AVONDALE, Ariz. — AJ Allmendinger certainly would like to win the Xfinity Series championship on Saturday night, but his quest for the title is about so much more than personal glory.
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"I want to win this championship. For me personally, it's something that you add to a resume," Allmendinger said Thursday at Phoenix Raceway. "Like I said, a lot of people don't get the opportunity.
"But does it change my life? Whether I'm standing in victory lane with the championship on Saturday doesn't change my life."
If personal glory isn't the reason for the intensity behind the wheel, what is actually pushing Allmendinger? It all boils down to the opportunity to pay it back to the people who have supported him.
"The satisfaction (of winning the championship) might change other people's lives inside the race team," Allmendinger said.
"And that's where the determination and the intensity this weekend will come from is trying to bring a championship to Matt (Kaulig) and Chris (Rice) and all the men and women because I've seen the hard work and I feel like at times this year I've let them down."
Allmendinger has been with Kaulig Racing since the team's early days in the sport. The journey has been bumpy at times, to say the least, but it has also included some big moments.
Allmendinger's first two Xfinity Series starts with Kaulig Racing were at Daytona International Speedway and Watkins Glen International. He was disqualified after both, something that team president Chris Rice and Allmendinger still joke about to this day.
It would have been easy enough to walk away from Kaulig after this rough start, but Allmendinger stuck with the team. He finished third in his third career start with Kaulig and then he won in his fifth start.
Allmendinger and Kaulig have gone on to celebrate success after that rocky first season together despite dealing with some inconsistent performance. He won the team's first Cup race in 2021 and then added another win last season.
They have celebrated 16 Xfinity wins and two Championship 4 appearances, and now they are only one race away from potentially winning the team's first title.
"I do truly feel like it's an honor to be able to be a part of this," Allmendinger said. "And I don't know the number, but I would say there's probably only a few to — whatever — hundreds of people that can say that they're NASCAR champions in the top three series.
"So it's something that I would love to be a part of, but I'm trying to do it more for everybody at Kaulig Racing."
