NASCAR Silly Season 2022: True Kaulig

Just mere days after Jeb Burton took his first career win in the NASCAR xFinity Series at Talladega in the Kaulig Racing #10, the team announced plans to fund a full-time Cup Series effort in 2022. This announcement seemed imminent after the team’s expansion and success in recent years in the xFinity series and even a couple of part-time and one-off stints in the Cup Series

First appearing on the xFinity Series scene in 2016 with driver Blake Koch, Kaulig quickly became a title threat. This was done with minimal outside backing as most of the team’s sponsors were companies owned by Matt Kaulig, the owner of the race team. The team has fielded drivers ranging from Austin Dillion to Ross Chastain to even Elliott Sadler. The first few seasons, the team was under the radar and was never a threat to win on a weekly basis. However, that all changed in 2019 when Ross Chastain delivered the team their first win at Daytona in July with teammates Justin Haley second and AJ Allmendinger close behind, though that car was disqualified after the race. However, Allmendinger went on to win the Charlotte Roval race that October.

In 2020, Chastain was tapped to drive the #10 full-time, becoming the first time Kaulig Racing had two full-time entries. Throughout the season, Allmendinger appeared as a part-time driver and won the race at Atlanta, his first on an oval track. Allmendinger won one more race in 2020 again at the Roval. Justin Haley went on a tear and won three-straight superspeedway races and made it to the final four. Haley also made the team’s first ever Cup Series start at the Daytona 500 in February, where he finished 13th.

In 2021, things got even better for the Kaulig crew. AJ Allmendinger was signed full-time after fans rallied on social media for him. Jeb Burton made the switch over to the #10 as Ross Chastain moved to the Chip Ganassi Racing #42. Justin Haley returned for his third season with the team. Additionally, they qualified for their second Daytona 500 and led 10 laps with driver Kaz Grala. The following week, AJ Allmendinger returned to the NASCAR Cup Series piloting the #16 at the Daytona Road Course, where he led 2 laps and came home 7th. Grala and Kaulig made their third start of the season at Talladega and finished sixth, which was a Cup Series best for both team and driver. Jeb Burton won the xFinity race at Talladega the day prior.

Just four days later, the official announcement came on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Kaulig racing was going full-time Cup Series racing in 2022. No driver, number, or sponsors were announced however, and speculation about the driver began instantly. A lot of people thought it would be Kaz Grala or Justin Haley driving the new ride, but another possibility that was floating around on social media was AJ Allmendinger. 

Before I predict the driver of the newfound ride, I first will determine a few minor details. First off, I think one of the xFinity teams (whether it be the #10, #11, or #16, it doesn’t matter) will be eliminated. The team will downsize to two cars in the xFinity Series so more focus will be on the Cup program. Secondly, their number will be #16, as it has been. Numbers 10 and 11 are already in use in the Cup Series, but #16 isn’t, so Kaulig can keep that number. Another part of the cosmetics are sponsors. I believe that both LeafFilter and Hyperice will move up to the Cup Series; in fact, Hyperice has funded the #16 Cup entry for AJ Allmendinger and Kaz Grala. Lastly, I have the team forming an alliance with Spire Motorsports and their partner, Chip Ganassi Racing. They will purchase their charter from Rick Ware Racing.

Now to the moment you’ve been waiting for. My prediction for who’ll drive the Kaulig Racing entry in the 2022 Cup Series Season. First, I’m going to say who it’s not. First up, is AJ Allmendinger. AJ raced in the NASCAR Cup Series full time from 2009 until 2018, and first ran part time in 2008 as well as ‘09. In these 12 years, Allmendinger amassed 1 win at Watkins Glen in 2014 and an additional 11 top 5’s and 58 top 10’s, as well as 4 poles. His best points finish was 13th in 2014. After he left JTG Daugherty at the conclusion of the 2018 Cup season, many thought he was done in NASCAR to focus on being an analyst for NBC’s coverage of various motorsports like IMSA and Supercross. However, in 2019, Allmendinger attempted five xFinity series races for Kaulig Racing. He won once on the Charlotte Roval. In 2020, Allmendinger attempted 11 of the 33 races in the xFinity season. He won twice. In 2021, Allmendinger began his first full-time xFinity campaign of his career. After 8 races, he has one win, five top 5’s, and 5 top 10’s. If Allmendinger races again in 2022, I think it will be in the xFinity series once again.

Next you have Justin Haley. Haley first appeared in NASCAR’s top-3 series in 2015 in the Camping World Truck Series. In both 2015 and ‘16, Haley only ran three races apiece. Haley completed his first and only complete Truck campaign in 2018 where he won 3 races and finished third in the standings. Also in 2018, Haley made his xFinity Series debut. He almost won the Daytona July race, but a very controversial double-yellow-line ruling cost him the win (this is foreshadowing). Haley then moved to Kaulig racing full-time in 2019. Also in 2019, Haley made his Cup Series debut. In just his third-ever Cup start, he won the rain-shortened Cup race at Daytona in July, which he verbatim called “redemption from last year”. In 2020, Haley only participated in two events, one of which was for Kaulig in their Cup debut. I do see Haley going full-time Cup racing in 2022, as I predicted in this article. 

Finally, there’s Jeb Burton, the son of Ward. Jeb has been in NASCAR his whole life as his dad raced for many years, but he first appeared on track in 2012, running 5 truck races. Burton ran the full season in 2013 where he captured his only win in the series. Also that year, he made his xFinity Series debut. He made his final full truck season in 2014 and ran his second xFinity race that year. In 2015, Burton ran a majority of the Cup season driving for BK Racing. For the next few years, he kinda dabbled in the different series. In 2020, he got his big break and was given an opportunity to run part-time at JR Motorsports, running 11 races. He almost won the Talladega spring race, but was passed by Justin Haley in the closing laps. In 2021, he was signed to drive the Kaulig #10 after Ross Chastain left the team to go Cup racing. Jeb got his first win in a rain-shortened Talladega race. When it comes to Kaulig’s Cup team, I don’t see Burton being the driver. He’s been racing for years, but has only recently returned to a consistent schedule. I have no doubts on his abilities, but I do not believe Kaulig will send him to the Cup Series; at least not yet.

This leaves Kaulig’s only other driver, Kaz Grala. Grala began his NASCAR career in 2016, running nine truck races. In 2017, Grala ran the full Truck season and won the season opening race at Daytona after a wild last-lap wreck. 2018 saw Grala make his debut in the xFinity series, where he ran 22 of 23 races. In 2019, he only ran five xFinity races, as he did again in 2020. What made 2020 special, though, was during the Daytona Road Course weekend. Austin Dillon tested positive for Covid-19 and was sidelined for the race. Grala was his replacement. Kaz led three laps and finished 7th. In 2021, Grala qualified for the Daytona 500. There, he led 10 laps and finished 28th. He took the track again at Talladega. He didn’t lead a lap, but he brought the car home sixth. Grala has lots of talent for sure; although two of his starts are on superspeedways, he did impress on the road course. With a little more experience on more tracks, I think Grala will be set to pilot the Kaulig Racing Cup car in 2022, with satellite teammates at Chip Ganassi Racing and Spire Motorsports.

Who do you think will drive for Kaulig in 2022? How do you think they will fare in their first full season? Check out my previous “Silly Season 2022” article here and share your thoughts with me on my Twitter!