CUP: A.J. Allmendinger’s fight to stay on the lead lap in North Wilkesboro ends with a crash
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Steven Taranto, @STaranto92
A.J. Allmendinger picked up the 15th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Window World 450 at the North Wilkesboro Speedway when his #16 Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet fell out with suspension issues after 190 of 450 laps.
The finish, which came in Allmendinger’s 503rd series start, was his first of the season and first in a Cup Series race since last fall’s season finale at Phoenix, 21 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 15th from suspension issues, the 25th for the #16, and the 892nd for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 48th for the #16, the 59th from the suspension, and the 2,056th for Chevrolet.
After two crashes at Phoenix secured him the 2025 LASTCAR Cup Series Championship, Allmendinger and his Kaulig Racing teammate Ty Dillon faced a new challenge for 2026. The Kaulig effort shut down their O’Reilly Auto Parts Series effort to go all-in on RAM’s return to the Truck Series, fielding five entries under the Kaulig RAM Racing banner. This decision cost Kaulig’s Cup teams what little support they still had from Chevrolet. Despite this marked disadvantage, Allmendinger has run much better than last season, battling regularly inside the Top 20. He’s also returned to prominence on the road courses, taking 9th in COTA, 7th at Watkins Glen, and 5th in the inaugural street race at Naval Base Coronado. But a crash last Sunday in Atlanta – just his second DNF of the year – dropped him from 18th to 22nd in points.
On September 29, 1996, the last time the Cup Series hosted a points-paying race at North Wilkesboro, Allmendinger was just 14 years old. Curiously, the polesitter that day drove car #16 as Ted Musgrave led the field in Roush Racing’s Family Channel / Primestar Ford Thunderbird. Unfortunately, Musgrave never led a lap that day and finished two laps down in 19th. Allmendinger’s #16 started the weekend as one of 37 entries for 40 spots. He ranked 30th in practice with a best lap of 18.554 seconds (121.268mph) and would have been third on track for qualifying. But rain cancelled the session, leaving him 35th on the starting grid.
Securing the 37th and final starting spot was Chad Finchum, the lone “open” entry in the field, carrying sponsorship from investment research platform Kingscrowd on the quarter-panels of Garage 66 team owner Carl Long’s white #66 Ford. Long had that week withdrawn his planned Truck Series entry for Jonathan Shafer, and turned his attention to Sunday’s race. Joining him in the back were polesitter Ryan Blaney, whose crew needed to replace the steering rack on his #12 Menards / Duracell Ford, and 13th-place Ross Chastain, whose #1 Busch Light Chevrolet failed inspection three times. Chastain’s Trackhouse Racing team was handed the biggest penalties: ejecting car chief David Fero, a loss of pit selection, dropping to the rear, and a pass-through penalty after taking the green.
During the pace laps, Finchum’s spotter advised his driver to let the field pull away by about a carlength at the start, anticipating a ragged start on a green racetrack following heavy afternoon rain. When the green flag dropped, Finchum did this, letting 33rd-place Allmendinger get the jump ahead of him as Allmendinger battled 34th-place Cody Ware to his outside in the #51 Rocket Doctor Chevrolet. At the time, Finchum was now 35th, leading a three-car line ahead of the penalized Blaney in 36th, then Chastain in 37th, 4.145 seconds back of the lead. Chastain took the green and, just as Blaney set up a move to the outside of Finchum to take 35th in Turns 3 and 4, immediately ducked down pit road on the backstretch, where he lost a lap before he returned to the track on Lap 2.
By Lap 16, Chastain had caught the tail end of the field, having passed 36th-place Finchum and 35th-place Ware on his way to 33rd-place Austin Hill in the #33 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet. By then, Finchum was about five second behind Ware on track. Finchum then lost a lap to the leaders on Lap 22, holding the high lane in Turns 1 and 2 as leader Ty Gibbs made it by. This caused Finchum to take the Lucky Dog from Chastain, who was working past 33rd-place Herbst. From here, Chastain continued to climb through the field in an effort to catch and pass Finchum, who ran the high lane as faster traffic moved by. Chastain had particular difficulty passing Hill, who on Lap 32 got into him in Turns 1 and 2, allowing him to move by. Stuck behind Hill, who was racing Zane Smith’s #38 Long John Silver’s Ford for 33rd, he had to check-up on Lap 40 when Smith got into John Hunter Nemechek’s #42 Pye-Barker Fire and Safety Toyota on Lap 40, sending Nemechek into a spin that dropped him to 35th.
The resulting caution allowed Chastain to catch up to the still 36th-place Finchum as the pair entered pit road nose-to-tail. Both were pitted near the entrance at Turns 3 and 4, but Finchum pulled off first in Pit Stall 36, followed by Chastain in Pit Stall 33. Chastain made the pass on Finchum right then, and with a quicker stop returned to the track ahead of the again last-place #66.
Under that same caution, Finchum was having issues with his coolsuit. Long told him he could try and fix it under the yellow, but Finchum decided to turn it off. On the Lap 49 restart, Finchum remained in last place as one of three drivers who were a lap down, behind 36th-place Chastain and 35th-place Nemechek now in the “Lucky Dog” spot. On Lap 57, Finchum had fallen about a straightaway back of the next car in line. He was told half the field was running the inside line, the other half diamonding the corners. By Lap 67, Long relayed a series of adjustments for Finchum, who was fighting handling issues: a four-tire change and two rounds out of the left-rear, a packer in the right-rear if there was enough time, then a pound-and-a-half of air out of the left-rear tire. On Lap 70, Finchum lost a second lap to new leader Shane Van Gisbergen while on Lap 76, Chastain took the Lucky Dog spot from Nemechek, which he earned when Stage 1 ended on Lap 81, putting Chastain back on the lead lap.
Under this caution, Finchum came in for two consecutive stops. Long discussed adding more packers to the right-rear, then decided it would be faster to take two rounds out of the right-rear. Finchum completed both stops without losing another lap and took the Lap 92 restart two laps down. On Lap 108, when Finchum was again running by himself, he reported his car was “tight – really right, especially entry and middle.” Then on Lap 116, he radioed he was “starting to lose a little brake pedal, pumping it up on the straightaway.” That time by, he lost a third lap to a third different leader – this time Joey Logano. Long told Finchum to make sure his yellow-coded brake fans were on, which the spotter had trouble relaying as he couldn’t hear Long over the noise of static. On Lap 136, Finchum lost a fourth lap to Logano, who was trying to also put a lap on 34th-place Ware, briefly causing a three-wide battle in Turn 2. Nemechek, now 36th, went a second lap own on Lap 142, and the again-lapped Chastain took the Lucky Dog from 33rd-place Riley Herbst in the #35 FRE Nicotine Pouches Toyota on Lap 143.
On Lap 147, Long planned his next series of adjustments for Finchum. He called for two rounds in the right-rear, fuel, and no fresh tires. He called him in under green on Lap 151, when Finchum let a couple cars go by before cutting onto pit road. He returned to the track just after losing a sixth lap to the leaders, at which point there were just 25 cars on the lead lap. But NASCAR caught him speeding in Section 7, forcing a pass-through penalty on Lap 156 that put him a seventh lap behind. By Lap 173, he’d lost an eighth lap, and was six laps behind new 36th-place runner Connor Zilisch, whose #88 WeatherTech Chevrolet collided with Kyle Larson’s #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet during pit stops under the Stage 1 caution.
As Logano continued his torrid pace through the middle of the event, Allmendinger was running 21st, fighting to stay on the lead lap. Logano was to his inside around Lap 173 when Allmendinger bounced off the outside wall in Turns 1 and 2, forcing him to make a green-flag stop of his own. The right-rear toe link had been damaged, yawing out the right-rear wheel on the #16. The stop continued for several laps, dropping him to last place by Lap 183, when he fell a ninth lap down to the leaders. Moments later, the caution fell for a tangle on the backstretch between Alex Bowman and Tyler Reddick on Lap 184. On Lap 188, Allmendinger’s crew completed repairs, and the driver re-fired the engine to return to the track. The crew believed the right-front toe link had also been damaged in the impact, but weren’t sure.
“Fuck me, I don't know what I'm doing out here anymore,” said Allmendinger, now 13 laps down. “Just tired of this, man.” His crew tried to buck him up, saying he just got into the marbles while trying to defend his lead-lap run from Logano. Allmendinger cleared the “Crash Clock” along with other drivers on the track, but on Lap 194 reported he had to turn the steering wheel an additional 20 degrees to the left just to get through the corners.
As Allmendinger’s crew discussed whether to go to the garage for further repairs, the caution flew on Lap 199 after contact from Christopher Bell sent 26th-place running Josh Berry spinning into the outside wall in Turn 4, damaging the left side of his #21 Motorcraft / Quick Lane Ford. Under the caution on Lap 201, Allmendinger was about to come down pit road, then returned to the track, unsure where the entrance to the “Damaged Vehicle Policy” zone was located. Berry had already pulled into the pits, and drove up to the team’s hauler on the Turn 1 and 2 side of the garage. But Berry was told the DVP Zone was on the other side of the track, and only accessible through an opening just past pit entrance entering Turn 3. So, Berry re-fired his engine, drove halfway around the track, and entered that zone on Lap 204.
Meanwhile, Allmendinger had already passed that DVP Zone entrance on Lap 204 and, like Berry, instead pulled up to his hauler, where TNT pit reporter Marty Snider had to step out of the way. Allmendinger was also told to go to Turns 3 and 4, but the team decided instead to park their car for the night, so NASCAR declared him out on Lap 214, two laps after his onboard camera shut off. While NASCAR reported “accident” for Allmendinger’s reason out, the results instead showed “suspension.” Berry’s crew also couldn’t complete repairs, so he was declared out on Lap 222, and his camera was shut off on Lap 224.
On Lap 315, Finchum came in for another lengthy stop, where Long was tracing a possible fluid leak. The team discussed going to their hauler for repairs, but NASCAR relayed a message reporting their rear gear was running at 300 degrees. On Lap 326, Finchum pulled into the DVP Zone and parked to the right of Berry’s car, done for the night. “Pleasure as always,” said Finchum. “I don't know when my next race is, but good luck in the meantime.” Finchum remained in 35th at the finish, the last driver to fall out of the race. Taking 34th was Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., whose #47 Jack Links Non Vegan Nation Chevrolet fell behind Austin Hill’s #33 in the final laps, both eight laps down to race winner Joey Logano.
Van Gisbergen completes strong weekend, Gilliland makes bracket finale
Following-up on his 3rd-place finish in Saturday’s Truck Series race, Shane Van Gisbergen had his best run yet on an oval, leading four times for 49 laps and finishing 2nd and 5th in the two stages en route to a 5th-place finish in his #97 Wendy’s Chevrolet. Three spots behind him in 8th came Todd Gilliland in the #34 Ruedebusch Development & Construction Inc. Ford. Gilliland, the 25th seed in TNT’s In-Season Championship, won his bracket against Chase Elliott and now faces No. 3 seed Ryan Blaney in next week’s finale at Indianapolis.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #16 in a Cup points race at North Wilkesboro.
*Allmendinger happens to also be the most recent Cup driver to finish last due to suspension issues, and it occurred just one day short of exactly one year ago – on July 20, 2025 at Dover. He is the first driver to finish last at North Wilkesboro for suspension issues.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
37) #16-A.J. Allmendinger / 190 laps / suspension
36) #21-Josh Berry / 199 laps / crash
35) #66-Chad Finchum / 303 laps / rear gear
34) #47-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. / /442 laps / running
33) #33-Austin Hill / 442 laps / running
2026 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Trackhouse Racing (5)
2nd) Joe Gibbs Racing (4)
3rd) Hendrick Motorsports, Kaulig Racing, Live Fast Motorsports (2)
4th) 23XI Racing, Garage 66, RFK Racing, Rick Ware Racing, Wood Brothers Racing (1)
2026 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (12)
2nd) Ford, Toyota (4)
2026 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
