Allmendinger takes Xfinity victory

LAS VEGAS — AJ Allmendinger raced to the first victory of his comeback season by passing Daniel Hemric on the final restart in the Xfinity Series race Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Allmendinger this year agreed to his first full-time season since 2018 in a deal with Kaulig Racing. He’s friends with team owner

Matt Kaulig and has slowly been lured back into NASCAR as a favor to the team.

He was Kaulig’s “Trophy Hunter” last year in 11 races he was entered solely to win for the team. Kaulig then convinced Allmendinger to run for the Xfinity Series championship while also helping the organization move to Cup next season.

The victory was the sixth in the Xfinity Series for Allmendinger, who retired at the end of the 2018 season rather than drive for a noncompetitive team.

Allmendinger was in tears when he climbed from his winning Chevrolet.

“It’s emotional, hell, you don’t know when you are going to do this again,” Allmendinger said. “You never know if this is the last one. Matt Kaulig, I love you man.”

Kaulig Racing has eight Xfinity Series victories since its 2016 formation. Four of the wins were by Allmendinger.

Allmendinger said he holds Kaulig in such high regard that he’s often ill before races from the pressure to deliver for the team.

“I want to win so bad for Matt every week. It’s hard to put into words what he means to me and truly how bad I want to win for him,” Allmendinger said. “It’s the same thing as wanting to win for Roger Penske. It means that much to me that he believes in me. Thank you for this opportunity because I don’t take it for granted.”