Top Dog: AJ Allmendinger
AJ Allmendinger once stated he was finally having fun competing in stock cars the minute he found a home with Kaulig Racing. Following years of inconsistency, off-track issues and subpar equipment, Allmendinger has come into his own at the ripe age of 40.
Running part-time for Kaulig in the NASCAR Cup Series this season, Allmendinger carried a streak of five consecutive top 10s into the Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (Oct. 23).
That streak continued in a big way, with Allmendinger placing third and even competing for the win in Sunday’s closing laps.
The No. 16 took off like a rocket from the 10th position, climbing into the top five in under 20 laps. Allmendinger stayed around there before finishing sixth to end stage one. Stage two became a struggle for the ‘Dinger as he lost grip and the car tightened up, resulting in a 13th-place finish at the end of the second frame.
Allmendinger climbed just inside the top 10 during the final stage when Ryan Blaney spun to bring out the yellow with just over 50 laps to go. That allowed Allmendinger to take advantage of his short run speed, climbing from 11th to seventh. The ‘Dinger cracked the top five again before another caution flew for Tyler Reddick with 23 laps to go. That set up a restart that saw the veteran crack down on the field.
After restarting eighth with 17 to go, Allmendinger propelled himself to second and closed in on leader Kyle Larson. However, he had a driver with a similar, aggressive style right behind him in Ross Chastain. The battle between the two matched with Larson’s increasing speed was too great to overcome, and Chastain moved by for the runner-up spot.
Man, running up front is a BLAST!@AJDinger ran top-10 all day and had a shot to go for the win at the end! 🙌@Justin_Haley_ had top-15 speed all race but had his day derailed by a flat tire in stage two. 😑#DixieVodka400 | #TrophyHunting pic.twitter.com/3UuDsy1QWM
— Kaulig Racing (@KauligRacing) October 23, 2022
It’s Kaulig’s first full-time Cup season, and earlier this year, a top 10 would have been considered a win. Instead, the organization can walk away optimistic knowing it had the potential to get more out of the third-place result.
Allmendinger has now hit the .500 mark for top 10s, earning eight in 16 starts this season. His longest stretch of consecutive top 10s in a Cup career that’s spanned over a decade also resulted in his best finish on an intermediate…
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