Kaulig Racing
Team

Kaulig Racing

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Kaulig Racing is an American professional stock car racing team owned by Matt Kaulig, founder of team sponsor LeafFilter. The team competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and, from 2026, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. It previously operated a major NASCAR Xfinity Series programme, which it paused after the 2025 season. The team’s shop is located on the Richard Childress Racing campus in Welcome, North Carolina.

Kaulig Racing launched its Xfinity Series programme in 2016 under the No. 11 car, forming a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing and adopting the owner’s points from TriStar’s former No. 8 team. Blake Koch drove the car in 2016 and 2017, finishing seventh in the points in 2016 — a career best — and reaching the second round of the Xfinity Chase. Chris Rice served as general manager and crew chief. Ryan Truex replaced Koch in 2018.

Justin Haley took over the No. 11 for 2019 and 2020. In 2020, Haley won three races — both Talladega events and the summer Daytona race — and made the Final 4 round of the playoffs, finishing third in the standings. He continued into 2021, winning the summer Daytona race and reaching the Round of 8 before a DNF at Martinsville ended his playoff run.

The team’s first Xfinity win came via Ross Chastain in 2019: driving the No. 16, Chastain led 49 laps, won Stage 1, and took victory at the Circle K Firecracker 250 at Daytona. Chastain drove the No. 10 full-time in 2020, finishing a career-best seventh in the standings with five runner-up results and 27 top-tens, before departing to replace Matt Kenseth in Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 42 Cup car in 2021.

A. J. Allmendinger joined the No. 16 part-time in 2020, winning at Atlanta and at the Charlotte Roval. Running full-time from 2021, Allmendinger won at Las Vegas, Mid-Ohio, Michigan, and Bristol and claimed the Regular Season Championship. During the playoffs he won the Charlotte Roval for a third consecutive year and made the Championship 4, finishing fourth in the standings. In 2022, Allmendinger won at Circuit of the Americas, Portland, Indianapolis, and Talladega, took back-to-back wins at Talladega and the Charlotte Roval in the playoffs for a fourth straight Roval victory, and won his second consecutive Regular Season Championship, though subpar results at Las Vegas and Martinsville ended his title run.

Jeb Burton drove the No. 10 in 2021 and recorded his first career win at Talladega — taking the lead from cousin Harrison Burton on lap 82 and holding on after a rain-shortened finish — for Kaulig’s second win in that car.

Kaulig made its Cup Series debut at the 2020 Daytona 500 with Haley in the No. 16, qualifying with the fastest speed among non-charter teams at 190.018 mph. On 28 April 2021, team owner Matt Kaulig announced on SiriusXM Radio that the team would race full-time in the Cup Series from 2022. Two charters were purchased from Spire Motorsports, with Haley assigned to one of them. On 15 August 2021, Allmendinger gave Kaulig its first Cup win at the Indianapolis road course in only the team’s seventh Cup start. At the 2021 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona, Kaz Grala suffered a foot injury in a race accident.

The team fielded two full-time Cup cars in 2022 — No. 16 for Allmendinger, No. 31 for Haley — alongside part-time Cup entries. A series of crew chief suspensions marked that season: Trent Owens was suspended four races after a wheel loss at Daytona 500, then a further four after a wheel loss at the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas. Crew chief Matt Swiderski of the No. 16 was also suspended four races after a wheel loss at Dover.

Allmendinger drove the No. 16 full-time in 2023, winning at the Charlotte Roval — his first full-time Cup season since 2018 — but did not make the playoffs. Justin Haley drove the No. 31 in 2022 and 2023; in March 2023 the car was issued an L2 penalty at Phoenix for unapproved hood louvers, with a $100,000 fine, four-race crew chief suspension, and points deductions. The National Motorsports Appeals Panel later upheld the fine and suspension but amended the points deduction, and the Final Appeals Officer subsequently rescinded all points deductions. Haley signed with Rick Ware Racing for 2024.

Daniel Hemric drove the No. 31 full-time in 2024, returning to full-time Cup competition for the first time since his 2019 Rookie of the Year campaign. The No. 16 used a rotation of drivers in 2024 including Allmendinger (part-time), Josh Williams, Shane van Gisbergen, Derek Kraus, and Ty Dillon. Allmendinger returned to the No. 16 full-time in 2025, while Ty Dillon was announced as driver of a second full-time Cup entry, the No. 10.

Daniel Hemric drove the No. 11 Xfinity car from 2022 into 2023, moving to the No. 10 mid-season when the No. 10 had already secured a playoff spot in the owner’s championship. Josh Williams took over the No. 11 for 2024 and started the 2025 season there before the team parted ways with him after 21 races; multiple drivers covered the remaining rounds.

Chandler Smith drove the No. 16 Xfinity car in 2023, scoring the team’s first win at Richmond. Allmendinger returned to the No. 16 full-time in 2024, won at Las Vegas during the playoffs, and locked himself into the Championship 4. Christian Eckes replaced him for 2025.

In alliance with Trackhouse Racing, three-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen drove the No. 97 full-time in 2024, winning at Portland, Sonoma, and Chicago before finishing twelfth in the standings and moving to Cup with Trackhouse in 2025.

On 28 October 2025, Kaulig announced it would pause its Xfinity programme after the 2025 season to focus on the Cup and Truck Series.

On 23 August 2025, Kaulig Racing announced it would enter the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for Ram Trucks in 2026 with up to five trucks — the first time since 2012 that a factory-supported team has carried the Ram badge in NASCAR. Numbers confirmed on 4 December 2025 were No. 10, No. 12, No. 14, No. 16, and No. 25.

Brenden Queen — 2025 ARCA Menards Series champion — was announced for the No. 12. Haley was confirmed for the No. 16. Daniel Dye was set for the No. 10 before being indefinitely suspended by NASCAR and Kaulig in March 2026 for conduct on a streaming platform; Allmendinger drove the No. 10 at Darlington, and Corey LaJoie was subsequently confirmed for the remainder of the season.

For the No. 14, the team ran a televised reality competition, "Race for the Seat," produced in partnership with Dana White’s Thrill Sports Productions and aired on Fox, pitting 15 young drivers against each other for the full-time ride; Mini Tyrrell won the competition.

The No. 25 was designated a "Free Agent Program" for Ram Trucks, with drivers ineligible for the championship but eligible for a Ram prize based on individual track performance. Confirmed No. 25 drivers included Tony Stewart at Daytona, Ty Dillon at Atlanta and Rockingham, Colin Braun at St. Petersburg, Corey LaJoie at Darlington, Carson Ferguson at Bristol and Martinsville, and Parker Kligerman at Texas.

This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.

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