The weekend’s Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway was a race filled with action, drama, and a lot of chaos. Some unexpected turns, commendable performances, and a much-deserved win by Austin Cindric closed the adrenaline-filled day at Alabama. But amid all the fantastic visuals that fans got to see, the most heartbreaking has to be Ty Dillon’s final laps.

After returning to full-time Cup racing with Kaulig Racing in the No. 10 Chevy, Dillon was on his way to a good points day finish at the Talladega Superspeedway. He had a clear shot for a top 10 finish along with a season-best race so far. But a major blunder from Kaulig Racing cancelled out the hopes for a strong run by the driver.

It’s safe to say that for most of the race, Ty had his strategy in place. He played smart and was tucked within the lead pack, conserving his car while avoiding the Big One that Talladega is so notorious for. He found himself running behind the leaders in P7 after executing a good pit stop and getting back on track. But, just when the finish line was in sight, he sent a message to his team on the radio, “I’m out of gas. Out of f—— gas.”

Dillon desperately tried to coast through Turns 3 and 4, hugging the inside line, but the car was losing speed rapidly. Just as the leaders took the checkered flag, Dillon rolled across the finish line at a crawl, ultimately dropping outside the Top 20 to a crushing 23rd-place result. He was fuming after losing out on crucial points and didn’t hold back in calling out his team for this blunder.

“We were running in seventh and ran out of gas. We’ve got to get that cleaned up. Running out of gas has robbed us of a lot of finishing positions and points over the last two weeks. We’ve shown a lot of really good speed on the super speedways, and that’s been really good. It’s nice to see the hard work paying off when we show up at the track. We’ll keep grinding and the finishes we deserve will come.” Ty Dillon said after the race.

Despite the setback, there was something to cheer about for the Kaulig Racing camp as A.J. Allmendinger climbed a few spots in the points standings. In fact, he is above both the RCR drivers, Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon, scoring consistent points after his return to Cup racing in 2025.

Allmendinger is leading the charge for Kaulig Racing

For the first time since 2023, Kaulig Racing is fielding two full-time rides in the Cup Series. With a young prospect in Ty Dillon, they opted to bring back their veteran driver to the full-time ride at the Cup level. He’s led Kaulig Racing to wins at Brickyard and Charlotte Roval, so it made sense to promote him from Xfinity back to Cup. And, so far, he’s lived up to his billing.

He’s done nothing flashy, but has made sure that he crossed the finish line with good points consistently. After 10 races, he has already bagged three top 10 finishes. And while he had a mixed day with a 24th-place finish at Talladega, he finds himself 15th in the points standings above the cutline. It is important to note that Kaulig has a technical alliance with RCR, but still, Allmendinger is keeping stars like Busch and Austin Dillon in the rearview mirror.

“Overall, our day was going well. We were racing our own race there of hanging back and going at the end of the stages. That worked out for the first stage, almost worked out for the second stage, and I thought we were in a decent position in the third stage. We ended up with a combination of bad luck and not a great last stop at the end, just having to go around the No. 1 car and everything that happened there. That cost us there at the end and that’s disappointing.” Allmendinger said after the race.

If Kaulig somehow manages to bring Ty Dillon into the fold, they could give the top teams a run for their money. A spot in the playoffs would be a huge win for them, and given Allmendinger’s prowess on road courses, they can be optimistic about winning a race in the regular season.