AJ Allmendinger has been trending in the right direction in recent weeks. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
LOUDON, N.H. – In recent weeks, AJ Allmendinger’s stock has been on the rise like a hit movie’s box office numbers during the summertime.
Save for some hiccups following the GEICO 500 at Talladega, Allmendinger has been hovering inside the top 15, jumping from 27th to 18th in the points standings.
More importantly, the 41-year-old Los Gatos, California native has noticed the leaps and bounds by Kaulig Racing. It has not been straightforward and easy, but the 16-year NASCAR Cup Series competitor is in it for the long run.
“Last year here, we were OK. We weren’t fantastic,” Allmendinger said. “It’s always a work in progress. But (we’re) definitely kind of trending in the right direction. And I think what we’re doing as a team right now, it’s making a big difference. Hopefully, we can continue down that path.”
In 2022, Allmendinger was one of three different drivers working out the kinks with this entry. With his veteran experience proving valuable, the two-time Cup race winner was tabbed to drive the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.
Throughout this season, Allmendinger has been patient, methodical and extracting the most out of his car. Rather than forcing the issue to sneak a top 10 result, he drives to a respectable result to build momentum for subsequent races.
Recently, the Matt Swiderski-led team has trended in a positive direction. Mainly, Allmendinger has finishes of 14th at Charlotte and Gateway followed by sixth at Sonoma, 10th at Nashville, 17th at Chicago and third at Atlanta.
Now, the affable Californian faces an interesting challenge in the 1.058-mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Over the years, “The Magic Mile” has stymied Allmendinger with his best result, 10th, occurring in the 2010 running of the Crayon 301.
Despite its friendly confines and appearance, New Hampshire is not exactly a straight ahead kind of oval. As Allmendinger attests, it is a precision type course that can perplex the best of stock car drivers.
Last year, Allmendinger tallied a 16th place finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. (Photo: Josh Jones | The Podium Finish)
“It’s always a tricky racetrack,” he said. “It’s a racetrack that when you hit it right, it’s a lot of fun to drive. But when you miss it, it can be a huge challenge. Track position here is always going to be the most important thing (with) trying to stay up front.
“I felt like the car last year was kind of interesting, because it’s like, you get in a run where the car was balanced, and it would kind of stay balanced the whole run. And then if you missed it one way or the other, it would really go away at the end of that run. So just trying to hit that right balance to stay up front is really important.”
Finding the balance proves pivotal at New Hampshire and in the Cup Series. An even keeled approach often pays dividends even when the pressure seems insurmountable.
If Allmendinger had it any other way, he vies for the kind of results achieved in recent weeks. In other words, he would like for his No. 16 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet Camaro to be a consistent a top 10 runner.
“I would say the last few weeks is about kind of what I expected,” he said. “The first two or three months of the season was definitely more off than I thought we would be. I feel like the only race that we just completely missed over the last few was Chicago. We just just never hit it all weekend. So that was disappointing.
“But at the end of the day, this is what happens on this Cup schedule. It’s such a grind. You’re gonna have a lot of good weeks, and then you’re gonna get kind of a flow of some bad ones. So hopefully, we keep going the right way.”
Perhaps to the surprise of race fans, the two-time Cup race winner did not exactly envision returning to NASCAR’s top division after two solid, full-time campaigns in the XFINITY Series.
Life is good to Allmendinger so far in 2023. (Photo: Sam Draiss | The Podium Finish)
“It’s not even this season. Trying to get back to Cup was never the goal of mine,” Allmendinger said. “I didn’t, to be quite honest, really care if I ever went back to Cup. A lot of great things happening in life right now. And it’s all about trying to build Kaulig Racing into a big race team on the Cup side of it.”
The soon-to-be father is enjoying his latest chapter of life on and off the track. Even if there are challenging times ahead, it is hard to wipe away the genuine grin seen from Allmendinger at the track.
“On the XFINITY Series side, we’ve had a lot of success over the last few years,” he said. “But on the Cup side of it, it’s a lot of work to go get to those Hendricks and Penskes and so on. We’ve got a long ways to go. But we’re just kind of enjoying the process of it.
“When there’s bad weeks, you get frustrated, but that’s what I always love about this team. We work together to make it better.”
Editor’s Notes
Nathan Solomon contributed to this article on site from New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire.
