RICHMOND, Va. -- AJ Allmendinger has hit multiple milestones in his racing career, but Sunday's will be quite significant. He will make his 100th Cup Series start for Kaulig Racing.
Allmendinger is the first driver in team history to hit this milestone, which only deepens the ties between the driver and the team he has pushed to become better over several seasons of effort.
"For me, it's special just because I feel like all of our success has been together," Allmendinger told AltDriver at Richmond on Friday. "I've been very fortunate in my life at a lot of big teams that you come in and you see everything on the wall and all that, and you just want to be a small part of that.
"And with Kaulig, I feel like we've... I mean, hell, I was there when Ross (Chastain) won, right? Like, I was a part of that race (at Daytona in 2019). So, I've kind of been there for all of it, and I feel like in so many ways I've helped them and in so many ways they've helped me."
The veteran driver drove the No. 16 during Kaulig Racing's Cup Series debut back in 2021, and he has remained a integral part of the program through the good times and bad.
He has celebrated wins as only he can and he has left the track frustrated after poor performances.
Kaulig Racing is far from the only team that Allmendinger has joined in his Cup Series career. He made 371 previous starts at NASCAR's top level, which he split between such teams as Team Penske, JTG Daugherty Racing, and Red Bull among others.
Allmendinger posted an average finish of 21.12 with one win -- Watkins Glen in 2014 -- in his first 371 Cup starts.
His average finish with Kaulig Racing in 99 races is 18.78, and he has celebrated two Cup Series wins with the Matt Kaulig-owned team.
Dinger's day at the Brickyard 👏🧱
On this day in 2021, @AJDinger won the first #NASCAR Cup Series race on the IMS Road Course in electric fashion!
(🎥: @NASCAR) pic.twitter.com/zGxti260ZZ
— Indianapolis Motor Speedway (@IMS) August 15, 2025
Allmendinger has yet to make the Cup Series playoffs with Kaulig Racing, but he has helped the team make positive strides as it has expanded from an open team to one with two charters.
Yet, this partnership did not start smoothly. Kaulig and Allmendinger had to battle through some adversity before achieving some success, first in Xfinity and then in Cup.
Kaulig Racing originally plucked Allmendinger from the NBC Sports Group TV studio in 2019 and put him in their Xfinity Series "All-Star" car for five races.
He was essentially out of racing after signing a multi-year deal with NBC, but he returned to the track to make starts alongside full-time driver Justin Haley.
NASCAR disqualified him after his team debut at Daytona due to an issue in post-race inspection. This disrupted what had been a Kaulig 1-2-3 finish with Chastain winning, Haley in second, and Allmendinger in third.
NASCAR then disqualified Allmendinger after a runner-up at Watkins Glen for another issue in post-race inspection.
"You had to remind me of the DQs," Allmendinger said to AltDriver (laughs). "Wow. Wow. I also didn't have a hotel room one of those weekends.
"The first two races was a rough start... The races themselves went pretty good, but the aftermath didn't really go that well to the point of like, 'Boy, I don't know if I really need to do any more (races).'"
Allmendinger did not walk away from Kaulig Racing despite the frustrating start to this partnership. He made three more starts for the team in 2019 and actually scored an Xfinity win at the Charlotte Roval.
The California native only built upon this foundation. He went on to win 16 Xfinity Series races for Kaulig Racing while taking the team to the Championship 4 in two different seasons.
As a Cup Series driver, Allmendinger scored Kaulig Racing's first-ever win, a moment that the team has immortalized on the walls of the team shop. He kissed the iconic bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after winning on the road course.
Photo credit: Getty Images
He also beat the best in the Cup Series at the Charlotte Roval in 2023 while scoring Kaulig Racing's first win of the Gen 7 era.
These wins are special to Allmendinger considering the journey he and Kaulig Racing have taken, especially with such a rocky start.
They are also special considering how he went from essentially out of NASCAR to competing for wins and playoff appearances, as well as making his 100th Cup start for the team.
No longer did he have to look at his career and wish that he had done more. Kaulig Racing helped him fill the "void" he had after losing his full-time ride at JTG Daugherty Racing.
"I've gotten to kiss the bricks a couple of times," Allmendinger said. "We've won a couple more Cup races, won a lot of Xfinity races.
"And I hope there's more success, right, but, like, when it does end, it feels like, 'Man, I've gotten to do a lot of cool things.'"