With AJ Allmendinger moving back up to the Cup Series for the 2025 season, Kaulig Racing has an opening in the Xfinity Series. Matt Kaulig and company have tapped Craftsman Truck Series driver Christian Eckes for the number 16 car next season.
Currently Eckes is one of the 10 playoff drivers competing for the Truck Series championship where he in the leading position with three race wins.
Eckes spoke on his moving up to the Xfinity Series saying, “just super excited for this opportunity. This is something I feel like it’s been a long time coming, and to do it with Kaulig Racing, Chris (Rice, team president), Matt (Kaulig, team owner) and so many great teammates as well is something that I’m really looking forward to. Obviously, have a lot to achieve this year still, but very excited for the future. Just ready to get to work.”
Eckes will be joining fellow Truck Series driver Daniel Dye (who was announced last week as being signed to Kaulig) and Josh Williams as Kaulig expands their Xfinity program to three cars.
President of Kaulig Racing Chris Rice spoke on the addition of Eckes to the team saying, “so the maturity of Christian, but also how fast he could go because those are the things that we need as a company. OK, we need to have fast race car drivers and fast race cars for the drivers to ride them. I always say a jockey can’t ride a slow horse, no matter how good the jockey is. So we noticed that his maturity was something that we want to keep in our camp, for sure.”