11 Days to Daytona: Kaulig Racing #10

Cup Series cars are on track today! Practice and the heats for The Clash kick off the first action of the 2025 season. However, The Clash still keeps NASCAR in the preseason. In 11 Days to Daytona is when the regular season actually begins. For Kaulig Racing, they did a bit of a rebrand for one of their teams. No longer will the 31 car be on track. Instead, the second Kaulig car will don the number 10. 11 Days to Daytona and Ty Dillon will be at the helm of the Kaulig Racing #10 car.

The #10 Team

Days to Daytona: Kaulig Racing #10 - Team — Photo by Malcolm Hope/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Driver: Ty Dillon

Crew Chief: Andrew Dickeson

Sponsors: Grizzly Nicotine Pouches, Sea Best

2024 Statistics: 7 Starts, 2,075 Laps Ran, 23.9 Average Finish

2025 Season Preview

Sideways Move

Taking over for Daniel Hemric in the former 31 car will be Ty Dillon. Similar to when Hemric replaced Justin Haley, this move feels underwhelming. Dillon has proven to be a solid hand at keeping a car clean, but not much more than that. Granted, the younger Dillon still has the best season in the 42 car since its return to Cup. However, replacing Hemric with Dillon feels as sideways of a move as you can get.

Another Trying Season

Kaulig Racing’s venture into the Cup Series has faced more stumbling blocks than expected. After finding success running part-time, the organization has struggled to gather similar results since going fulltime. Yes, the AJ Allmendinger win at the ROVAL was a great highlight, but that was one of few. A major issue for Kaulig seems to be losing Justin Haley. Obviously, a talented, young driver exiting would always be a tough pill to swallow. However, the replacements have yet to offer too much to get excited about. Maybe 2025 can be a year where Kaulig rediscovers their groove. However, it does not seem likely.

Exceeding Low Expectations

Now, the expectations for the Kaulig Racing 10 car might be low. Yet, there is a great opportunity for the team to surge past them. Once again, Ty Dillon’s season with Petty-GMS produced solid results. Ignoring his time in the 77, Dillon could be a driver who runs near the Top-20 and grabs the occasional Top-10. Plus, NASCAR’s randomizer that is the NextGen car could spit out Dillon as a superspeedway winner. Stranger things have happened during this timeline. Realistically, a Top-30 points finish is the goal for this team, which could be easily obtained.

Daytona 500 Outlook

Days to Daytona: Kaulig Racing #10 - Ty Dillon — Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images

One of the tracks where Ty Dillon has found a chunk of success is Daytona. In 14 starts at the track, Dillon has racked up 3 Top-10s, 7 Top-20s, and an average finish of 20.4. During the NextGen era, Dillon has 3 out of 4 Top-20s. It could have been 4 straight had it not been for a blown engine in the 2023 Daytona 500. With the relatively low expectations for the Kaulig Racing 10 team, the Daytona 500 could represent their best finish of the season.