In NASCAR, alliances between teams are as common as tire changes on pit road. Whether it’s sharing engines, technical data, or even pit crew members, these partnerships can make or break a season. Just look at the powerhouse alliance between Hendrick Motorsports and Trackhouse Racing, which has helped both teams find speed and consistency. However, before Trackhouse Racing, it was Stewart-Haas Racing they teamed up with. While things started great, they started to go south very fast.

“Our alliance fell apart ultimately in the end because of the fact that Stewart-Haas Racing was beating Hendrick Motorsports, and the crew chiefs didn’t like it, the sponsors don’t like it. Internally, it doesn’t go over well, and in the end, they fall apart,” Kevin Harvick said this as a driver for SHR. When things go wrong, fingers start pointing and tempers flare. It’s a delicate dance. But sometimes, the bonds between teams are stronger. Strong enough for one owner to go against their ally’s driver if they badmouth. This weekend, Richard Childress, one of NASCAR’s most respected team owners, found himself at the center of a storm after a radio outburst from a driver left everyone talking.

The world of NASCAR is built on relationships between drivers, teams, and the manufacturers that power them. For nearly two decades, Richard Childress Racing (RCR) and Kaulig Racing have shared one of the sport’s most enduring alliances. RCR supplies engines and technical support to Kaulig, a partnership that’s brought both teams competitive advantages and memorable moments on track. But as the Kansas race weekend proved, even the strongest partnerships can be tested under pressure. But how did it unfold?

The trouble began when A. J. Allmendinger, driving for Kaulig Racing, suffered a catastrophic engine failure at Kansas Speedway. The No. 16 Chevrolet’s power plant, supplied by RCR, expired just 32 laps into the race, leaving Allmendinger frustrated and out of contention. Over the team radio, Allmendinger launched into an explicit, emotional rant, expressing his anger at the failure and the impact it had on his team’s chances. “Hey ECR, you guys f——- suck,” Allmendinger said. The outburst quickly made its way onto social media, drawing attention from fans and insiders alike.

Richard Childress, a NASCAR Hall of Famer and the architect behind RCR’s engine program, was not pleased. In a post-race interview with NBC Sports, Childress was clear that he wanted answers. Not just about the mechanical failure, but also about Allmendinger’s public criticism. “The 12 (Ryan Blaney) blew up two times. The 48 (Alex Bowman) blew up (one time). They never said anything. It’s how you want to run your mouth,” Childress said.

The owner’s frustration is understandable. The engine failure was the second of the season for A. J. Allmendinger. And, those are the only engine failures for ECR in the Cup Series. For people living under a rock, Earnhardt Childress Racing is the engine provider of Kaulig Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Trackhouse Racing, and Beard Motorsports, owned by Richard Childress. Moreover, as the owner mentioned, other drivers who have had engine failures handled the situation in a much better way than A. J. Allmendinger. Take Ryan Blaney, for example. He addressed his engine failure at Homestead with measured composure, saying, “We’ll keep our heads up. It’s just one of those things where it’s not really going our way right now.” And Alex Bowman didn’t even talk about it. Allmendinger’s response was not pretty to say the least, and it was his second time, so the frustration was understandable.

To jog your memory, Alex Bowman suffered an engine failure during the Bristol Motor Speedway race, leading to his first DNF of the season. Similarly, Ryan Blaney has experienced two engine failures in the 2025 season. The first occurred at the Phoenix race and the second at Homestead-Miami. But, ECR crew members are on to the matter to provide better clarity to its stakeholders.

Danny Lawrence, Vice President of Alliance Operations for ECR Engines, told NBC Sports that debris may have caused the issue: “We at RCR and ECR have a quality control department. They’re struggling to figure out exactly what happened. They’ve sent the bearings off to be analyzed, but the initial (cause) looks like lack of lubrication. That engine had ran at Darlington. We’re not so sure that we didn’t have some kind of foreign material, something, an oil line or something happened for (the) lack of lubrication.”

But, whatever the reason, fans didn’t like Allmendinger’s emotional outburst. His strong words also put his team’s long-standing partnership with Richard Childress Racing under scrutiny. To make matters worse, the team is not even performing well enough to fire shots at anybody, allies or opponents.

What’s holding Kaulig Racing back?

A. J. Allmendinger’s outburst at Kansas has reignited debate about whether Kaulig Racing’s struggles are down to bad luck under the hood or a lack of execution behind the wheel. The alliance with Richard Childress Racing has given Kaulig access to top-tier ECR engines and technical support, fueling their steady rise in the Cup Series over recent years. But the same cannot be said about the driver.

The No. 16 driver’s consistency has been elusive in the 2025 season. In the 12 races so far, Allmendinger has managed three top-10s. But, he also has had three DNFs and zero top-5s. Moreover, he hasn’t won a single playoff point and currently sits in the 25th position. If this consistency issue remains, then Kaulig Racing risks watching its playoff hopes slip away entirely. Their other driver, Ty Dillon, is placed further below (30th) in the driver standings, and that keeps him out of the picture for now.

Moreover, after the Kansas incident, Richard Childress made it clear he wants facts before passing judgment. “I want to know what happened to the engine. When (Allmendinger) jumps out (of the car at Kansas), he don’t even know if the belt come off the oil pump or what,” Childress said. He would also speak to Allmendinger once there was a definitive answer to the engine’s failure.

With only a handful of mechanical DNFs and a car capable of running up front, is it really the equipment holding Allmendinger back-or is it time for the driver to step up? As Kaulig and RCR look to cement their alliance, the pressure is on for Allmendinger to prove he can deliver when it counts. Will the answers from Kansas bring clarity, or just more questions about Kaulig’s future?