AJ Allmendinger reflects on early challenges in NASCAR and surprising longevity in racing 

Kaulig Racing driver AJ Allmendinger was recently featured in an interview with Motorsports.com ahead of Sunday's Viva Mexico 250 at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. During the interview, Allmendinger opened up about the early challenges he faced in stock car racing.

Allmendinger began his racing career when he was a child and competed in BMX bike events. He then moved to quarter-midget racing on oval tracks on the West Coast. Fast-forwarding to 2004, the California native made his debut in open-wheel racing and competed in the Champ Car World Series.

After making waves in the Open Wheel Racing series, AJ Allmendinger debuted in NASCAR in 2006 with Bill Davis Racing in the Camping World Truck Series and Team Red Bull in the Cup Series. Allmendinger struggled in the rookie and sophomore seasons in the Cup Series with a series of DNFs. He struggled to adapt to the stock car racing style after switching from the open-wheel racing format.

Reflecting upon the same, the Kaulig Racing driver stated:

"was almost trying to learn how to walk again. And I kind of got shoved right into it with Red Bull. I would never change it, but I didn't have any experience in stock car racing. And they went right to Cup. We probably were trying to do it in, I wouldn't say the most competitive era, but it definitely had the most cars right there. My first two years, we had 50 to 56 cars trying to qualify for the race every week. So that was difficult." (via Motorsports.com)

"But if you'd have told me back in 2007, 2008 -- oh, hey, by the way, in 2025 you're still going to be in the Cup series, and you're still going to be doing this and still be competitive, I'd have told you you're crazy, because I felt like there was no way I was going to be in the sport that long. So I feel very fortunate," he added.

AJ Allmendinger returned with Richard Petty Motorsports in 2009 and never looked back. He has completed 461 starts in the Cup Series and has secured three wins, 21 top-five finishes, and 84 top-ten finishes in his career.

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"You’ve got to at least go 750": AJ Allmendinger on increasing NASCAR Cup Series cars' horsepower

Earlier this month, NASCAR Cup Series driver AJ Allmendinger gave his thoughts on increasing the horsepower of the Cup cars while competing on short tracks. Currently, the cars are limited to 670 horsepower on every track, and the governing body is considering increasing the limit to 750 horsepower.

Reflecting on the same, the Kaulig Racing team driver stated (via Peter Stratta):

""I feel like we talk about this all the time. I think it’s maybe at least the first time publicly that NASCAR has probably been open to it. How much will it help? I don’t know. Will it hurt? I don’t think it’ll hurt by any means. Goodyear’s been doing a great job of trying to soften the tires to get them to wear out a little bit more. You’ve got to at least go 750."

AJ Allmendinger ranks 19th on the Cup Series points table with 304 points. He has secured four top-ten and one top-five finishes in 15 starts this season.