Posted on by Staff Report

Kaulig Racing announces AJ Allmendinger will return to full-time competition in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) to pilot the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro for the 2024 season.

Since joining Kaulig Racing in 2019, Allmendinger has earned two consecutive NXS Regular Season Championships, 15 wins and 10 pole awards. In 2023, Allmendinger competed in five NXS races, earning two wins, four top-fives, five top-10 finishes and three pole awards.

“We feel AJ [Allmendinger] returning full time to our Xfinity Series program gives us the best chance to continue growing our organization as a whole,” team president, Chris Rice said. “He’s passionate, he’s aggressive and he pushes us to keep getting better. We’re excited to see what we can accomplish in the 2024 season on both the Xfinity and Cup side.”

Allmendinger has played a pivotal role in solidifying Kaulig Racing’s growth and success across NASCAR’s premier series after winning the 2021 Verizon 200 at the Brickyard in the team’s seventh NCS start. He went on to win the team’s second NCS race in the 2023 Bank of America ROVAL 400.

RELATED: Silly Season updates to know | Relive Allmendinger’s Roval celebration

“To Kaulig Racing, AJ is much more than the trophies he’s won or the banners he’s hung in our shop,” said team owner, Matt Kaulig. “AJ has always embraced what we are trying to do as an organization, and his contribution to the culture at Kaulig Racing is what truly makes him forever a part of our family.”

Allmendinger will continue to play a vital role in both Kaulig Racing’s NXS and NCS programs in 2024.

“My plans for 2024 have always been whatever Matt Kaulig and Chris Rice think is best for the team,” said AJ Allmendinger. “We’ve got work to do on both our Xfinity and Cup side as we continue to grow but I think we are putting ourselves in the best position to keep improving. With Josh Williams coming on board, it’ll be fun to learn each other’s driving styles and work together as teammates on Saturdays. I’m excited to be a part of everything we’re working on at Kaulig Racing and see what we can get done next season.”

Allmendinger’s NCS schedule as well as partners for both series will be announced at a later date.

Posted on by Jerry Bonkowski

Editor’s note: This continues a series where we review the top 20 drivers in 2023 NASCAR Cup Series points.

Season in review: Chase Elliott
No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Crew chief: Alan Gustafson
Final 2023 Ranking: 17
Key stats: 0 wins, 7 top fives, 15 top 10s, 195 laps led

How 2023 ended: You’ve heard the well-worn sports axiom “finished a season strong?” In Chase Elliott’s case, the 28-year-old didn’t finish as strongly as perhaps he would’ve liked. Things were looking good initially: his runner-up finish in the Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course began a streak that would see him record eight top-11 finishes in the next nine races. However, his season ended with showings of 32nd (Las Vegas Motor Speedway), 15th (Homestead-Miami Speedway), 17th (Martinsville Speedway) and 16th (Phoenix Raceway).

RELATED: Chase Elliott’s return resonates through Cup garage

Best race: Elliott’s best showing was a runner-up finish at Fontana and again in the Brickyard 400. Two races before the Brickyard (Richmond Raceway), Elliott had even pulled within 40 points of the top 16 in terms of playoff eligibility – only to drop to 62 points below the elimination line even with his success at Indianapolis. Although there were positive glimpses, Elliott unfortunately could not find the consistent success he showed during his California running.

Other season highlights: The son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott came into the season picked by several outlets as the favorite to win the 2023 NASCAR Cup championship. Other than earning seven top-five and 15 top-10 finishes in 29 starts, the 2020 Cup champ endured inconsistencies that came from simply missing time. Those included missing six races after suffering a leg injury (and resulting corrective surgery) in a snowboarding incident in addition to a one-race suspension for intentionally wrecking Denny Hamlin in the Coca-Cola 600.

Stat to know: There actually are three key stats to know about Elliott’s 2023 season: 1) Failed at least one win for the first time since 2017; 2) Missed the playoffs for the first time in his Cup career; 3) Finished a career-worst 17th in the standings (his previous worst season finish was 10th in 2016 and 2019).

Quotable: “For the most part, (2023 has) been certainly not what I expect of myself and what we expect of our team. (There’s) a lot of room for improvement, and we intend to do a lot of that going into next year. It all needs to be better; you’re always wanting to be better. I think we’ve learned a lot about ourselves and the things that I need to do better.”

RELATED: Elliott shifting focus to 2024 after unusual 2023 Cup season

Looking ahead: Heading into 2023, no one saw Elliott’s snowboarding injury and resulting six-race layoff coming. Barring any other mishaps or maladies (he did have successful minor surgery to his right shoulder in mid-November), he should return to his old form and once again qualify for the playoffs in 2024. Look for Elliott to have heightened motivation and drive as a way to rebound from the season prior. Reaching the Round of 8 and potentially being a Championship 4 contender should be in the cards for one of NASCAR’s premier stars.

Posted on by Jerry Bonkowski

Editor’s note: This continues a series where we review the top 20 drivers in 2023 NASCAR Cup Series points.

Season in review: Ty Gibbs
No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Crew chief: Chris Gayle
Final 2023 Ranking: 18
Key stats: 0 wins, 4 top fives, 10 top 10s, 112 laps led

How 2023 ended: The grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs had a rough end to the season, with four finishes of 20th or worse in his last seven races, including wrecking out in back-to-back races at Texas Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. Conversely, he bounced back from those two early exits to earn his best finish of the season: fourth on the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course and seventh at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He finished the season with a 21st-place showing at Phoenix Raceway. Even so, Gibbs still capped off the season by earning Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors, the fourth driver in JGR history to do so, joining Tony Stewart in 1999, Denny Hamlin in 2006 and Joey Logano in 2009.

RELATED: Finding his rhythm: Ty Gibbs aims to make sweet music in rookie season

Best race: Even though his fourth-place showing on the Charlotte Roval was his best finish of the season, Gibbs’ best overall race was the Bristol Night Race, where he led a season-high 105 laps and finished fifth. He yielded the lead to teammate Denny Hamlin on Lap 359 of the 500-lap event, with Hamlin leading 140 of the final 141 laps to capture his third win of the season.

Other season highlights: Even though he failed to make the playoffs – by a thin margin of just six points – Gibbs still had an excellent season for a driver who didn’t even turn 21 years old until Oct. 4. The rookie driver strung together four consecutive top-10 finishes in the spring with three straight ninth-place runs at Atlanta, Circuit of The Americas and Richmond before a 10th-place run on the dirt at Bristol. Road courses appeared a strong suit as well, as he nabbed another ninth-place finish on the Chicago Street Course and fifth at Watkins Glen International, with one more top five added on the triangular 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway.

Stat to know: One of the most significant things that stands out about Gibbs’ performance in 2023 was his knack for adapting to and doing well at all different types of tracks. Of his 10 top-10 finishes, four were on either road or street courses (fourth at Charlotte Roval, fifth at Watkins Glen, and ninth at both COTA and Chicago), three were on short tracks (fifth at Bristol, ninth at Richmond and 10th on the Bristol dirt surface), two were on 1.5-mile tracks (ninth at Atlanta and seventh at Homestead-Miami), and one was on a superspeedway (fifth at Pocono).

Quotable: “I’m always going to push it and get the most that I can. There are times that you can push it over the limit, over slip the tire and it’s going to hurt you. That stuff happens, but I feel like for me, I’m going to work the best I can every week, work hard in the simulator and get my setups really close for the race weekend. Then next year, I’m going to come back and I’ve been to those tracks before with my team that I’m racing with right now. We are going to be better and keep getting better and better and better.”

RELATED: ‘We gotta minimize mistakes’: Ty Gibbs leaves Austin with a top 10

Looking ahead: If he can avoid NASCAR’s notorious “sophomore jinx” and continue to improve on what he did in 2023, there’s a good possibility Gibbs will make the playoffs in 2024 and potentially advance to the Round of 12. Gibbs, along with teammate Christopher Bell, represents the future of JGR as Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin near retirement in the next few years. It would not be surprising to see either or both of the young drivers become Cup champions in due time.

Posted on by Staff Report

Some chapters are coming to a close, while other stories are still being written.

A racer’s journey is never truly complete, with every step along the path a key landmark in the process of shaping them into the driver they’ll come to be. Like every lap, every journey looks different.

Mobil 1 has teamed up with NASCAR Studios for an exclusive new series highlighting some of the more unique stories in the sport, from current and soon-to-be NASCAR Hall of Famers to overseas superstars and more.

Stay tuned as each episode of the series is unveiled on Wednesdays on the Mobil 1 YouTube channel, starting with the driver of the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford, Kevin Harvick and continuing with Tony Stewart, four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and current Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner.

Join the Mobil 1 DR1VRS Club to get exclusive access to the next episodes before the release.

Kevin Harvick

Bubba Wallace

Tony Stewart

Jenson Button

Loni Unser
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