Kaulig Racing Concludes Big Week In A Big Way At The ROVAL

Top Dog: Kaulig Racing

The first full week of October was one to remember for Kaulig Racing fans. It started on Oct. 5 when the team announced that AJ Allmendinger will return to full-time racing in the NASCAR Cup Series in the No. 16 for 2023, with Chandler Smith replacing him in the team’s Xfinity Series No. 16.

On Oct. 8, you can hear WWE’s Paul Heyman’s famous phrase announcing the reigning, defending, undisputed, [ROVAL] champion of the world … AJ Allmendinger! The “Dinger” won his fourth consecutive Xfinity race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, a race he has never lost at the Xfinity level.

Then came Sunday, Oct. 9 when the team announced that Daniel Hemric, who was eliminated from the Xfinity playoffs following the ROVAL, will return to the No. 11 in 2023.

At the end of 109 laps at the Bank of America ROVAL 400, Kaulig made a statement with authority by landing both Allmendinger and Justin Haley in the top five.

Let’s start with Allmendinger. The 40-year-old came into the race high on confidence, and boy did it show. With no points on the line, the No. 16 driver could focus on going for the win. Allmendinger made a case for that by taking the lead early in stage two and leading until he pitted with three to go in the stage, a strategy meant to put him back at the front for the final stage.

Despite battling issues with his gear getting stuck, Allmendinger ran in second for most of the final stage to Tyler Reddick. The team appeared to wait longer than expected to make its final pit stop, allowing both Chase Elliott and Reddick to cycle ahead of him.

Allmendinger fought past Reddick and tried to chase Elliott down, but the difficulty of passing and the prowess of Elliott seemed to be too much … until it was all reset. A yellow flew for debris lined the field up again for a restart with three laps remaining.

In what had been a calm, strung out race, the switch flipped in the final laps and drivers scrambled for position. Allmendinger forced his way past Elliott in turn 3 but was immediately sent by Kevin Harvick for the lead in the midst of madness. Once again, another caution flew for debris.

After the green flag flew for an overtime restart, Allmendinger jumped to third. However, he could not catch the top two and was passed by Kyle Busch on fresher tires, putting him in fourth at the finish.

For Haley, it was arguably his strongest run of the year. The…