Allmendinger Extends Top 10 Streak At Homestead

A.J. Allmendinger (Nigel Kinrade/NKP photo)

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Preaching about one’s potential is always great, but capitalizing off said potential is another thing entirely.

Sunday afternoon at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kaulig Racing and A.J. Allmendinger proved that they may well have reached the point of being able to compete on any given NASCAR Cup Series weekend.

Allmendinger finished seventh in the Straight Talk Wireless 400 and recorded his second top 10 of the season. Additionally, he collected his fourth consecutive top 10 at the track since 2022, and hasn’t finished worse than eighth in South Florida since joining Kaulig Racing.

“I thought we had a really solid weekend at Homestead. We needed a little bit more to go contend in the top five but overall, we had really good speed,” said Allmendinger after Sunday’s race. “I thought [crew chief] Trent [Owens] made some great adjustments after the second stage, when we were at times struggling getting too loose.

“I’m proud to have another good run at Homestead. We had great stops from our pit crew all day. It’s really nice to put two top 10s together in a row after the disappointment we had at the start of the year,” Allmendinger added. “When we come to these races we look to execute, earn stage points and finish well. It is really good for us to build momentum.”

Allmendinger entered the weekend with a strong car, as he qualified 10th on Saturday, his highest starting position on speed to begin the year. During the race, he collected stage points, with four total after slotting in seventh after the first 80 laps.

“I figured out enough racing lines to make up speed and do different things where certain guys just rip the fence to keep their momentum up,” said the 43-year-old of trying not to be one-dimensional. “We just didn’t quite have enough there in the longer run. In general, we fought hard, lost a little bit in the second stage, but Trent and the team worked hard to get it back and be very competitive.”

A.J. Allmendinger in action at Homestead-Miami Speedway. (Gavin Baker/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

The Los Gatos, Calif., native holds the best average finish in the Next-Gen era at Homestead-Miami of fifth place. Statistically, it’s his best track that’s a non-road course.

“Obviously, A.J.’s track record here is good, so we had big shoes to fill entering the weekend. He fought hard all day. We got off a little bit there in the middle of the race stage but got it back at the end,” said Owens.

“It feels really good to see our No. 16 car come away with two top 10s two weeks in a row. That gives us a little bit of a momentum boost going to Martinsville next week, which isn’t one of our best tracks,” Owens continued. “I’m really proud of the team, everyone back home, and A.J. for driving hard, as always. We’ll keep pushing hard to continue improving.”

The Kaulig brand – featuring both Allmendinger and Cup Series teammate Ty Dillon – hopes to turn top 10s into top fives, and eventually one race weekend into a win. But for the organization, it’s about building blocks as they close out the first full month of the season.

Allmendinger finds himself 20th in driver points, just four points from 16th, the final playoff spot.

The development and building blocks for the teams look to continue at historic Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, where Allmendinger has struggled in recent years on the Cup Series side.

His last top 10 came in 2018, and the last time he led a Cup Series lap on the half-mile ‘paper clip’ was nine years ago. However, with two weeks of top 10s under their belt, the team hopes to change that.

Broadcast coverage of the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville is slated for Sunday, March 30 at 3 p.m. ET, live on FS1, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.