2016: Jimmie Johnson was irate. In no world could he comprehend why Hendrick Motorsports and Stewart Haas Racing’s technical alliance felt more like freeloading than a partnership. SHR—which was merely an eight-year-old toddler in front of its partner’s 33-year legacy—had already trounced Rick Hendrick’s prowess in 2011 and 2014. And by the looks of it, they were far from stopping. Johnson realized he had to do something. Anything.

He aired his complaints to his bosses, crew chiefs, team members. The seven-time Cup Series champion probably had lengthy conversations asking them to stop giving the team their data. HMS had reportedly helped Tony Stewart’s team with Chevrolet engines, chassis (and much more) since the latter’s inception in 2009—a working relationship that Johnson found dubious at best. So, when SHR finally announced it would be switching to Ford, Johnson was not just happy, he found the perfect opportunity to air the dirty laundry.

“Just to be selfishly speaking, we didn’t get their data…They had ours. So it was a fantastic situation for them. They had our best stuff and then they have a huge engineering staff and they can take Hendrick’s best equipment and refine it,” the driver said. Sometime later, then SHR racer and 2014 Cup champion Kevin Harvick presented his version of the story: “Our alliance fell apart…because…[SHR] was beating [HMS], and the crew chiefs didn’t like it, the sponsors don’t like it. Internally, it doesn’t go over well.” And while we contemplate which story to believe, one thing is clear: Technical alliances can be a dicey affair—another example of which we got this weekend when the hot-headed Richard Childress found himself in controversy after a radio outburst from a driver left everyone talking.

For nearly two decades, Kaulig Racing and Richard Childress Racing have maintained an alliance, with the latter supplying Earnhardt Childress Racing engines and technical support to Kaulig. But, even the strongest partnerships can be tested under pressure. The trouble began when Kaulig’s A. J. Allmendinger suffered a catastrophic engine failure at Kansas Speedway. The No. 16 expired just 32 laps into the race, leaving Allmendinger frustrated and out of contention. “Hey ECR, you guys f——- suck,” he said over the team radio immediately. Goes without saying, Childress was not pleased. In a post-race interview with NBC Sports, the Hall of Famer hit back, “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“.

“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,” the team owner further said. Interestingly, Allmendinger also retracted back later as he told SiriusXM NASCAR, “I’ve worked with ECR for over 10 years. It’s just rare that we’ve had a couple of engine issues on the Cup side and then with the 16 group on the Xfinity side. That’s kinda where all the frustration boiled over.”

Notably, Kaulig Racing’s #16 in the Xfinity Series is driven by none other than Christian Eckes, and the ECR engines (that work with Kaulig Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Trackhouse Racing, and Beard Motorsports) have not been kind to him either. Eckes suffered engine failures at the latest Xfinity race at Texas two weeks back and had one at Homestead as well earlier in the season. For Allmendinger, it was raw frustration at the entire team’s situation, not just for himself.

“I have a deep passion for this organization. We’ve had great talks. Everybody’s working their butts off to fix the issue… I have full confidence that it’s going to be resolved,” the driver’s damage-controlling monologue said. Danny Lawrence, VP of Alliance Operations for ECR, meanwhile told NBC Sports, “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.”

Having said that, 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. Ryan Blaney 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.

But, whatever the reason, fans didn’t like Allmendinger’s emotional outburst. Despite AJ’s cover-up on SiriusXM, his strong words could 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.

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?