- Larson Records Team’s First Win at Darlington Raceway
Shriners Children’s 200
Kyle Larson, No. 10 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet
- Kyle Larson qualified third for the Shriners Children’s 200 at Darlington Raceway.
- In the opening laps, Larson fell back to sixth place after spinning his tires on the start. Under the first caution on lap four, Larson told the team he was happy with the handling of the No. 10 Chevrolet. Larson quickly moved back up into the top three, asking spotter, Frank Deiny, to relay lap times of the cars he was chasing down. Larson pitted under caution on lap 31, telling the No. 10 team he felt his car was better than others on the long run. Restarting second with two laps remaining in the stage, Larson took the lead and went on to win the opening stage.
- In a caution-filled stage two, Larson maintained track position as the leader until the final lap, where he lost a photo-finish battle to the No. 20 car, crossing the line second. The team opted to make a track bar and an air pressure adjustment to help with the balance of the car during the stage break. Larson would restart at the tail of the field following a speeding penalty on pit road.
- Restarting 31st on lap 98, Larson climbed through the field and cracked the top-15 by lap 109. He continued to move up through the field, making his way up to sixth before the caution flag came out on lap 124. Following a pit stop for tires, fuel, and an adjustment, Larson took the green from fifth place and had taken over fourth place before the final caution came out on lap 135. Larson restarted as the second car on the bottom lane with seven laps remaining. He took the white flag in second place and made a last-lap pass battling the No. 20 all the way until the final turn to win the Shriners Children’s 200 at Darlington Raceway.
“We had a really, really good car the whole race. I made a mistake and sped on pit road but we knew we were going to have time to get back to the front if we got a caution. We were picking cars off really fast. We got to sixth before the round of pit stops there and had some lane selections work out for me and I could really work that line in one and two and get runs in the center. I was able to pack air on him [John Hunter Nemechek], get to his inside and side draft him really tough there. It was like we were bouncing off each other there a little bit. I’m not sure what happened there into three, just tried to stay away from him getting off of four. What an exciting race there to the finish.” – Kyle Larson
Daniel Hemric, No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet
- Daniel Hemric qualified 12th for the Shriners Children’s 200 at Darlington Raceway.
- Hemric fired off strong and raced in the top 10 for a majority of stage one. After short pitting the end of the stage, Hemric finished the opening stage in the ninth position.
- In stage two, Hemric was collected in a wreck on lap 67 with multiple other cars. Hemric pitted multiple times to assess and fix the damage to get back on track. After clearing the Damaged Vehicle Policy (DVP) clock, he pitted once again for a few more adjustments to help the handling of the No. 11 Chevrolet. Hemric fought his way through the field, despite the damage, and finished stage two in the 20th position.
- Continuing his charge through the field in the final stage, Hemric was able to maximize and make the most of its day, as Hemric rallied to a 16th-place finish.
“It was a tough day at Darlington. This place can catch you off guard at any moment, and that is exactly what happened. I thought we had a decent No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet, we just needed a longer run to make some hay, and unfortunately we got damage before we really got to see the strength of our car. I’m proud of my team and proud of Kaulig Racing as a whole for getting a win with [Kyle] Larson. I’m ready to get back to work and get to Charlotte.” – Daniel Hemric
Chandler Smith, No. 16 Quick Tie Products Chevrolet
- Chandler Smith qualified sixth for the Shriners Children’s 200 at Darlington Raceway.
- Smith started the race strong, passing teammate, Kyle Larson, for fourth in the opening laps. As the first stage continued, Smith reported that he was too free. Crew Chief, Bruce Schlicker, said the No. 16 Quick Tie Products crew would take a “big swing” to tighten up the car. Smith went on to finish the opening stage 11th.
- On lap 67, Smith was collected in a multi-car wreck ending his day early. Smith was scored 36th.
“There was a hole, I throttled up, but right when I got to the hole, it closed. I was too tight to run the bottom, so I ran up top. In the moment, I thought, ‘what am I going to do?’ I could go back and look at the replay and say what I could have done differently, but ultimately, it just wasn’t our day. I’m really proud of the effort from everyone at Kaulig Racing. It’s unfortunate to have a DNF (Did Not Finish), but I’m looking forward to getting to Charlotte.” – Chandler Smith
Goodyear 400
Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1
- Justin Haley qualified 22nd for the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway.
- Haley noted he was pleased with how the No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet fired off, making it as high as 18th in a few short laps. By lap 25, he felt the car began to lose rear grip. As the first caution came out on lap 38, Haley pitted for tires and an air pressure adjustment, hoping to slow his tire wear. Although happy with the overall handling of the car, the tires continued falling off quickly, and Haley felt his right-front tire cording with 11 laps remaining in the stage. Haley nursed it to the end of the stage, finishing 26th.
- The grip in the No. 31 Chevrolet continued to diminish into stage two before Haley made a green-flag-pit stop on lap 135 for fresh tires and a rear adjustment. Haley fell one lap down to the leader before finishing the second stage in 27th.
- Following a rear chassis and air pressure adjustment, Haley’s No. 31 Chevrolet continued to trend freer at the start of the final stage but had significantly less tire wear. A caution with 83 laps remaining would put Haley back on the lead lap, as he was the first car one lap down. Haley pitted under caution for tires and adjustments to tighten up the car. Radioing that the changes helped, Haley climbed to 19th before his right-front tire once again began wearing quickly. He made a green-flag pit stop with 46 laps remaining and continued climbing towards the top-10, avoiding multiple, late cautions to finish eighth, his third top-10 of the 2023 season.
“Overall we had a good day. We found a good package in practice that we utilized to get a pretty decent qualifying spot compared to where we’ve been. We just kept our heads in the game all day, made some good changes and caught a few lucky breaks. We’re happy with today’s finish as a team. “Overall we had a good day. We found a good package in practice that we utilized to get a pretty decent qualifying spot compared to where we’ve been. We just kept our heads in the game all day, made some good changes and caught a few lucky breaks. We’re happy with today’s finish as a team.” – Justin Haley
AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 BTS Tire & Wheel Distributors Camaro ZL1
- AJ Allmendinger qualified 30th for the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway.
- Allmendinger fought an ill-handling race car through out the opening stage. Lacking grip in both ends of the car, Allmendinger told the team the front end of the car felt numb and he was burning off the rear tires. Allmendinger finished stage one in 30th place and the team decided to take a swing on the adjustments and continue to give Allmendinger feedback on what other cars were doing on the track in effort to learn for the future in the second stage.
- Allmendinger continued to battle the handling in his race car for the second and third stages. After finishing the second stage 30th, the No. 16 Chevy avoided multiple wrecks in stage three going on to finish one lap down in 23rd place.
“We struggled with balance in our car all day today. Our No.16
BTS Tire & Wheel Distributors Chevy lacked grip and the rear tires burned off quickly. I couldn’t get back into the throttle like I needed to without putting the car in the fence. We have some work to do, but happy for my teammate [Justin Haley] for having a solid finish today.” – AJ Allmendinger
About Kaulig Racing™
Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time multi-car NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by award winning entrepreneur, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016, Kaulig Racing™ has made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started and has won back-to-back regular-season championships. Before becoming a full-time NCS team, Kaulig Racing made multiple starts in the 2021 NCS season and won in its seventh-ever start with AJ Allmendinger’s victory at “The Brickyard” for the Verizon 200 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The team expanded to a two-car, full-time NCS team in 2022 with Justin Haley piloting the No. 31 Camaro ZL1, and an all-star lineup featured in the No. 16 Camaro ZL1. Haley will continue to drive the No. 31 full-time in 2023, alongside AJ Allmendinger, who will drive the No. 16 Camaro ZL1. The team will continue to field three, full-time NXS entries; the No. 10 Chevrolet driven by an all-star lineup, the No. 11 Chevrolet driven by Daniel Hemric, and the No. 16 Chevrolet driven by Chandler Smith. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.
