A.J. Allmendinger made his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start in five years when he was called upon to fill in for the suspended Daniel Dye behind the wheel of Kaulig Racing's No. 10 Ram at Darlington Raceway back in March.
Allmendinger had competed in just one race since 2008 at that point, and he finished that race in 27th place at Watkins Glen International in 2021 for GMS Racing.
Skip ahead to this past weekend at Watkins Glen, and Allmendinger returned to Matt Kaulig's Truck Series team, this time behind the wheel of the No. 25 "free agent" truck that had been driven by Tony Stewart, Ty Dillon, Colin Braun, Corey LaJoie, Carson Ferguson, and Parker Kligerman earlier in the year.
Allmendinger finished in sixth place, which was good for his best series finish since he finished runner-up at Charlotte Motor Speedway driving for Darrell Waltrip Motorsports in 2007.
Clint Bowyer set to make NASCAR return
This weekend, however, Allmendinger's focus at Dover Motor Speedway is strictly on attempting to qualify for the All-Star Race in the Cup Series.
As a result, Fox Sports Cup Series announcer Clint Bowyer is set to get in on the action with the new Ram Trucks program and make his first Truck Series start since competing for Spire Motorsports at Nashville Superspeedway in 2024. That start marked his first national series appearance of any kind since retiring from full-time competition at the end of the 2020 Cup Series season.
Allmendinger does not have any further Truck Series starts planned for the remainder of 2026, although that remains subject to change.
The No. 25 Ram is still in need of a driver for 13 of the 16 remaining races on the schedule beyond this weekend, and given the fact that Allmendinger competes full-time for Kaulig Racing's Cup Series team, a return at some point would make sense and seem relatively seamless, especially after delivering the truck its best finish of the year thus far.
Fox Sports 1 is set to provide live coverage of the Ecosave 200 from Dover Motor Speedway beginning at 5:00 p.m. ET this Friday, May 15. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now if you have not already taken advantage of the chance to do so, and don't miss any of the action from the "Monster Mile"!
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