A.J. Allmendinger was one of the NASCAR Xfinity Series‘ top drivers over the past four years before moving up to the Cup Series with Kaulig Racing. However, he will drop back down to his old stomping ground on occasion in 2023 as he will pilot Kaulig’s #10 Chevrolet Camaro in select races starting at Circuit of the Americas on 25 March.
The COTA entry immediately makes Allmendinger the favourite as the defending race winner. He also leads all drivers in road course wins at the Xfinity level by a wide margin with ten total including having won the last four Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval races. The former open-wheel racer’s road course success also expands to the Cup Series with a win at Watkins Glen in 2014 and Indianapolis in 2021, the latter coming as a part-time driver for Kaulig’s Cup programme.
While a road course ace, Allmendinger’s Xfinity career has also seen him enjoy tremendous success on ovals that included winning at Talladega in 2022. He claimed the regular season championship in both of his full-time seasons in 2021 and 2022, and made the Championship Round in the former while coming up short in the latter.
Although the other races on Allmendinger’s itinerary were not immediately revealed, he will not have a chance to go five in a row at the Roval as it is an Xfinity playoff race, which Cup drivers are forbidden from entering. Allmendinger can run up to five Xfinity races.
Allmendinger is one of multiple drivers who will drive the #10 in 2023, which was vacated when Landon Cassill‘s sponsorship dried up, with others including his Kaulig Cup team-mate Justin Haley and the Cup drivers from ally Richard Childress Racing Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon. Busch won the 2021 COTA Xfinity race.