Justin Marks & AJ Allmendinger lead NASCAR’s flag in West Coast Hall of Fame announcement

AJ Allmendinger and Justin Marks are among the NASCAR dignitaries to be inducted into the prestigious West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame. The news was confirmed by journalist Bob Pockrass and talked about in a recent story by Joseph Srigley of tobychristie.com.

Justin Marks is the owner of Trackhouse Racing, a three-car team operating at the Cup level. He is a former driver with experience in ARCA and NASCAR’s premier racing series. Marks is also the mastermind behind Project 91, an initiative that brings in talents from all over the world and integrates them into NASCAR’s circuits.

AJ Allmendinger, who has been involved with teams like Team Penske, Richard Petty Motorsports, JTG Daugherty Racing, and Red Bull Racing in the past, spent his 2024 season driving the No. 16 Xfinity car for Kaulig Racing. In 33 starts this year, the 42-year-old driver amassed a win, seven top-5s and 18 top-10s.

This year’s class includes representatives from various disciplines, including Supercross, NHRA, Sports Car, IndyCar, and NASCAR. Needless to say, this recognition will etch the names of Allmendinger and Marks alongside esteemed industry experts like Rick Ware, Chuck Gurney, Davey Hamilton, Jeff Jefferson and Boris Said.

In a recent X post, Pockrass wrote,

“The 2025 West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame class: AJ Allmendinger, Chuck Gurney, Davey Hamilton, Jeff Jefferson, Justin Marks, Boris Said and Rick Ware.”

The seven-person class will receive the honor on March 13 at the South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. As mentioned by Newsweek in a report, this is the first time the gala event will be held outside of California.

AJ Allmendinger set to return to the Cup Series in 2025

About four months ago, Kaulig Racing announced that the team would add AJ Allmendinger to their full-time Cup Series roster from 2025 onwards. Besides his stint in the Xfinity Series this year, Allmendinger shared the No. 16 Cup Series machine with drivers like Ty Dillon, Derek Kraus, Shane van Gisbergen, and Josh Williams.

Racing America shared the news on X through this post:

Allmendinger has been with the team since 2019. Back then, he was tabbed to compete in just five Xfinity races. However, Allmendinger’s name has become intertwined with Kaulig Racing. Two of his three career Cup Series victories came with Kaulig, the most recent at the Charlotte ROVAL in October 2023.

Allmendinger’s first race is the season-opening clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. Although it won’t pay points, the race has been getting a lot of hype this year given that it’s the first time the Clash is scheduled to be held at the historic track for the first time since 1971.

Fans can watch Allmendinger in action on Sunday, February 2, from 8 pm ET onwards. The race will stream live on FOX with radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.