. Four of them occurred in just 16 races last season, including busts at some of his best tracks: crashes at the Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis and the Chicago Street Race.

Allmendinger has always been a capable and consistent Cup Series driver. Motivated at a late stage of his career, this fan-favorite underdog will be capable of rising as high as Kaulig’s underdog operation will take him.

The AJ Allmendinger file

Car: No. 16 Chevy

Team: Kaulig Racing

Crew chief: Trent Owens

Years with current team: 5

Best points finish: 13 (2014)

Hometown: Los Gatos, California

Born: Dec. 16, 1981

Scouting report

Anonymous takes from drivers, crew chiefs, and assorted industry insiders

Everyone who knows AJ Allmendinger wishes he and Kaulig Racing had found each other sooner. “That place saved his career. They let him be himself,” says a veteran beat writer. “He was done with NASCAR until Matt Kaulig and Chris Rice invited him over and said ‘just be you.’”

A rival team owner says Allmendinger is “just freaking dogged” and a “madman behind the wheel.” He adds that Kaulig is the perfect place for him because “he has 10 chances to win that are as good as anyone else who takes the green flag on that day,” and that he wouldn’t be surprised if it happens at least once this year.

“His personality is something the sport needs more of,” says a veteran broadcaster. “He loves his fans. I wish we had gotten this version of AJ sooner because he would have been one of the best things going. I think his suspension back in the day changed him for the better; it gave him some needed perspective.”

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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