Kaulig Racing will enter the season with a completely different lineup than 2024. For starters, the 16 car will have a fulltime driver again, bringing AJ Allmendinger back into the fold. After splitting the team across various drivers, Kaulig will look to solidify their Cup program behind the mainstay of their organization. With 13 Days to Daytona left to go, how will the 2025 season fare for the Kaulig Racing #16 team?
The #16 Team
Driver: AJ Allmendinger
Crew Chief: Trent Owens
Sponsors: Celsius, LeaftFilter, Campers Inn RV
2024 Statistics: 16 Starts, 5 Top-10s, 36 Laps Led, 20.5 Average Finish
2025 Season Preview
Back Where He Belongs
Although 2023 was a bit of a disappointing season, it was still surprising to see AJ Allmendinger removed from the 16 team for 2024. Granted, financial woes seemed to be the main factor at play. After advancing to the Championship Four in Xfinity and collecting the most Top-10s for Kaulig in Cup, Allmendinger returns fulltime for 2025. Essentially, pretend that 2024 never happened for the 16 team. Allmendinger has been the face of Kaulig Racing and should be in one of their Cup rides right now.
Road Course Ace?
In a Cup Series landscape full of quality road racers, the novelty of AJ Allmendinger’s skill on the road courses feels underwhelming now. To be clear, that is not to diminish his ability, as he still rattles off Top-10s with ease. However, Allmendinger has taken a step back as a dominate force, except for the ROVAL. When Allmendinger was announced as fulltime for 2023, many penciled him into the playoffs due to his road course prowess. For this season, that sentiment has not carried over. Even without Shane van Gisbergen, Allmendinger would not be a favorite for any road course race prior to the ROVAL.
Righting the Organizational Ship
The departure of Justin Haley mixed with AJ Allmendinger’s demotion continued a steady decline for Kaulig Racing as a whole. While their Cup operation seldomly exceeded expectations, there was steady progress being built with their young program. That organizational drop expanded to their Xfinity Series teams, which had a declining year outside of SVG on the road courses. With Allmendinger back in Cup, the hope is that he can help fix what ails the organization. Chris Rice and Matt Kaulig find great value in Allmendinger, so they are hoping his return to Cup can spark something for their team.
Daytona 500 Outlook
One of the more underrated superspeedway drivers in the field is AJ Allmendinger. While he has yet to win at superspeedway race in the Cup Series, his numbers at Daytona are quite impressive, especially recently. In his past 7 starts at Daytona, Allmendinger has racked up 2 Top-5s and 6 Top-10s. Outside of the 2023 Coke Zero Sugar 400, the Kaulig driver has not finished worse than 21st since 2014. His results are not based on running outside the lead pack either, as Allmendinger usually finds himself in the thick of things.
Daytona (and Atlanta following it) will not give a great insight to how well Kaulig Racing will run in 2025. However, it will likely be AJ Allmendinger’s best chance at a win prior to the ROVAL. If Allmendinger can pick up the right draft in the closing laps, then he could be on the winning end of a good push. The issue will be in finding help, as Kaulig will only have one other entry in the field. If you expand the teammate list to their technical alliance, Allmendinger certainly will be pushing for Kyle Busch or Austin Dillon.
Days to Daytona Countdown
40 Days: Team Penske #22; 39 Days: Team Penske #12; 38 Days: Hendrick #24;
37 Days: 23XI Racing #45; 36 Days: Joe Gibbs Racing #20;
35 Days: Hendrick Motorsports #5; 34 Days: Hendrick Motorsports #9
33 Days: Joe Gibbs Racing #11, 32 Days: Henrick Motorsports #48;
31 Days: Joe Gibbs Racing #19; 30 Days: Team Penske #2;
29 Days: Trackhouse Racing #99; 28 Days: RFK Racing #6;
27 Days: Trackhouse Racing #88; 26 Days: Joe Gibbs Racing #54;
25 Days: Wood Brothers Racing #21; 24 Days: RFK Racing #17;
23 Days: 23XI Racing #23; 22 Days: Trackhouse Racing #1;
21 Days: Richard Childress Racing #8; 20 Days: Spire Motorsports #77;
19 Days: Front Row Motorsports #38; 18 Days: Front Row Motorsports #34
17 Days: Front Row Motorsports #4; 16 Days: Hyak Motorsports #47;
15 Days: Haas Factory Team #35; 14 Days: 23XI Racing #35
