CUP: A.J. Allmendinger’s streak without a Daytona 500 DNF ends with a blown engine

Written By Brock Beard

by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

PHOTO: Joel Bray

A.J. Allmendinger picked up the 11th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s 67th Annual Daytona 500 at the Daytona International Speedway when his #16 Celsius Chevrolet lost the engine after 42 of 201 laps.

The finish, which came in Allmendinger’s 447th series start, was his first of the season and first since June 16, 2024 at Iowa, 20 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 21st for the #16, the 723rd from engine trouble, and the 865th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 42nd for the #16, the 1,149th for engine issues, and the 1,975th for Chevrolet.

This latest phase of Allmendinger’s revitalized career at Kaulig Racing has had its share of intrigue. Since scoring the team’s breakthrough first Cup win in 2021, his schedule increased over the next two years, bringing him back to full-time competition for the first time since he left JTG-Daugherty Racing in 2018. That 2023 season yielded another win as he took the checkers at easily his most successful NASCAR track, the Charlote “Roval.” He then returned to a partial schedule last year to return to full-time XFINITY racing, where he won at Las Vegas and continued his streak of consecutive seasons with a win to six.

But that 2024 season also saw the rise of a new road race ace in Shane Van Gisbergen, who enjoyed a sterling rookie season in XFINITY driving for a joint effort between Kaulig and Trackhouse Racing. The stunning winner of the inaugural Cup race on the Chicago Street Course won there again in a XFINITY car, one of three victories on his way to a 12th-place rank in points. This year, as Kaulig brings on Daniel Dye and Christian Eckes to their XFINITY team, Allmendinger joins Van Gisbergen as a full-timer in Cup – Van Gisbergen now with a new third Trackhouse car while Allmendinger remains at Kaulig.

Allmendinger didn’t qualify for this year’s exhibition at Bowman Gray Stadium, where he finished 15th in the Last Chance Qualifier, two laps down. He started fresh in Daytona 27th in opening practice, then qualified 19th with a lap of 49.616 seconds (181.393mph). This placed him 10th on the grid for Duel Race 1 and finished a strong 6th, earning him the 13th starting spot for Sunday’s race. He didn’t participate in the second practice on Saturday, then was one of the 24 in Happy Hour, where he ranked 16th.

While known for his road racing prowess, Allmendinger has excelled at Daytona. In his 22 previous Cup races there, Allmendinger had only failed to finish two summer races at the track – including a last-place finish in 2014. He had finished all 11 of his Daytona 500 starts under power, finishing 3rd in his first-ever 500 in 2009 and 6th just last year.

Securing the 41st and final starting spot was Helio Castroneves, whose #91 Wendy’s Chevrolet needed NASCAR’s provisional to make the field following a wreck in Duel Race 1 that required repairs, followed by an engine change before race day. Those crash-filled Duels sent another eight drivers to backup cars, which filed in at the tail end: 22nd-place Kyle Larson in the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 23rd-place Ty Gibbs in the #54 Monster Energy Toyota, 24th-place Riley Herbst in the #35 Monster Energy Zero Sugar Toyota, 26th-place Shane van Gisbergen in the #88 WeatherTech Chevrolet, 34th-place Brad Keselowski in the #6 Kroger / Cottonelle Ford, 35th-place Justin Haley in the #7 Chili’s Ride the ‘Dente Chevrolet, 36th-place Daniel Suarez in the #99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet, 38th-place Alex Bowman in the #48 Ally Chevrolet. Also sent back was 31st-place Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. for multiple inspection failures on his #47 SunnyD Chevrolet. But with Castroneves also among the penalized for his engine change, the #91 remained in the 41st spot when the race went green.

When the race went green, Castroneves ran the high lane into Turn 1, 3.640 seconds back of the lead to Martin Truex, Jr., who dropped from 39th to 40th in his #56 Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats Toyota for TRICON Garage. By Lap 3, the spot fell to Justin Haley, 2.597 back, then teammate Carson Hocevar in the #77 Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet on Lap 4. By Lap 5, Hocevar had lost touch with the pack and on Lap 6 was already five full seconds back of the now 40th-place Castroneves. A fuel pressure issue had come up, forcing a switch to the car’s backup system, and threatening to leave Hocevar with his second-straight last-place finish in the 500 and the third in a row at the event for Spire’s #77. But on Lap 9, he was saved by the first caution when the approaching rain storm arrived at Turn 1. At the time, Hocevar was still on the lead lap, 14.143 seconds back of the lead. His team discussed looking under the rear decklid at the fuel pump, but the rain intensified, forcing a red flag on Lap 11.

By the end of a more than three-hour rain delay, Hocevar’s team figured out the issue, and he returned to the track still holding 41st place. Already, fuel strategy had come into play, so several swaths of cars came down pit road to top off their fuel cells. Daniel Suarez had a particularly lengthy stop that dropped him to 41st on Lap 16, followed by first Hocevar, then Brad Keselowski on Lap 18. On Lap 19, Alex Bowman followed Michael McDowell’s #71 Go Bowling Chevrolet down pit road, putting Bowman’s #48 in the last spot. By Lap 21, when rain picked up again, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. had also pitted his #47, moving him to 41st just before the second red flag of the day.

This red flag was much shorter, and by Lap 22, cars were rolling again with three of them – including Bowman – sent to the rear for pitting on a closed pit road. The other two were likely McDowell and Hocevar, who traded the spot that time by, followed by Ryan Preece in the #60 BuildSubmarines.com Ford, which took the spot just before the Lap 24 restart.

Now, the spot swapped in earnest as drivers rushed through a slowing pack of cars, then fell back just as quickly. Preece had a massive run down the backstretch on Lap 25, dropping Hocevar to last. At the stripe on Lap 26, Hocevar caught and dove under teammate McDowell, who held the spot until McDowell passed him back on Lap 27. McDowell also caught and passed Jimmie Johnson’s #84 Carvana Toyota, which dropped to 40th on Lap 28. Hocevar followed Johnson’s tire tracks as on Lap 30, Johnson pulled alongside McDowell in a battle for 39th. On Lap 36, Hocevar started to lose touch with Johnson, but McDowell dropped to 40th followed on Lap 37 by Haley, who slowed in the high lane in Turns 1 and 2. Haley dropped back so quickly he took last from Hocevar until Lap 38, when Noah Gragson’s #4 Rush Travel Centers Ford suddenly dropped to 39th. Hocevar backed off, allowing Haley to slingshot under the #77 and climb back to 40th, dropping Hocevar back to last. On Lap 40, Hocevar got a strong run of his own, climbing as high as 35th and briefly dropping Suarez back to last. As he did, Johnson got stuck in the middle lane and lost ground, and Hocevar fell back again, taking over 41st.

On Lap 41, Allmendinger was running the low lane in a three-wide battle off Turns 3 and 4 when he suddenly slowed at corner exit. Running along the double-yellow line, he missed the entrance to pit road and pulled to the apron. He dropped to 41st as Hocevar whistled past at the approach to Turn 1. By the time Allmendinger reached the corner, his car was trailing smoke, which intensified as he made it to pit road the next time by. The crew lifted the hood, and someone on his channel said, “Look at the pipes – see what’s coming out of the pipes.” On Lap 45, the crew pushed him backwards to the nearest pit stall. He finally reached his spot in the garage on Lap 48. On Lap 54, the team radioed “All right, guys – we’re out,” and his on-board camera was shut off two laps later. The lap after, on Lap 57, NASCAR’s official in the garage accidentally called Jimmie Johnson’s car number, but corrected himself, saying, “84 out, engine – I mean 16 out, engine.” At the time, Johnson was still running on the lead lap in 37th.

The first caution for a wreck occurred on Lap 64, when Denny Hamlin’s #11 National Debt Relief Toyota collided with Zane Smith’s #38 Speedy Cash Ford and Josh Berry’s #21 Motorcraft Quick Lane Ford. While Hamlin continued to run on the lead lap, both Smith and Berry’s cars were the first to pull into the garage under NASCAR’s revised “Damaged Vehicle Policy.” Both cars were staged in the same outbuilding as Allmendinger, where crews were allowed to complete repairs. Smith’s team completed repairs on Lap 112, when the #38 returned to the track 50 laps down in 40th. Berry returned two laps later in 35th, 40 down.

By then, a second pileup had already occurred in Turn 1, this time eliminating Ross Chastain’s #1 Busch Light Chevrolet, Castroneves’ #91, and Martin Truex, Jr.’s #56 Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats Toyota. Truex appeared to receive minor damage, but the team quickly found the oil pump had busted, ending their night. NASCAR declared Chastain and Castroneves out on Lap 77, shortly after Truex’s car was pushed to the garage with a DeWalt tool bag on its bent hood. Smith and Berry cleared minimum speed in three laps. Smith climbed past Chastain and Castroneves on Lap 122, then began to catch Berry when the #21 went behind the wall and pulled up to the Wood Brothers’ hauler on Lap 146. Smith caught and passed Berry, who completed the Bottom Five in 37th, before Smith exited three laps later.

A massive night for Legacy Motor Club, JR Motorsports, and Corey LaJoie

Three more massive pileups shuffled the order by race’s end, each seeing William Byron miss involvement by mere inches. As Byron slipped from 9th to 1st after the final lap melee entering Turn 3, Jimmie Johnson – who spent the early laps near the tail end of the field – charged into the Top Ten, then found his way to 3rd – his first finish better than 26th since his final race for Hendrick Motorsports in the 2020 finale at Phoenix. It turned out to be a great weekend for Legacy Motor Club all around: teammate John Hunter Nemechek held fast to a top-ten run in the final stage and took home 5th in the #42 Dollar Tree Toyota – his first top-five finish in his 78th start, and besting his father Joe Nemechek’s best-ever finish in the Daytona 500 (6th in 2004). Erik Jones, whose #43 AdventHealth Toyota was denied victory on Thursday, still manage 12th despite damage suffered with three laps to go.

It was an equally fantastic day for JR Motorsports, which in its Cup Series debut made it through the chaos to finish 9th. Justin Allgaier’s performance in the #40 Traveler Whiskey Chevrolet was also tremendous for the driver himself, who has struggled in such one-off performances he’s run since his last full Cup Series season in 2015. In fact, the top-ten run was his first in the series in nearly a decade, dating back to an 8th-place run at Bristol on April 19, 2015.

Corey LaJoie also showed his strong performance in Thursday’s Duel Race 2 was no fluke. In fact, he led twice for 10 laps, showing the way as late as eight laps to go. On the final lap in overtime, LaJoie’s #01 Take 5 Oil Change / DuraMax Ford was running around the 7th spot – the third car back on the inside line – when he was spun out of line during the final wreck of the night, dropping him to 22nd. Also sidelined by bad luck was Cody Ware, who was in position to defend his 4th-place run at Daytona last August until his #51 Parts Plus Ford was swept up in the same wreck, leaving him 25th.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #16 in the Daytona 500. The number’s only last-place finish in a Cup points-paying race at Daytona was on July 5, 2008, when Greg Biffle’s #16 3M Ford crashed after 69 laps of the Coke Zero 400. Allmendinger, then driving for Team Red Bull, finished next-to-last that night.

*Allmendinger is the first driver to finish 41st in a Cup Series points race since November 22, 2015, when Aric Almirola took the spot in the last 43-car field before the current Charter system reduced the field to its current 40.

*Allmendinger is the first to finish 41st in a 41-car starting field since September 15, 1996, when Chad Little’s run in the #29 Cartoon Network Wacky Racing Chevrolet ended in a crash after 3 laps at Dover.

*Allmendinger is also the first to finish last in a 41-car starting field for the Daytona 500 since February 14, 1993, when Dick Trickle’s #75 Carolina Pottery Ford lost the engine after 2 laps.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

41) #16-A.J. Allmendinger / 42 laps / engine

40) #1-Ross Chastain / 70 laps / crash

39) #91-Helio Castroneves / 70 laps / crash

38) #56-Martin Truex, Jr. / 71 laps / crash

37) #21-Josh Berry / 105 laps / crash

2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Kaulig Racing (1)

2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (1)

2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

Brock Beard https://lastcar.info
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