NASCAR boss confirms veteran Cup Series star will race in 2026

Kaulig Racing team president Chris Rice has confirmed that veteran Cup Series star AJ Allmendinger will return to the team for 2026.

Allmendinger has only raced two full-time Cup Series seasons for the team, in 2023 and 2025, but will be back for the full series in 2026 as he looks to secure his first playoff appearance for Kaulig.

The 43-year-old is coming off the best of a season-best fourth place at the Coca-Cola 600, lifting him to 18th in the drivers' standings and within shouting distance of a playoff spot.

Allmendinger raced primarily in the Xfinity Series last year, but hasn't made a single appearance in that competition in 2025, with team boss Rice insisting he needs to focus on securing his playoff spot.

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Kaulig Racing: Allmendinger's staying through 2026

Rice told The Sporting News: "You know, someone asked me over the weekend, is AJ coming back next year and I can tell you he is coming back next year and he is going to be Cup racing.

"When we stepped out on a limb and hired AJ when no one really wanted him, we fell in love with each other, and have become best friends.

"And he has constantly picked us up when we are down in the dumps. Every time, there’s AJ and it doesn’t matter if it’s Cup or Xfinity, he makes us better wherever we need him. And so we’ve told him, he’s not running any Xfinity because we are focused on making the playoffs over here and he’s the guy to get it done for us."

Allmendinger himself admitted that last weekend's result was a big one for him, saying: "This was important, right. When we have a car like we did, the execute and run basically top six every stage, none of us made mistakes today. The pit crew was on it. Trent was on it.

"There were times I thought maybe we needed to adjust a bit more but he said no and sometimes, I struggle to rip the fence here but I had a good night even if I’ll never be Kyle Larson or Tyler Reddick doing it."

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