AJ Allmendinger has used NASCAR’s San Diego weekend to make his Kaulig Racing future clear, insisting he has no plans to leave the No. 16 Cup Series programme.
The 44-year-old addressed his position at Naval Base Coronado on Saturday, with the Cup garage already deep into a wider silly-season cycle shaped by confirmed moves such as Jesse Love’s future Cup switch to Wood Brothers Racing.
Allmendinger told reporters he is “not going anywhere”, with NASCAR.com reporting that he expects to remain with Kaulig’s No. 16 Chevrolet and that team president Chris Rice has even joked about his deal stretching as far as 2032.
Kaulig stability matters as Cup market moves
The message lands at an important moment for Kaulig. Allmendinger sits 21st in the Cup standings, but the team is operating in a complicated manufacturer position after its Ram-backed Truck Series expansion changed the level of Chevrolet support around the Cup effort.
That has made Allmendinger’s road-course skill and experience even more valuable. A three-time Cup winner, he has become one of Kaulig’s central competitive references since first joining the organisation in 2019, and his long-term commitment gives the team one less variable while other seats continue to move.
It also adds another strand to a Coronado weekend that has already tested NASCAR’s new San Diego project on and off the circuit, from the broader Coronado execution challenge to Shane van Gisbergen’s clean run through inspection from pole.
For Allmendinger, though, the public message was simpler. Kaulig remains his NASCAR home, and San Diego has given him a timely chance to say so before the next wave of 2027 speculation gathers pace.
