A. J. Allmendinger

He crashed his Primary truck in qualifying but started the race 32nd in a backup truck from teammate Bill Lester and finished on the lead lap in 13th.

He also competed at the Talladega Superspeedway in October with a fifth place finish.

In his third career truck series start, he qualified in second place at Atlanta and led five laps before he wrecked and finished 34th.

Anthony James Allmendinger, nicknamed "The Dinger,” (born December 16, 1981) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing and part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Kaulig Racing.

Allmendinger's professional racing career began on the American open-wheel circuit.

Allmendinger participated in the Formula Dodge National Championship in 2001, which earned him a spot in the Barber Dodge Pro Series championship in 2002, a championship he won.

He also raced in New Zealand in 2002 in the New Zealand Formula Ford Championship.

Team owner Russo stated: "A.J. has been with us since we created RuSPORT late in 2002. However, as RuSPORT and A.J. have progressed, we believe a different environment will help A.J. to grow even faster, and so we have made this very difficult decision."

Russo also believed a former champion in da Matta would present a greater opponent for defending champion Sébastien Bourdais, who had swept the season's first four races.

Five days later, Forsythe Championship Racing announced Allmendinger as their new driver, replacing Mario Domínguez.

In his first race with Forsythe, Allmendinger won the Grand Prix of Portland.

In 2003, he was signed to Carl Russo's RuSPORT team and won the Champ Car Atlantic Championship, winning nine pole positions and seven races.

On February 29, 2004, Allmendinger and RuSPORT entered the Champ Car World Series, with Michel Jourdain Jr.. joining Allmendinger.

Red Bull also signed Allmendinger as a member of their family of athletes.

He scored a run of six top-six finishes towards the end of the season and won the Roshfrans Rookie-of-the-Year Award ahead of Justin Wilson.

Allmendinger became the first American to win a Champ Car World Series event since Ryan Hunter-Reay won at the Milwaukee Mile in 2004.

He then won the next two races at the Grand Prix of Cleveland and the Grand Prix of Toronto, giving him three consecutive victories in the first three races since his departure from RuSPORT.

This victory moved Allmendinger into second place in the CCWS championship standings behind Bourdais.

He earned his fourth and fifth wins of the season at Denver and Road America.

He left Champ Car with one race left in the season to accept a lucrative offer from NASCAR's Red Bull Racing Team.

Wilson joined the team for 2005, with both drivers having been in regular contention for podium finishes.

He earned five wins and third place overall in the 2006 Champ Car season.

Allmendinger then began competing in NASCAR for Team Red Bull.

He later drove for Richard Petty Motorsports, Penske Racing, Phoenix Racing, and JTG Daugherty Racing in the Cup Series.

On June 9, 2006, RuSPORT announced that Allmendinger would be replaced by 2002 CART champion Cristiano da Matta.

Allmendinger made his NASCAR debut in the Craftsman Truck Series driving for Bill Davis Racing at New Hampshire International Speedway on September 16, 2006, in the No. 24 Toyota Tundra.

Red Bull officially announced Allmendinger as part of its 2007 Nextel Cup Series driver lineup on October 25, 2006.

He attempted his first Cup Series event at Atlanta in October 2006 driving the No. 84 Red Bull-sponsored Dodge Charger, however, due to qualifying being rained out, a lack of owner's points prevented Allmendinger from making the race.

He also attempted to make the race at Texas Motor Speedway, failing to qualify again.

In 2007, Allmendinger commented that a lack of marketing and sponsorship due to the CART-IRL split played a role in him and several other open-wheel drivers moving to NASCAR, adding "it needs to be one series. To have all the best open-wheel drivers on this continent racing against each other, you'd hopefully get some sponsors back and get a decent TV package."

Allmendinger and Brian Vickers were named Red Bull's drivers for 2007, with Allmendinger piloting the team's No. 84 Toyota Camry with Vickers in the team's No. 83.

Allmendinger failed to qualify for the 2007 Daytona 500 after a crash in the first Gatorade Duel race.

He also failed to qualify for the next three races before making his first Cup start at the fifth race of the season, the Food City 500 at Bristol.

Moreover, he has competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona for Michael Shank's team in 15 of the last 17 years, winning the event in 2012.

Allmendinger started his racing career at the age of five, racing BMX bikes.

He advanced to quarter-midgets on ovals on the West Coast by the time he was eight, and within a few years, he began racing karts, winning two International Kart Federation Grand National championships.

It was reported in late 2012 that Allmendinger could move to the now-unified IndyCar Series with Michael Shank Racing, which he co-owned, for the 2013 season.

This failed to materialize; instead, he participated in IndyCar's winter testing at Sebring with Team Penske, and in March it was announced that Allmendinger would compete in the IndyCar series for the team in at least two races, at Barber Motorsports Park and at the 2013 Indianapolis 500, with the goal of adding more races later in the season.

This was extended to include the Long Beach Grand Prix, the Chevy Indy Dual in Detroit, and the season finale at Fontana.

When he lost his full-time Cup Series ride with JTGD in 2019 to Ryan Preece, he became a part-time driver for Kaulig in the Xfinity Series and part-time television broadcaster for NBC, working as a color commentator for IMSA races and an analyst on NASCAR America until 2021 when he returned to driving full-time.