AJ Allmendinger will make his 500th NASCAR Cup Series start at Sonoma Raceway this weekend, giving Kaulig Racing a milestone moment at one of the Californian’s most natural battlegrounds.
Kaulig confirmed on Monday that Allmendinger will reach the mark in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350, a week after he produced his best Cup result of the season with fifth at Naval Base Coronado. The timing is useful as well as sentimental: NASCAR’s road-course swing now moves from San Diego to Sonoma, where Allmendinger’s background and racecraft have always carried extra weight.
The 44-year-old has built one of the more unusual modern Cup careers, moving from open-wheel racing into stock cars and becoming a reliable road-course threat across multiple eras of NASCAR machinery. His 500th start arrives with three Cup wins, a long list of competitive road-course runs and a Kaulig programme still looking for sharp weekends that can bend its season back toward the Chase picture.
Sonoma gives milestone a competitive edge
This is not just a ceremonial number. Allmendinger’s San Diego top-five already gave Kaulig a lift, and his Coronado recovery turned into a genuine Chase lifeline before the series left Southern California.
Sonoma should offer a more familiar test than the first-year street course, but it will not be gentle. NASCAR lists the Toyota/Save Mart 350 for Sunday, June 28, at 3:30pm ET, with 110 laps around the 1.99-mile road course. It is also the opening race of the in-season bracket, adding another layer to a weekend already carrying championship and milestone meaning.
Allmendinger has also had to manage the noise around his own future, with his Kaulig commitment recently becoming a talking point. A 500th start at Sonoma does not settle every question about what comes next, but it does underline why he remains such a valuable piece for Kaulig on weekends where execution, experience and braking feel matter.
With Tyler Reddick’s Sonoma bracket opener also carrying added weight, the Cup garage arrives in wine country with more than one pressure line to follow. For Allmendinger, though, the headline is simple enough: 500 starts, a road course, and another chance to turn a career milestone into something more useful than a pre-race applause line.
Kaulig Racing confirmed the milestone in its Sonoma announcement, while NASCAR’s official schedule lists the Toyota/Save Mart 350 as the next Cup Series race.
