Sonoma a frustrating 500th start for A.J. Allmendinger

Sunday really should’ve been the day of destiny for A.J. Allmendinger. The Toyota/Save Mart 350 was his 500th career start in the NASCAR Cup Series, putting him in exclusive company with just 47 other drivers, while Sonoma Raceway is both a road course—a track type he excels on—and his home circuit as it’s located an hour and a half away from his native Santa Clara.

Coming off a season-best run of fifth at San Diego the week prior, the stars seemed to align for a strong outing. While Sonoma is a twisty track where passing is hard and he’s in a midpack car, things started well as he qualified eighth. If he was able to pull off a victory like he did at the Charlotte ROVAL in 2021 as a part-timer, he’d join Matt Kenseth as the only drivers to win their 500th Cup race.

Unfortunately, life doesn’t always work in your favour.

Allmendinger quickly went on the offensive as the race began, muscling his way into the top five. Although he ran as high as fourth, contact with Kyle Larson knocked out the toe link and caused the left front to start shaking. He gradually fell through the order and out of the top ten, unable to pit until Lap 22 right before the end of the first stage. This left him 24th at the break.

Once the toe was fixed and an air pressure adjustment made, Stage 2 was a smoother affair. Most of the leaders pitted before the end of the segment, allowing him to finish third behind Ty Gibbs and Christopher Bell.

Just as things were looking up for Allmendinger, they went back down in Stage 3. He found that the #16’s tyres performed better in the short term before falling off the pace as the race progressed, while another air pressure tweak did little to improve his speed. The pressure was adjusted again on his final stop, but there was little he could do as he settled for 16th.

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“On the road courses this season, it seems like no matter what I do, I can’t make the tyres last and it hits that cliff,” said Allmendinger. “Once it hits that cliff, I think we fall harder than most. The first run, it went away really bad. I thought we generally made our #16 EchoPark Automotive car better as the race went on, but that same issue was always there. It’s like I was always trying to manage tyres early in the run and not use them up too much, just knowing that cliff was going to hit. I thought we got everything out of it that we could.

“Trent (Owens, crew chief) did a good job of keeping me out for stage points. We wanted to try to get points both stages. I thought he made a good call there to get points in the second stage because, honestly, even with how the race played out, I don’t think we were better than a top-15 anyways.”

In fairness to Allmendinger, nobody was catching Shane van Gisbergen on Sunday. The New Zealander, who also won the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race on Saturday, dominated from the pole for his ninth Cup road course win. Jeff Gordon holds the series record with ten.

Whereas Allmendinger struggled with his, van Gisbergen was perfect in tyre management. While he did have a day’s worth of experience going into Sunday, he stressed that tyres on the O’Reilly car perform differently from their Cup counterparts.

“Yesterday, I learned that the tyres were just so sensitive to heat, especially the left rear, but I could overheat the left front and try and balance the car out,” he explained. “Today, the tyres are a little bit different to yesterday. They don’t recover as well, but they still get some grip back, but not all the way like the O’Reilly car does.

“Still worthwhile doing both races, knowing how to prepare the tyres for the restarts and when to take off in the box and stuff like that. Certainly worth doing.”

The other 47 drivers to hit 500 starts

Sunday might not have gone the way Allmendinger wanted, but he’s still more than happy to hit the 500-start mark. Given how tumultuous his entry into NASCAR was, he never could’ve guessed it would eventually put him in such rare company.

After starring in Champ Car, finishing third in the 2006 standings, Allmendinger made the switch to NASCAR for Team Red Bull. While there was fanfare as the team was one of the first to race Toyotas, Red Bull was still finding their foot in motorsport at the time (the Formula 1 division had yet to win at this point and were years away from becoming the juggernaut they are today) fell flat on their face in 2007 as Allmendinger failed to qualify for 19 of the 36 races and finished a horrific 43rd in points. His struggles continued into 2008 until his release midseason.

Things seemed to stabilise once he landed at Richard Petty Motorsports, where he drove the iconic #43 car. He enjoyed a solid 2011 campaign where he finished 15th in points, earning him a ride with Penske Racing. However, he was dropped again when he failed a drug test. Upon completing NASCAR’s mandatory rehab, he bounced between Phoenix Racing and JTG Daughterty Racing before signing a full-time contract with the latter.

In 2014, he finally had his breakout when he held off Marcos Ambrose to win at Watkins Glen. While that was his lone victory for the team, he became a regular once more in above-average equipment for the next four years.

Allmendinger eventually left JTG after 2018, burned out by the weekly grind and wanting to spend more time with his family. Kaulig Racing offered him a seat in the Xfinity Series, figuring the eased workload would allow him to strike a balance between his profession and personal life. This move paid off tremendously as he established himself as an Xfinity contender, helping Kaulig build its programme at both the Cup and Xfinity levels.

He returned to Cup in 2021 with Kaulig, ending a three-year absence. Although solely doing road courses, he surprised by winning at Indianapolis, earning him more Cup starts in 2022. Save for a one-year return to Xfinity in 2024, Allmendinger is back as a Cup full-timer and won at the ROVAL in 2023.

“To think about 500 starts is something you never hear of in any sport,” Kaulig Racing CEO Chris Rice offered. “For a guy to make it as long as he has, it’s pretty special. But what he means to Kaulig Racing, to me personally, is something I’ve never been able to put into words. I’ll never be able to thank him enough or give back enough for everything he’s done for Kaulig Racing and for me.

“It’s an amazing accomplishment, 500 starts. From where he started when he first came into the Cup Series to where he is today, winning two Cup Series races with us and 16 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race wins with us. Beyond that, it’s about being the friend he is and being somebody special that means so much to me and this team. He’s been our leader since 2019, and he’s going to continue being our leader for a long time.”

He is just the 48th different driver in the 500 Starts Club, company that includes fellow active drivers Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, and Michael McDowell. Incidentally, Keselowski was Allmendinger’s team-mate at Penske in 2012 while Logano replaced him in the #22 following his suspension, whereas McDowell is also an IndyCar defector and road course ace. Meanwhile, Hamlin proudly carries the flag for a now powerful Toyota as the current points leader. McDowell was the 47th driver to hit the mark, doing so in 2024 at Martinsville in the fall.

Full-time drivers are listed in bold. Other drivers who are not racing the full schedule but have made a Cup start in 2026 are listed in italics.

1. Richard Petty: 1,184
2. Ricky Rudd: 906
3. Terry Labonte: 890
4. Dave Marcis: 883
5. Mark Martin: 882
6. Kyle Petty: 829
7. Bill Elliott: 828
8. Kevin Harvick: 826
9. Darrell Waltrip: 809
10. Jeff Gordon: 805
11. Michael Waltrip: 784
12. Kurt Busch: 776
13. Ken Schrader: 763
14. Kyle Busch: 762
15. Sterling Marlin: 748
16. Ryan Newman: 733
17. Bobby Labonte: 729
18. Denny Hamlin: 738
19. Bobby Allison: 718
20. Rusty Wallace: 706
21. Jimmie Johnson: 702
22. Buddy Baker: 700
23. Matt Kenseth: 697
24. Jeff Burton: 695
25. Martin Truex Jr.: 694
26. Dale Earnhardt: 676
27. Joe Nemechek: 674
28. Dale Jarrett: 668
29. J.D. McDuffie: 653
30. Buck Baker: 635
31. Joey Logano: 633
32. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: 631
33. Tony Stewart: 618
34. Brad Keselowski: 611
35. James Hylton: 602
36. Jamie McMurray: 584
37. Geoff Bodine: 575
38. David Pearson: 574
39. Buddy Arrington: 560
40. Cale Yarborough: 560
41. Michael McDowell: 554
42. Clint Bowyer: 541
43. Elmo Langley: 535
44. Kasey Kahne: 529
45. Benny Parsons: 526
46. Morgan Shepherd: 517
47. Greg Biffle: 515
48. A.J. Allmendinger: 500

NASCAR In-Season Challenge begins

With the FIFA World Cup’s knockout stage now underway, there is a good chance your bracket will go awry. While unlikely, the beauty of sport is that there’s always a chance the Democratic Republic of the Congo beats England or Cabo Verde upsets Argentina.

Or, in Sunday’s case, Tyler Reddick being one-and-done in the In-Season Challenge. Despite being the points leader entering Sunday, which gave him the top seed for the midseason tournament, Reddick was eliminated by lowest-rated Alex Bowman after power steering issues caused him to finish dead last.

As if being knocked out wasn’t bad enough, Reddick’s last-place finish also costs him the points lead. This is the first time in 2026 that the top spot changed hands, taking half the season with 18 races.

Last year’s tourney winner Gibbs finished third to Austin Dillon‘s 27th to advance to the next round.

• #2 Denny Hamlin (26th) defeated #31 Ty Dillon (35th)
• #3 Ryan Blaney (6th) defeated #30 Josh Berry (28th)
• #4 Chase Elliott (17th) defeated #29 Noah Gragson (32nd)
• #5 Ty Gibbs (3rd) defeated #28 Austin Dillon (27th)
• #6 Kyle Larson (4th) defeated #27 Riley Herbst (30th)
• #7 Chris Buescher (19th) defeated #26 John Hunter Nemechek (25th)
• #9 Carson Hocevar (11th) defeated #24 Zane Smith (18th)
• #10 Christopher Bell (5th) defeated #23 Ross Chastain (14th)
• #11 William Byron (12th) defeated #22 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (21st)
• #14 Shane van Gisbergen (1st) defeated #19 Ryan Preece (8th)
• #15 Erik Jones (23rd) defeated #18 Joey Logano (24th)
• #16 Austin Cindric (13th) defeated #17 Brad Keselowski (15th)
• #20 Michael McDowell (9th) defeated #13 Bubba Wallace (22nd)
• #25 Todd Gilliland (29th) defeated #8 Daniel Suárez (31st)
• #32 Alex Bowman (10th) defeated #1 Tyler Reddick (36th)

2026 Toyota/Save Mart 350 – Results