This NASCAR veteran isn’t having any of it. Something different was in the air at Phoenix as Friday’s Cup practice session rolled out.  Goodyear introduced the soft tire compound for this weekend, and teams are still trying to get a handle on it, pushing the limits with aggressive air pressure setups. But this new setup haunted the garage.

And now, the 43-year-old driver cannot help but voice out his disappointment. This is the last thing the No. 16 crew needed going into the ‘desert oddball’. With the 50-minute practice session flipping the script, there could be some serious implications going into the biggest race of the season.

Kaulig Racing’s NASCAR veteran sounds off on the tire compound at Phoenix

Speaking post-practice, AJ Allmendinger told Frontstretch’s Stephen Stumpf, “Yeah, I’m ready for the year to be over. I’m tired of it. Told them I probably should start seeing him before the race weekend starts, so I don’t have to see him during the race weekend, but um yeah, I’ll have a bruise in my elbow. I think it bounces off the seat when I hit, but other than that, I’ll be fine.” 

The No. 16 Kaulig Racing driver suffered a double tire failure on Friday’s NASCAR Cup Series practice run.  Several drivers, including championship contender Chase Briscoe, his teammate Christopher Bell, Riley Herbst, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, AJ Allmendinger, and Daniel Suarez, experienced tire problems that resulted in either close calls or major crashes.

Both AJ Allmendinger and Daniel Suarez suffered blown tires twice that sent them hard into the outside wall. Kyle Larson also made contact with the wall late in practice, while Denny Hamlin, who had a flat tire unlike Briscoe and Bell, reported a vibration near the end of his first run.

Reflecting on what happened, the 43-year-old driver added, “Blew a left front, but I don’t know. The first run, we blew a left rear like three laps into it. Everything felt fine there. I was already tight, but the balance was okay, and I just wanted to run the laps out and, you know, put a 25–30 lap run to see what we had. Yeah, it just all of a sudden blew out of nowhere. So I don’t know if it’s—we’re too low on tire pressure. We usually, on our group in practice, we’re not overly low in tire pressure, but to have two left-side tires blow out, we’ve got to figure out why.”

And while AJ Allmendinger isn’t in the playoffs, he remains frustrated with the tire issues. For the Hendrick Motorsport championship hopefuls, William Byron and Larson, practice wasn’t entirely smooth either. Both scrape the outside world despite avoiding serious damage during the 50-minute session. While Goodyear’s soft compounds have generally improved racing throughout the season, there is growing concern that this weekend’s tire may be too delicate for the desert heat in Arizona.

One Goodyear representative later clarified that most of the failures appeared to be from teams running below the recommended tire pressure. As the weekend continues, crew chiefs across the Cup Series garage will be working to prevent further issues, but Friday’s practice has already raised the alarms about tire durability heading into the finale. But while Denny Hamlin’s title hangs in the balance, AJ Allmendinger seems to have pinned down his championship favorite.

AJ Allmendinger reveals his championship favorite

While AJ is backing himself to pull off an upset, the veteran has expressed his admiration for all 4 championship contenders but admits he’s leaning toward Martinsville winner William Byron to chase his first title on Sunday.

The California native has good reason for it. He said, “William has been really strong there. Obviously, Kyle’s (Larson) won in the past, the championship (2021). And the Toyotas have just been strong all year, Denny (Hamlin) and Chase (Briscoe). If you’re making me choose one, I’m going to say the 24. You just get that momentum off of Martinsville and you take it into Phoenix.”

Byron has been consistently solid at Phoenix, scoring five top-five finishes in his last six starts. Still, Allmendinger couldn’t help but express admiration for Denny Hamlin, who remains in pursuit of his 1st Cup title despite a stellar career. The veteran, often compared to Mark Martin for his longevity and near misses, is in his fifth Championship 4 appearance.

Allmendinger added, “Denny, he’s a Hall of Famer. He’s the Mark Martin of our generation. He’s won so many races. So (winning the Cup crown is) the cherry on top for him. If he wins it, he’s going to be a Hall of Famer no matter what.”

And now, as the teams scramble to fix the tire issues, Allmendinger believes that it’s just a matter of time to see which driver triumphs at Phoenix as he eyes both of them.