NASCAR Xfinity Series title contender AJ Allmendinger spent all of Thursday’s Championship 4 Media Day trying to take everything in. Not because it’s his first time in the winner-takes-all final round of the Playoffs, but because you never know when it might be the last.
For the 42-year-old, that’s been the tagline of his racing career over the last six years.
After the end of his time in Cup with JTG Daugherty Racing (post-2018), Allmendinger was left with no idea what came next, flirting with the idea of entering the television side of motorsports. Without a full-time drive in sight, that seemed like the best option.
Then Chris Rice, Matt Kaulig, and NASCAR Xfinity Series team Kaulig Racing came knocking. Allmendinger partnered with the team to run a limited schedule during the back half of the 2019 season. The rest, as they say, is history.
It’s been more than five years since that relationship was forged, and to this day, it remains going strong. In the meantime, Allmendinger has watched as his NASCAR career has soared to new heights, collecting 18 victories with Kaulig Racing — 16 in the Xfinity Series and two in the Cup Series.
“I’ve said it a lot these past six years; since the end of 2018, when I thought I was kind of done full-time racing, on the [television side] of it,” Allmendinger said Thursday. “To be back here, Chris [Rice] and I were talking about it, we’ve won [18 races] together in the last six years. It’s been a special time. The beginning of 2019, I didn’t think it would ever happen again, so all of this has been a bonus.”
“I try to cherish all of it, and I think that’s why you see the way I am when I win a race, because I spent a lot of years never winning, and you never know when it’s your last win,” Allmendinger added. “So yeah, the intensity is always there, but certainly this week, I just kind of think back and take it all in a little bit, and as we talk now, try to take it all in and just be thankful that I still get to do this.”
The Los Gatos, California native enters Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway with aspirations of bringing Kaulig Racing its first NASCAR championship, before moving on to the Cup Series full-time in 2025.
“I think it’s more this week about Matt [Kaulig] and Chris [Rice]. I would love to be able to set that championship trophy in front of Matt and say thank you for this opportunity that you’ve given me, and that you continually give me, and Chris for believing in me every step of what we do. Same thing as going to Cup next year and believing that I can keep raising this program.”
While the overall drive and desire to win Saturday’s event at Phoenix, and the Xfinity Series title, remains very much in the field of view for Allmendinger, there’s also a sentimental element, as Allmendinger attempts to bask in the spotlight and glory of what could be his final Championship 4 appearance.
“To win a championship would be an accomplishment that, I wouldn’t say would be kind of the ending chapter of my racing, I hope there is more,” Allmendinger said. “We’ve got more years on the Cup side of it. It’s one of those things like, this might be my final [Championship 4], right? We have a lot of work to do in Cup, and Cup is a different level to try and make the final four.”
If Allmendinger were successful in winning the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship, he would become the third-oldest driver to win a title in the second-tier series, behind only Sam Ard and Jack Ingram. The celebration afterward, though, would no doubt outdo even the youngest drivers in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
“I haven’t thought about it,” Allmendinger said when asked about his plan for a celebration should he win the title. “That is one thing I have not… Let me put it this way, it would be epic, we’ll just leave it there. I don’t even know what it would be. I don’t know if it’s screaming, tears, like pure joy, if I light the car on fire on the racetrack because I won’t stop doing a burnout until it really catches on fire.”
The NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway will take place on Saturday, November 9 at 7:30 PM ET. Coverage will be live on The CW, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
