Kaulig Racing Race Recap | Las Vegas – The LiUNA!

Kaulig Racing Race Recap | Las Vegas – The LiUNA!

 AJ ALLMENDINGER

No. 16 Action Industries Chevrolet Camaro

• AJ Allmendinger qualified third for The LiUNA! at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
• Allmendinger battled the handling in his No. 16 Action Industries Chevy for the duration of the opening stage. Allmendinger finished in sixth and the team made adjustments under the stage break to help the entry in the corner.
• In the second stage, Allmendinger told crew chief, Alex Yontz, the adjustments helped the rear of the car, but he needed an adjustment to help with center turn off. The No. 16 finished stage two in fifth place and the team made an air pressure adjustment to help Allmendinger going into the third stage.
• Allmendinger restarted the third stage in sixth place. On the restart, Allmendinger missed a shift and fell back to 11th. He quickly rebounded while fighting a tight race car and went on to finish in sixth place.

“I put us behind on the last restart there. This is such a track position race and when we got behind, there was just too much of a gap. The car was fast the last run, I just needed to be a little bit better. Early in the season we’re focused on learning and seeing where our cars are at. Proud of our team and our effort this weekend. We’ll keep pushing to get better.” – AJ Allmendinger  

JOSH WILLIAMS

No. 11 Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet Camaro

Josh Williams qualified 32nd for The LiUNA! at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

• Williams gained four positions by the first caution, which came out on lap eight. He restarted in 26th on lap 14 and began quickly rolling past traffic into an 18th-place stage one finish.
• Williams brought the No. 11 Alloy Employer Services Chevy Camaro down pit road during the stage break for tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment to tighten the car. He began stage two in 13th on lap 54 but lost three positions on the restart. Williams passed the No. 26 for 15th with three remaining in the stage but fell back to 16th, where he’d finish it.
• Williams pitted for tires, fuel, and an air pressure and wedge adjustment during the final stage caution. He rolled off on lap 97 in 17th. Just after passing the No. 27 for 16th, the yellow flag flew on lap 124. Williams brought the No. 11 down pit road under yellow for tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment to free back up the Chevy. He restarted 16th with 72 laps to go, eventually moving into 14th. The No. 11 stayed on track during the green-flag pit cycle, and Williams obtained the lead with 20 laps to go. He pitted on lap 190 for fuel only, cycling into 14th. He took the checkered one lap down, finishing in 14th place.

“I messed up in practice, then I messed up in qualifying, but I knew it would be a learning experience figuring out Kaulig’s cars. Thanks to [crew chief] Kevin Walter and the rest of the No. 11 crew, it ended up being a really good day and something to build off of going into Phoenix.” – Josh Williams  

SHANE van GISBERGEN

No. 97 Focused Health Chevrolet Camaro

• Shane van Gisbergen qualified 25th for The LiUNA at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
• The first caution flag of the afternoon waved on lap nine with Van Gisbergen maintaining his position in 25th. Staying out, Van Gisbergen restarted 25th on lap 14. On Lap 30 Van Gisbergen suffered mechanical issue which relegated the Focused Health team to a 37th-place finish.

“Tough one all weekend. We just had the little things go wrong all weekend. I felt like I was getting more comfortable as the laps went on and then unfortunately we had an issue. The good thing about this is we get to go racing again next week!” – Shane van Gisbergen  

 
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 and added a third, part-time entry during the 2023 season. In 2024, the team will once again field two, full-time entries in the NCS and continue to field three, full-time NXS entries. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.