Kevin Harvick analyzes the negative impact Shane van Gisbergen has had on AJ Allmendinger
Since Shane van Gisbergen arrived at Kaulig Racing via Trackhouse Racing, AJ Allmendinger has taken a backseat from Kevin Harvick’s point of view. This NASCAR season has not gone well for The Dinger in Xfinity or Cup.
Kevin Harvick is a great analyst now that he’s out of the driver’s seat. His view on the AJ Allmendinger struggles makes a lot of sense. Things have not clicked for Allmendinger in Kaulig Racing equipment this season.
Even on road courses and at Chicago, he was not competitive in the way he has been in the past. His best finish this season on the road was P4 in the Xfinity Series at Portland. SVG won that race handily on the final restart.
“The other thing that’s interesting to me, the SVG situation as to what that’s done to AJ Allmendinger,” Harvick said on his Happy Hour podcast. “We don’t talk about AJ Allmendinger being the guy to beat. He hasn’t qualified well on really any of the road courses, hasn’t been in contention on most of the road courses whether that’s Xfinity or Cup. We talk about Bowman and the things from a mental side of things but man it has put a damper mentally on AJ and the things he’s been able to do on the road courses.”
Then co-host Mamba Smith echoed some of Kevin Harvick’s thoughts. Smith believes it has to do with Allmendinger’s mindset. The driver isn’t having fun racing.
Top 10
- 1Breaking
Quinn Ewers
Texas QB declares for NFL
- 2New
Carson Beck
UGA myth dead, Bama pursued
- 3
Johntay Cook
Texas WR, Huskies part ways
- 4Trending
Adrian Peterson son
Insane highlight reel out
- 5
Transfer Portal window
Coaches propose big change
Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
“AJ was the standard on the road courses,” Smith said. “Now, SVG, the way SVG drives is different than AJ and it’s almost like he’s elevated, right? Someone has to elevate and SVG is now the new standard. Now, AJ, is AJ clear-cut second? When he’s on he is but then when he’s off, he’s off. It just doesn’t seem like the same. I don’t know if he’s not enjoying it, if he’s just not having fun because sometimes when you’re not having fun it kind of spirals out of control. But they’re not as fast either, Kaulig as a whole. I think at this point, SVG is able to elevate a little bit in the places that they lack and maybe AJ, because he was the reason that they were elevated, they kind of hit this ceiling a little bit, they gotta bust through.”
Kevin Harvick is keeping his eyes on the situation. AJ Allmendinger is a fiery competitor. As Shane van Gisbergen continues to dominate on road courses, how does AJ react?
“It is a very interesting scenario because it has basically taken him out of all the conversations on the road courses in all the races we’ve had so far,” Harvick concluded.
AJ Allmendinger has more points this season than SVG. However, Allmendinger is without a win. The 97 team has three now. Will The Dinger get back to his winning ways this year? Is Kevin Harvick right?