AJ ALLMENDINGER
No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet Camaro
- AJ Allmendinger qualified 14th for the Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway.
- Allmendinger was quiet on the radio during the opening stage as he ran the third lane. When the first caution came out on the last lap of the stage, Allmendinger reported that the balance of his No. 16 Celsius Chevy was good, but he needed more rear security. Allmendinger finished the opening stage in fifth place and came to pit road for four tires, fuel and adjustments.
- Allmendinger restarted the second stage in seventh place as the fourth car on the outside line. The No. 16 maintained position in the top lane until lap 49 when Allmendinger jumped from running eighth place, single file to build the second lane. Running two wide, Allmendinger led the middle lane and drove up to finish the second stage in third place.
- Under the stage break, Allmendinger reported his car was free, but he was still able to make moves. The No. 16 came to pit road for tires, fuel and adjustments and went on to restart in 11th. On lap 67, Allmendinger was caught up in an incident and suffered damage to the nose, splitter and right rear. The team pitted multiple times under caution to make repairs and restarted in 32nd on lap 72. Debris that came off the No. 16 brought out the next caution, and the team came to pit road to make additional repairs. Allmendinger restarted in 30th place and was able to clear the Damaged Vehicle Policy on lap 80. Allmendinger battled to the end and finished in 19th place.
“The first two stages went really well today. We had good speed in the race car, and we made the right moves to get good stage points. Unfortunately, the third stage got shuffled there on the restart, which put us in the back when the wreck happened, and we got a lot of damage. I’m proud of my guys for piecing it back together to get us back out there. I thought we might steal the Dash 4 Cash, but it wasn’t meant to be. It’s part of racing here but I’m happy we were able to get stage points and make the day okay points wise.” – AJ Allmendinger
JOSH WILLIAMS
No. 11 Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet Camaro
- Josh Williams qualified ninth for the Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway.
- Williams attempted to run on the inside line at the start of the first stage, but most of the field ran against the wall, and Williams couldn’t find a hole before dropping back to the end of the lead pack. He finished stage one in 25th.
- Williams took the stage two green flag in 20th on lap 31. He linked up on the high line with his Kaulig Racing teammates, Shane van Gisbergen and AJ Allmendinger, near the end of the middle stage on the cusp of the top 10. Williams peeled off the throttle coming to the line, finishing stage two in 17th.
- Williams pitted for tires and fuel during the stage break and restarted in 35th on lap 56. With 48 laps to go, Williams avoided a big wreck at the front of the field, rolling through the grass in turn three to go mostly unscathed. Williams pitted under yellow for tires and fuel, and the Alloy Employer Services pit crew removed grass from the grille and applied bear bond to the nose of the No. 11 Chevy Camaro. Williams restarted in 19th with 41 laps to go. He quickly jumped into 11th, but the yellow flag flew for debris on lap 75. The No. 11 took the restart from 12th in the outside line and continued marching to the front, taking second place with three laps remaining. A wreck triggered a yellow flag that extended the race into overtime, but on the restart, Van Gisbergen, Williams’ pusher in the second row, ran out of fuel at the green. A crash ensued, bringing out the caution and collecting the No. 11 with it. Williams came down pit road for tires and fuel but had no damage, and he restarted 21st for the second overtime restart. Williams finished the race in 20th.
“I’m super excited because we have speed, but I’m just upset because we wanted to go to victory lane and had a shot. We’ll get there, and this will definitely keep our momentum flowing.” – Josh Williams
SHANE van GISBERGEN
No. 97 Wendy’s Chevrolet Camaro
- Shane van Gisbergen qualified 18th for the Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway.
- By lap seven, the field formed a single-file line on top of the 2.66-mile Speedway with Van Gisbergen scored in seventh. Stage one ended under caution on lap 25 with Van Gisbergen taking the green/white/checkered flag in seventh. Under the stage one caution, the Wendy’s team hit pit road for four tires, fuel and adjustments. Following the stop, SVG rejoined the field in ninth.
- Van Gisbergen and the Wendy’s team started stage two from ninth on lap 31. Stage two would go green for its entire run with Van Gisbergen ending the stage in 13th on lap 50. Under the stage two caution, Van Gisbergen brought the Wendy’s Chevrolet down pit road for four tires, fuel and adjustments. Following the stop, the Wendy’s team was scored in 20th.
- Van Gisbergen started the final stage in 20th on lap 56. After leading lap 63, Van Gisbergen was scored in eighth when the caution flag waved once again on lap 67. Hitting pit road once again for a quick splash of fuel under caution, SVG rejoined the field in sixth following the stop. Following a lap-75 caution, SVG restarted fourth on lap 79 and continued to run inside the top 10 through lap 90. Unfortunately, Van Gisbergen ran out of fuel on the first overtime attempt while running in fourth and crossed the finish line in 22nd.
“It was a pretty awesome day. The Wendy’s Camaro was good. It was pretty exciting, and battling up front was cool. I felt more comfortable today and I’m looking forward to another crack at it tomorrow in the Cup car.” – Shane van Gisbergen
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 earned 23 NXS wins, made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started, and won two regular-season championships. In 2021, the team competed in select NCS events, before expanding to a two-car, full-time NCS team in 2022 and adding a third, part-time entry during the 2023 season. Since its first NCS start in 2021, the team has earned two wins. Kaulig Racing is currently fielding two full-time entries in the NCS and continues to field three full-time NXS entries, with a part-time fourth entry at select events. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.
