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AJ Allmendinger Optimistic as Defending ROVAL Winner

AJ Allmendinger

AJ Allmendinger reviews the data after qualifying third for Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL. (Photo: Jennie Mae Lingle | The Podium Finish)

CONCORD, N.C. — While AJ Allmendinger‘s plans for 2024 were not ironed out publicly during last year’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, he produced one of his sentimental moments of his racing career.

Starting sixth in the No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, the Kaulig Racing driver dominated, leading 41 of 109 laps to earn his third career NASCAR Cup Series victory. As typical following a victory, the native of Los Gatos, California, celebrated his win in emotional fashion.

At age 42, Allmendinger’s life and career is in symmetry. He has found his home with Matt Kaulig’s fledgling organization as a trusted voice and driver in their NASCAR Cup and XFINITY Series rides.

Allmendinger speaks his mind candidly about his abilities and team’s progress, unafraid to point out their areas of opportunities. Given his vast background in motorsports, the 2012 Rolex 24 at Daytona winner has the leverage and credentials to place his footprint with Kaulig Racing.

“I can’t believe that I’m still here doing this. I feel so lucky that Matt and Chris believe in me with what we’ve achieved over the las six years together,” Allmendinger said. “And hopefully we can keep achieving but more importantly, that they believe in me.”

Moving back to the XFINITY Series and his familiar No. 16 ride, the two-time regular season champion has extracted the most from his car to be a title contender. His gritty driving style, maximizing on race days, have paid dividends with battling in the Round of 8 and returning full-time to the Cup Series in 2025.

AJ Allmendinger

AJ Allmendinger has another fast No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ahead of Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)

“First of all, they asked me, what do I want to do?” he recalled. “And that was great to to have that [with them] asking me, ‘Do you want to go back to the Cup Series? Do you want to stay in the XFINITY Series? Do you want to cut back what? What are the options?’ And them giving me those options and allowing me to kind of choose what I wanted to do.”

In Saturday’s Drive for the Cure 250, the Round of 12 cutoff race for the NASCAR XFINITY Series Playoffs, Allmendinger started third, won Stage 1, placed sixth in Stage 2 and finished runner-up to Sam Mayer, punching his ticket to the Round of 8.

While Allmendinger and his No. 16 team have been close to winning, the passionate racer carries the burden of achieving success for those in the Kaulig outfit. He wants to win and anything short of victory can be bittersweet for the 17-year stock car veteran.

“I’m hard on myself. We haven’t won this year in the 16 car. I put that on my shoulders,” Allmendinger shared. “There’s a lot of time that I don’t feel like I’m doing enough, that I’m helping us enough.

“But I’m doing everything that I can. The effort at the shop, day in and day out from from all the men and women… that’s why I get frustrated sometimes because I see how hard they’re working and I want to bring them more victories.”

On the Cup side, Allmendinger has a strong shot at defending his Bank of America ROVAL 400 win. Posting the fastest time in the first practice and fifth quickest in the final session, Allmendinger qualified third for Sunday’s race.

“It’s always cool to be able to be the defending race winner,” he said in a Team Chevy press release. “The ROVAL has always been special to me and last year’s race is one that I will never forget. I’m excited to get back in the No. 16 Celsius Chevy. Hopefully, we can go out there this weekend and do the same thing we did last year to gain some momentum for our team.”

AJ Allmendinger

AJ Allmendinger, with wife, Tara, and son, Aero, enjoy race days even more. (Photo: Sean Folsom | The Podium Finish)

Life has been good for Allmendinger in the past six years on the racetrack. Away from the racing circuit, Allmendinger’s life is even more fulfilling as the father of one-year-old son, Aero.

Along with his wife, Tara, it is safe to say that Allmendinger’s smile is as consistent as the will to succeed with his family motivating him in this latest chapter of racing and life.

“To have Aero at the racetrack now, his personality keeps getting bigger and bigger as he gets older at least for the next couple of years and hopefully spend some time in Victory Lane,” he said. “Last year at the ROVAL, he was one month old and and wasn’t there. So my goal is to try to win one of these races, especially when he’s there so we can take pictures in Victory Lane.

“But it’s a lot of fun to be able to share that with with Tara and and Aero now. And really more importantly, just have the opportunity to do this.”

Rob Tiongson is a sports writer and editor originally from the Boston area and resides in the Austin, Texas, area. Tiongson has covered motorsports series like NASCAR and INDYCAR since 2008 and NHRA since 2013. Most recently, Tiongson is covering professional basketball, mainly the WNBA, and women's college basketball. While writing and editing for The Podium Finish, Tiongson currently seeks for a long-term sportswriting and sports content creating career. Tiongson enjoys editing and writing articles and features, as well as photography. Moreover, he enjoys time with his family and friends, traveling, cooking, working out and being a fun uncle or "funcle" to his nephew, niece and cat. Tiongson is an alum of Southern New Hampshire University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and St. Bonaventure University's renowned Jandoli School of Communication with a Master of Arts in Digital Journalism.

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