Drivers will be on the move ahead of the 2027 NASCAR Cup Series season, but AJ Allmendinger will not be a member of this group.
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The veteran racer has provided a Silly Season update ahead of the inaugural street race on Naval Base Coronado. He confirmed that he's going to be at Kaulig Racing indefinitely.
"I'm not going anywhere," Allmendinger said on Saturday. "Like, I laugh when I see that. I mean, according to Chris (Rice, Kaulig Racing CEO), I've got a contract 'til like 2032, so I'm not going anywhere.
"So I do kind of laugh about, like, 'Oh, next year?' I'm like, that's not on my mind because I'm here for life in one way or another."
Allmendinger has driven for multiple teams during his NASCAR career. He competed in the Cup Series for such teams as Red Bull Racing, Team Penske, Richard Petty Motorsports, Phoenix Racing, and JTG Daugherty Racing.
However, he found his home in 2019 when he agreed to join the young Kaulig Racing for some select road course starts. Allmendinger won his first O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race for the team at the Charlotte Roval in 2019, and then he added two more in 2020 while running part-time.
The California native has since become the do-it-all driver for Kaulig Racing. He has competed in three full O'Reilly Auto Parts Series seasons (2021, 2022, 2024) and three full Cup Series seasons (2023, 2025, 2026). He has won one Cup race and 13 O'Reilly races in this stretch of time.
This season, he is 21st in the Cup Series standings despite Chevrolet providing no support to him or teammate Ty Dillon. Kaulig Racing is on an island due to its existing Truck Series deal with Ram.
This is not where Allmendinger wants to be in terms of performance — he would prefer to contend for wins.
However, team owner Matt Kaulig highlighted how they have outrun drivers from much bigger teams this season. This includes Trackhouse Racing, Front Row Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing, and Legacy Motor Club.
"There's a certain enjoyment that's challenging to be able to go run with the big guys that do have all the support," Kaulig told FanBuzz at Nashville Superspeedway. "And when Chevrolet says, 'Hey, we're cutting you off, we're not supporting you, you're not going to get the support that we have anymore,' then there's a certain challenge to that.
"It's like, 'Okay, all right, let's see what we can do.' ... We do outrun their cars, you know, a lot of times, so I don't know. Everybody's kind of stepped up and just taken that challenge personally."
Kaulig confirmed that the team took on this challenge to build something special for the future. The expectation is that Dodge will be a part of this process as the manufacturer aims to return to the Cup Series.
Allmendinger will continue to play an important role in this process as he remains on his "lifetime" contract.
