2025 Cup Series Team Preview: Kaulig Racing

WELCOME, N.C. – The 2025 season marks another year Kaulig Racing has changed up its driver lineup headed into a new campaign.

This time around, it will be A.J. Allmendinger and Ty Dillon both returning to full-time NASCAR Cup Series racing.

While both organizational changes and the team’s recent on-track performances are questionable to some in the NASCAR world, the Kaulig group is targeting stability after a somewhat downward spiral entering its fourth full-time Cup Series season.

The Kaulig group was once on top of the world coming out of the early part of this decade. The group once housed names like Ross Chastain and Justin Haley in its Xfinity Series program, who are now franchise drivers for their respective teams in Trackhouse Racing and Spire Motorsports.

Kaulig even had Daniel Hemric, the 2021 Xfinity Series champion, and young prospects in Noah Gragson and Chandler Smith under their umbrella. It was a good time then.

The franchise has had names come through their brand, but hasn’t been able to retain them. Not retaining them has been consequential, as they’ve flourished into the next phases of their careers as competitors and not contributors.

With that being the case, the organization is resetting with youth in its Xfinity Series pipeline. Craftsman Truck Series graduates Christian Eckes and Daniel Dye will be paired with veteran Josh Williams, setting up the 2025 season on the Cup Series side as a bridge year with the chance to contend occasionally.

That means there are likely reserved expectations for this duo of finishing top 25 in points, but winning on road courses remains a consistent goal.

Tale of the Tape I:

Driver: A.J. Allmendinger

Age: 43

Experience: Enters 10th full-time season

Crew Chief: Trent Owens

2024 season: Third in final Xfinity Series standings; one win, seven top fives, 18 top 10s

In terms of winning for the Kaulig organization on the Cup Series side, it’s been all A.J. Allmendinger in recent years, and this season shouldn’t be any different.

Owner Matt Kaulig and team president Chris Rice have emphasized the mission is to “trophy hunt” for the Los Gatos, Calif., native. That will continue to be the message on road courses.

All three of Allmendinger’s career Cup Series wins are on road courses, with his last coming in 2023 at the Charlotte (N.C) Motor Speedway ROVAL. With six road courses, and five coming in the regular season this year, the opportunity to win for Allmendinger is all out in front of him.

Potential Tracks of Contention: 

• Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL: (Average finish of third since 2022, with a win)
• Homestead-Miami Speedway: (Has three consecutive top 10 finishes since 2022)
• Sonoma Raceway: (Two sixth place finishes in back-to-back years)

With the correct equipment and setup for success, Allmendinger could easily find victory lane and will be in contention with the likes of Kyle Larson, Shane van Gisbergen, and other competitors up front each time the Cup Series goes both left and right.

At age 43, going out and winning when possible will be Allmendinger’s main goal, especially not knowing how many more full-time seasons he has left.

Tale of the Tape II:

Driver: Ty Dillon

Age: 32

Experience: Enters seventh full-time season

Crew Chief: Andrew Dickeson

2024 season: 22nd in final Truck Series standings; 0 wins, 0 top fives, two top 10s

By no means were Ty Dillon’s numbers in his return to full-time Craftsman Truck Series racing impressive.

However, when it comes to a rebuilding organization looking for a steady veteran with experience, the Welcome, N.C., native can fit the description.

When he went to the Truck Series with Rackley W.A.R., Dillon understood his assignment: to be a bridge driver, bring leadership, understand the role he was being tasked with, and run all the laps.

Those goals in 2025 likely won’t really change, after a part-time schedule with Kaulig in the Cup Series last season led to three top 20s, including a 16th-place result at Texas Motor Speedway and a 19th-place effort in the crown jewel Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Potential Tracks of Contention: 

• Texas Motor Speedway: (Three top 20s since 2022)
• Talladega Superspeedway: (One top five, three top 10s and nine top 20s since 2014
• Indianapolis Motor Speedway: (Four top 20s and a 2014 Xfinity Series win)

The upcoming season for Kaulig has dark horse potential to be better than most people might expect. On one hand, it could come with quality results, or retirement questions for Allmendinger and Dillon if they endure struggles and the development of Eckes and Dye goes according to plan.

But only time will tell which of those Kaulig Racing narratives will actually play out.

The 2025 Cup Series season begins with the non-points Cook Out Clash at historic Bowman-Gray Stadium in Winston Salem, N.C., on Feb. 2, followed by the prestigious 67th Daytona 500 at Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway.

Coverage of both races will air on FOX, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.