Kaulig Racing has announced that in addition to a full time ride for Justin Haley after moving up from the Xfinity Series to the cup cars. The team will field a second car with multiple drivers. Xfinity Series regular and veteran driver AJ Allmendinger will be among the drivers to pilot the number 16 Cup Series car. Daniel Hemric and Noah Gragson will also share the driving duties.

Kaulig purchased two of the three charters from Spire Motorsports in order to field the two Cup Series teams.

Kaulig president Chris Rice spoke on the addition to the team saying, “ Matt Kaulig is continuously showing how much he has invested in NASCAR and what he’s going to do. We’ve been working hard over the last three years on trying to secure a charter and how we went about it and it’s been so much fun it gives me cold chills but also it’s been a lot of work, a lot of endless nights. … Going Cup racing means a lot. Bringing somebody like AJ back to help us understand a little bit more about Cup racing helps, because he’s done it.”

Rice added, “we think our roster for the 2022 season features some great drivers. Having three out of the four Xfinity Series championship contenders helping to build our new Cup Series program is truly a tremendous opportunity for this Kaulig Racing team. While these guys have been fierce competitors for the last few years, having them bring that same tenacity as teammates will be extremely fun to watch and a great way for this team to grow in its first full season in the Cup Series.” The fourth member of the final four is Austin Cindric who will be driving the number two Penske car in the Cup Series.

Justin Haley spoke on his moving up from the Xfinity to the Cup Series saying, “it’s just really cool for me, right? I’ve been within their Xfinity program, and building that up to a championship-level organization has been so cool, so to kind of flood that over and get the Cup opportunity with Kaulig Racing, it just feels like the right fit. It feels like a family atmosphere and it feels like I’m still part of the family, so to go Cup racing my first full-time season, to go to the Daytona 500 with the Matt Kaulig racing machine is pretty cool.”

With the introduction of the Next Generation car in the 2022 Cup Series, it has opened a path for many owners to field more cars and new owners to come into the sport. Kaulig owner Matt Kaulig spoke on joining the Cup Series this coming season saying, “we’re super excited to get a fresh start with the Next Gen car. We’ve almost been using a saying on our race tram for us is where it’s a Next Generation car, Next Generation owner and Next Generation team. So, we’ve done a great job of trying to be really relevant in the Xfinity Series and now that we’ve got the opportunity to go Cup racing, we’re super excited about ’22 and what’s on the horizon.”

Joining AJ Allmendinger in the Xfinity Series next season for Kaulig Racing are Landon Cassill and Daniel Hemric.

Noah Gragson looks to be a very busy driver next season. In addition to his full time Xfinity Series ride in the number nine JR Motorsports car, Gragson will be one of three drivers for Kaulig Racing sharing a ride in the Cup Series, and Gragson will attempt to make a run in the Daytona 500 in the number 62 car for Beard Motorsports. With no charter in hand, Gragson will have to race his way into the race.