Kaulig Racing is one of the top teams in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and hopes to take their momentum with them to the Cup Series in 2022. On Wednesday, team owner Matt Kaulig told SiriusXM that he intends to establish a permanent Cup programme beginning next year.
Founded in 2016, the team débuted a Cup car in the 2020 Daytona 500 for Xfinity driver Justin Haley, who finished sixteenth in the #16 Chevrolet. For 2021, Haley is one of three full-time drivers for Kaulig’s Xfinity stable alongside Jeb Burton and A.J. Allmendinger. All three drivers are currently in the top six in points with Burton and Allmendinger having race wins. The team has enjoyed nine race wins in their history, with Haley also making the Championship Round in 2020.
Kaulig also expanded the Cup side to include the superspeedway and road course races; there are eleven such races on the 2021 schedule. Kaz Grala has run two of the superspeedway events to date, wrecking out of the Daytona 500 before finishing a career-best sixth in Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega. The lone road race so far at the Daytona Road Course in February saw Allmendinger finish seventh in his first Cup start since 2018. With Haley doing Cup starts for Spire Motorsports, Grala and Allmendinger will likely continue to make up Kaulig’s 2021 Cup slate.
The plan aligns with the introduction of the Next Gen car in 2022. The team will also have to acquire a charter in order to be guaranteed a spot in every race.
