WELCOME, N.C. — One of the most persistent rumors around the NASCAR garage became official late Wednesday morning, as Kaulig Racing owner Matt Kaulig confirmed his organization will compete full time in the NASCAR Cup Series next season.
Kaulig broke the news on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s The Morning Drive to co-hosts Mike Bagley and Pete Pistone.
“We’re going full-time Cup racing next year,” Kaulig affirmed, a smile evident in his tone.
Kaulig’s team has been a mainstay in the NASCAR Xfinity Series since debuting with driver Blake Koch in 2016. The team has grown from a single entry to three full-time cars this season, with nine victories among four different drivers.
Last season, Kaulig Racing advanced to the Xfinity Series Championship 4 for the first time, with Justin Haley earning the team’s best points finish of third in the final standings.
Kaulig Racing’s Xfinity Series operations are based in Welcome, N.C., on the Richard Childress Racing campus as part of a technical alliance with RCR.
Next season, Kaulig tipped, his Cup program will be based there as well.
“We just bought another race shop there in Welcome, N.C., for the Cup [Series], so we’re in the process of redoing the inside of that [building], but we’ll have at least one car, let’s put it that way,” Kaulig tipped. “That’s definitely a done deal and we’re super excited about that.”
Kaulig Racing debuted in the Cup Series last February during the 62nd Daytona 500, with Haley racing to a 13th-place finish in The Great American Race.
This season, the team has already run three Cup Series races, with Kaz Grala earning the team’s best result to date with a sixth-place effort at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway over the weekend.
Kaulig noted his team plans to run several more Cup Series events this season, laying the foundation for their full-time campaign when the new Next Gen car launches in the Cup Series in 2022.
“[Getting our feet wet] is the reason we’re running 10 or 11 Cup races this year,” Kaulig noted. “We’re already three [races] in, but we’ll run some road courses where A.J. [Allmendinger] will be in the car later this year. Kaz [Grala] will be in the car for us a few more times [this year], and we’re just getting that program rolling.
“It’s super, super fun and super exciting. We’ll see what it brings next year.”