Allmendinger the Poster Child of Consistency in Cup

By: Tom Luttermoser   Image: Kaulig Racing Twitter

It was recently announced that AJ Allmendinger would once again step into a full-time roll in the Cup Series, this time running the #16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. AJ has shown the reason he was tasked with that seat next year, AJ has scored 8 Top-10s in his last 11 Cup starts in the 16. He has battled for the win in 3 races this season at COTA, the ROVAL and most recently Homestead-Miami, and all of this on top of being a potential title contender for the 2022 Xfinity Series. 

AJ has run 16 (coincidence? I think not!) Cup races so far this season and will finish the season in the car in place of Noah Gragson as he fills in for an injured Alex Bowman in the 48 car. Of those 16 races, 3 of them were Top-5s on top of the Top-10s. It's not just AJ coming alive late in the season, his Kaulig teammate Justin Haley has even run far better in the later stages of this season even scoring 2 Top-5s at Texas and the ROVAL. 

AJ Allmendinger battled hard with potential title contender Ross Chastain after the final restart at Homestead coming up just a bit short of second after getting a little loose in the closing laps. Had AJ made the pass cleanly over Ross, the speed of the 16 may have allowed him to close in on the 5 of race winner Kyle Larson, maybe not competing for the win at that point, but still a super strong outing for the driver once thought to only be any good at the road courses. 

Count this team and this driver into the Playoffs in 2023.