On Wednesday, Kaulig Racing made driver announcements for the 2023 season. AJ Allmendinger is slated to return to the Cup Series full time for the first time since 2018. Kaulig’s #16 “trophy hunting” car will be Allmendinger’s full time ride for 2023. Allmendinger’s return was reported earlier in the week by Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic. Justin Haley was confirmed to be returning to the #31 Cup Series car as well. Meanwhile, their Xfinity Series lineup oversees another Toyota driver in Chandler Smith switching over to a Chevy team. Smith will be replacing Allmendinger in the #16 car for 2023. Landon Cassill was also confirmed as returning to Kaulig’s Xfinity program. Daniel Hemric’s status is up in the air while the team attempts to find funding for the driver.
Over the past three seasons, Kaulig Racing has been leaving their mark in NASCAR. Their Xfinity Series teams are competitive rides that have racked up 17 wins since 2019. The last two years have seen Kaulig represented in the Championship Four by Justin Haley (2020) and AJ Allmendinger (2021). For 2022, Allmendinger seems poised to repeat a trip to the Championship Four after winning 4 races thus far and the regular season championship. Daniel Hemric is also in the playoffs, sitting six points below the cutoff before the Charlotte ROVAL. Meanwhile, their Cup Series venture been successful as well. Allmendinger delivered a win at the Indy Road Course last year in their eighth Cup Series start as a team.
The success of Kaulig Racing is great for NASCAR. A powerhouse in the Xfinity Series, Kaulig Racing is a relatively new team to the sport. Only founded back in 2016, Kaulig is a top tier Xfinity Series ride and their Cup Series program is showing promise. NASCAR should point to Kaulig Racing as an example for prospective owners who want to enter the sport. Kaulig Racing has built from the ground up, piecing together a successful Xfinity operation before tackling the Cup Series. Outside of Trackhouse and 23XI Racing, new ownership diving headfirst into the Cup Series does not work out well. Kaulig Racing demonstrates a blueprint for success to building a successful NASCAR team.
The Beginning
Owner Matt Kaulig started out as a sponsor for Blake Koch in the Xfinity Series. Koch was sponsored by LeafFilter Gutter Protection, the company Kaulig owns, for the 2014 and 2015 season. Initially, the plan for the 2016 season was LeafFilter sponsoring Koch while he drove for TriStar Motorsports. However, those plans changed in January when Matt Kaulig decided to open his own Xfinity Series team. Blake Koch would now be driving the #11 car for Matt Kaulig, using TriStar’s former #8 car’s owner’s points. With a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing (RCR), Kaulig Racing debuted with Chris Rice serving as the general manger.
The upstart team impressed in their first season. Koch racked up 5 Top-5s and averaged a 16.9 finish. Additionally, Koch raced his way into the Round of Eight for the Xfinity playoffs. Finishing the season seventh in points, the future for Kaulig Racing was promising. Over the next two seasons, Kaulig Racing remained respectable in the Xfinity Series. Koch drove for the team in 2017 before being replaced by Ryan Truex in 2018. Austin Dillon debuted the #10 car at the Indy Oval in a one-off for the 2018 season. Both seasons, Kaulig’s #11 entry made the Xfinity Series playoffs. However, their car was in the second tier of Xfinity Series cars. Similar to Jeremy Clements and Ryan Sieg in today’s Xfinity Series, Kaulig Racing was good enough to pull out a Top-10, but never a true threat to win each week.
Establishing a Winning Brand
For the 2019 season, Kaulig Racing turned to Justin Haley to revitalize their Xfinity Series program. Coming off winning 3 Truck Series races and finishing third in points, Haley was seen as a shot in the arm for Kaulig. In addition to Haley, Kaulig started to “trophy hunt” with part-time entries. Ross Chastain, Elliott Sadler, Austin Dillon, and AJ Allmendinger would drive for Kaulig that year.
2019
These changes were the recipe for success for Kaulig. Justin Haley had the #11 car more competitive that season. While his points finish of twelfth was disappointing, Haley racked up 4 Top-5s and 20 Top-10s. In one season, Haley had more Top-10s than the previous three seasons combined. Meanwhile, the trophy hunting operation was successful twice. Ross Chastain captured the team’s first Xfinity Series win, smashing a watermelon after the summer Daytona race. AJ Allmendinger reminded NASCAR fans of his road course prowess by capturing the checkered flag at the Charlotte ROVAL. In addition, the part time cars finished 5 times in the Top-5. That number would be 7 if not for two disqualifications at Daytona and Watkins Glen for AJ Allmendinger.
2020
2019 was a breakout year for Kaulig Racing. Based on that success, Kaulig expanded to two full time entries. Ross Chastain would pilot the #10 car while Haley returned in the #11. AJ Allmendinger would drive part time for a third entry at select tracks. Kaulig continued to flex their might in 2020. Haley dominated superspeedways, winning three times on his way to his Championship Four appearance. While not winning, Chastain led the Xfinity Series with 27 Top-10 finishes, including 5 runner-up finishes. Allmendinger won twice (Atlanta and Charlotte ROVAL) in 11 starts. Allmendinger only finished outside the Top-10 in three of those starts.
2021
Continuing to build their team, Kaulig Racing expanded to three full time entries for the 2021 season. Haley would again drive the #11 car. Allmendinger was making his full time return to the NASCAR scene in the team’s #16 entry. Ross Chastain was tapped to drive Chip Ganassi’s #42 Cup Series car so Kaulig replaced him with Jeb Burton. All three cars for Kaulig won races and made the Xfinity Series playoffs. Burton won at Spring Talladega, Haley at Summer Daytona, and Allmendinger found victory lane five times (Las Vegas, Mid-Ohio, Michigan, Bristol, and Charlotte ROVAL). For the playoffs, Burton was eliminated in the first round while a DNF at Martinsville crushed Haley’s chance. Allmendinger wound up third in the points in his first Championship Four appearance.
While Kaulig’s first Xfinity Series Championship still eludes them, they did not have to wait long for their first Cup Series victory. Other than Haley’s start in the 2020 Daytona 500, Kaulig had stayed away from the Cup Series. In 2021, the team made 9 starts at superspeedways and road courses. During their part time season, Kaulig Racing showed consistent speed. The team’s #16 entry collected 4 Top-10s, including Allmendinger’s victory at the Indy Road Course. Within 10 Cup Series starts, Kaulig Racing were Cup Series winners.
A Team Driven to Succeed
Kaulig Racing’s success is a great thing to see. Similar to Trackhouse and 23XI, it is exciting to watch new ownership come into the sport with the intent on winning races. Kaulig has left no doubt that they are chasing victories each week. The team preaches their “trophy hunting” constantly. From the beginning, the team has strived to be competitive. Matt Kaulig and Chris Rice have managed their team beautifully. While it would have been easy to continue with Blake Koch and his solid performances, they instead chose to switch up their driver until they found the winning formula. That is the piece of the ownership puzzle that NASCAR needs to find in every new owner/ownership group.
Instead of being complacent with their moderate success and earnings, Kaulig Racing pushed their limits to how competitive they could be in NASCAR. Justin Haley still has some proving to do in the Cup Series, but he was a huge success for Kaulig in the Xfinity Series. Before he was “Chastaining” your favorite driver for Trackhouse, Ross Chastain was given a second life in the Xfinity Series after the DC Solar debacle. That chance turned into gold with the team’s first win.
Not every driver that Kaulig has hired to drive their Xfinity cars has been a great success. Jeb Burton had a career year for himself in Kaulig equipment, but it resembled Koch’s and Treux’s results. Daniel Hemric and Landon Cassill find themselves producing similar results. However, Kaulig’s crowning achievement is AJ Allmendinger.
AJ Allmendinger stepped away from the NASCAR Cup Series after the 2018 season. Allmendinger seemed done with NASCAR. Kaulig was able to bring Allmendinger into the fold for some part time rides in 2019. Despite two disqualifications in his first two races with the team, Allmendinger kept coming back for races. His 2019 success led to more races for AJ in 2020. Then, he returned full time to NASCAR in 2021, only three seasons removed from when he essentially retired from full time racing. In his time with Kaulig’s Xfinity team, Allmendinger has 12 wins, 40 Top-5s, and 57 Top-10s. This success with the team must be the reason why he has agreed to do full time Cup Series racing again.
Kaulig Racing is an easy team to support. They are committed to excellence on the track. Their two leaders have a great presence on social media, especially Chris Rice. When they win, Matt and Chris resemble children jacked up on Mountain Dew. You can feel the excitement through the TV screen after a Kaulig win. When the team races at a superspeedway, egos are put to the side and the drivers stick to the game plan of pushing each other. It is hard not to enjoy watching Kaulig Racing succeed on the track. NASCAR needs more people like Matt Kaulig and Chris Rice running teams.
Kaulig Racing’s 2023 Outlook
Based on the announcement Wednesday, Kaulig Racing is looking at a promising 2023.
Starting with the Cup Series, the ceiling for the team is the Round of Eight in the playoffs. With how the NASCAR playoffs are formatted, AJ Allmendinger’s prowess at the road courses could power him into and through the playoffs. NASCAR will have five races on road courses during the regular season. Allmendinger has already won at two of them in the Cup Series. If not for Chastain barreling into him, Allmendinger probably would have won at Circuit of the Americas. Plus, Allmendinger has the most experience racing on a street course leading up to Chicago’s race. If Allmendinger gets into the playoffs, surviving the first round would be the real test. Theorizing he can do that, the second round looks favorably for Allmendinger with Talladega and, especially, the Charlotte ROVAL.
Justin Haley’s ability at the superspeedways also sets him up as contender for the playoffs. His drafting ability has seen him leading laps at superspeedways this year and looking competitive. Outside of the superspeedways though, Haley has not done much to believe he will point his way in or win elsewhere. While he has been a consistent Top-20 finisher this season, Haley needs to take a step up in 2023 if he has desires of making the playoffs.
Meanwhile, the Xfinity Series will be an intriguing season for Kaulig Racing. With the departure of AJ Allmendinger, there is no clear championship contender from the team. The addition of Chandler Smith is an exciting decision to bring youth to the team. Toyota loses another developmental driver to Chevy with Smith’s transfer to Kaulig Racing. Currently, Smith is contending for the Truck Series Championship, sitting 30 points above the cutoff heading into Homestead’s elimination race. Smith has made two Xfinity Series starts this year, crashing out at Spring Talladega and finishing 21st at Dover. His 2023 outlook is a huge question mark. His rookie campaign has a high ceiling due to Kaulig’s equipment and history. However, a new driver switching manufacturers can mean a slow start and lower floor.
Confirmed on Wednesday, Landon Cassill will return to Kaulig Racing. Cassill is in the midst of his career best season at any level despite missing the Xfinity Series playoffs. Cassill has 4 Top-5s and 10 Top-10s at this point in the season. This is easily the best equipment Cassill has driven in his career. For 2023, Cassill needs to improve his stat line. While he has funding for the time being, Kaulig has demonstrated a willingness to move on from underperforming drivers. With a rookie as a teammate and the unknown status of Daniel Hemric, Cassill is slated to be the veteran of the team. While no one should expect him to replicate Allmendinger’s success, Cassill should be able to produce more Top-5s and compete for wins next season. If he disappoints again, Cassill will be looking for a new ride in 2024.
2023 could be a great season for Kaulig Racing. AJ Allmendinger is a serious contender for the Cup Series playoffs. Justin Haley and Landon Cassill should be able to step up their performance for their respective series. Chandler Smith is a promising developmental driver who could stay with Kaulig Racing for years to come. If Kaulig has a third Xfinity Series ride, it will surely be competitive each week. Kaulig Racing is going to keep trophy hunting. If their past in any indication, they will keep racking up trophies for their shop.
