A.J. Allmendinger may serve as a sustitute driver for Austin Dillon behind the wheel of the #3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet in the Blue-Emu Maximum Relief 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway on Wednesday night. Dillon and his wife, Whitney, are awaiting the birth of their first child. Allmendinger will be on standby at Martinsville in case Whitney Dillon goes into labor, and Dillon returns home for the baby’s birth.
Allmendinger raced full-time in the Cup Series from 2009 through 2018, but at the end of the 2018 season, he lost his position as driver of the #47 Chevrolet for JTG-Daugherty Racing. He also raced part-time in the Cup Series in 2007 and 2008. He has 371-career Cup Series starts, resulting in a win at Watkins Glen International in 2014, 11 top-fives and 57-career top-10 race finishes.
Allmendinger hasn’t raced in the Cup Series since 2018, but he has driven part-time for Kaulig Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series the last two seasons. As a matter-of-fact, he won his most recent race in that series, Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The win was his fourth-career Xfinity Series win, but his first on an oval.
Dillon drew the 22nd starting position for Wednesday’s race at Martinsville, but if Allmendinger is in the car, he’ll have to drop to the back for the start of the race because of the driver change.
