Top Dog: AJ Allmendinger
By fielding RAM trucks in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2026, Kaulig Racing had their support from Chevrolet dropped in the Cup Series. For a team that was already struggling in Cup, it looked as if Kaulig had a long road ahead in order to stay competitive.
Despite the team losing their Chevrolet backing, driver AJ Allmendinger has hovered around 20th in the standings for the last few months. Though the No. 16 hasn’t particularly been fast most weeks, Kaulig has been getting what they can out of each race.
On Sunday night (May 31) at Nashville Superspeedway, Allmendinger undoubtedly had speed. A strategy call in stage one set the No. 16 up for a stage win, with Allmendinger cycling to the front after a timely caution in stage two. He was running fourth before a brake failure sent him into the wall, taking him out of the race.
Even with a 35th-place result, Kaulig proved to the fans and themselves that if they hit their marks, they can race inside the top 10.
The Climb to the Top
With qualifying canceled and the lineup being set per the rulebook, Allmendinger started 16th. The No. 16 maintained track position, but a late caution in the first stage would set up a 12-lap shootout. Running in 15th at the time of the caution, every car ahead of Allmendinger pitted during the break, giving him the race lead.
During the ensuing restart, Ryan Blaney nosed ahead when another caution was called, setting up a restart with one lap to go in the stage. Allmendinger got a great restart, and he passed Blaney back to capture his first stage win of the season.
Because he stayed out for the previous cautions, Allmendinger needed to pit during the stage end, sending him back to 30th. The No. 16 team chose to run long during the second stage, while other cars pitted. During the pit cycle, a caution came out for an incident on the frontstretch, allowing Allmendinger to pit without losing track position. He restarted fourth and worked his way into third. With around 13 laps to go in the stage, Allmendinger suffered a brake rotor failure in turn 2, ending his day prematurely.
Despite a disappointing finish, Allmendinger showed there is speed to be found at Kaulig Racing. At the very least, the No. 16 was able to pick up 10 valuable stage points.
Looking Ahead
When asked by the media after the race if the team could build upon this performance, Allmendinger was apprehensive.
“Every weekend’s different. Every weekend is a guess, and you go to the racetrack and you hope you’ve guessed right.”
Allmendinger did show some hope, telling the media that “it does show, whether it was strategy or not, we got up there.”
The No. 16 dropped back to 22nd in the standings, 40 points outside of the Chase cutoff. With competitive bubble drivers like Ryan Preece and Joey Logano hovering around the cut line, it is going to be a fight to get Allmendinger into The Chase. However, if the team can run as well as they did at Nashville, Allmendinger will be in contention for a spot as the regular season comes to a close.
It is worth mentioning that fellow Kaulig Racing driver Ty Dillon showed some speed as well, coming home 12th.
Top Dogs of the Lower Series
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series: At this point, Parker Retzlaff regularly finishes in the top 15. He currently sits 10th in the points standings, yet every week, he continues to impress.
Retzlaff’s team, Viking Motorsports, is not at the level of the larger teams in the O’Reilly Series. There is still progress to be made if Viking wants to compete for race wins, but for a team that went full-time in the series within the last few years, the team is maximizing what it has.
Due to a mechanical issue, Retzlaff’s No. 99 car received an engine change, meaning he would have to start at the back of the field at a track notoriously difficult to pass at.
Retzlaff flew through the field in the first stage, making his way inside the top 20. In stage two, Retzlaff worked his way into the top 10, finishing eighth at stage end. With only one caution for incident between stages one and two, Retzlaff made it on pure pace.
The final stage ran caution free, with track position continuing to be important. Ultimately, Retzlaff finished the race 12th.
This continues a run of good finishes for the No. 99 team. In the last six races, Retzlaff only has one finish worse than 12th. Sitting 29 points above the Chase cutoff, the No. 99 team has a realistic chance of making the postseason.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: Stefan Parsons had quite the interesting weekend. Parsons, who is the spotter for Connor Zilisch in the Cup Series, swapped roles with Zilisch on Friday night. Driving for Niece Motorsports in the No. 4 truck, Parsons made his first start of the year, with Zilisch as his spotter.
Parsons started 13th due to qualifying being rained out, and he stayed inside the top 20 all night long. During a yellow flag inside of 20 laps to go, the No. 4 team pitted for new tires, sending them back to 20th. Parsons made it up to 18th at the time of the checkered flag.
Though the strategy call did not work too well, considering Parsons was making his first start of 2026, and the No. 4 is not one of Niece’s full time trucks, this was a solid effort by everyone involved.
Small Team Scheme of the Week
One week removed from losing NASCAR legend Kyle Busch, Hyak Racing honored the superstar with a throwback/tribute scheme on Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s No. 47 NOS Energy Chevrolet. The livery pays homage to Busch’s iconic blue NOS Energy design he ran in what was then the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Boasting orange, white, and black stripes, this scheme just looks fast.
Starting from 15th, Stenhouse had an adventurous day. He finished outside the top 10 in stage one, but through pit cycles and strategy, he finished third in stage two. The call to take tires during the final caution of the race enabled the No. 47 to rip through the field and finish fourth, his best result since the Daytona 500 in February.
