What do you make of Kaulig Racing’s 2025 driver lineup?
Luken Glover: Kaulig’s decision might be beneficial in the short term, but it is lacking overall. Ty Dillon has competed with two other Chevrolet teams in the NASCAR Cup Series in recent years, and we saw his teammates benefit because of boosted support from Richard Childress Racing. Kaulig will have AJ Allmendinger in the No. 16 next year, and his performance should strengthen from added resources. However, is it really worth it for one car to run a few positions better, while the other runs at the back of the field? It’s no disrespect toward Dillon, but the results haven’t been there.
Allmendinger isn’t getting younger, and his performance has dipped this season. The only other realistic option for the team’s future is its new NASCAR Xfinity Series driver, Christian Eckes, who is on the short list for many top teams down the road. Additionally, Daniel Hemric has been running solidly recently given where the team is at, so I’m uncertain it was the right move to release him. If Allmendinger fails to make the playoffs next year and Dillon runs at the back, it won’t be healthy for the team long-term.
Amy Henderson: Allmendinger is a good call. He’s a veteran with Cup experience who will contend on road courses and superspeedways and have consistency on ovals. He’s not getting any younger, but he buys the team a year or two to bring a youngster like Eckes along. He’s solid, and the team needs that. Dillon is probably not going to set the world on fire (or finish in the top 25 in points), but Kaulig isn’t the first team with a RCR connection to take him in exchange for better equipment or information. Richard Childress has been much more willing to put his younger grandson in someone else’s car than one of his own.
Kevin Nix: In both the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity series, Kaulig’s lineup is not terrible, with potential for high upside. More significant than hiring Dillon is the RCR support that his hiring now brings to the operation. With this increased support, Allmendinger could conceivably win a road course in his return to the series, so there is a pathway to the playoffs that was not there this year. Eckes shows the highest upside in Kaulig’s Xfinity lineup. A win and a playoff berth are in the cards for him in 2025. Don’t expect Daniel Dye and Josh Williams to compete for a playoff spot, but stranger things have happened.
James Krause: It’s a…
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