AJ ALLMENDINGER
No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet Camaro
- AJ Allmendinger qualified third for the Mission 200 at the Glen at Watkins Glen International.
- Falling back one position on the initial start, Allmendinger maintained the fourth position, before short-pitting the stage on lap 16. The team took four tires, fuel and made an air pressure adjustment on the No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet, before Allmendinger finished the stage in 24th.
- Allmendinger started the second stage from second place and quickly took over the lead, following a solid restart. He led a total of five laps, before falling to second place on lap 30. Allmendinger eventually slipped to third, before short-pitting the stage once again on lap 37 for four tires and fuel. The race remained caution-free, and Allmendinger finish the second stage in 28th place.
- During the second stage stage break, Allmendinger radioed that the left-front tire on the No. 16 Chevy felt flat. After the spotter confirmed a left-front flat, Allmendinger pitted under yellow for four fresh tires and started the final stage from 30th place. The first caution of the day came out on lap 45, and Allmendinger was called to pit road for what the team hoped would be his final stop for tires and fuel. He restarted from 29th place on lap 49 and quickly made it back into the top 10 by lap 54. Allmendinger cracked the top five with 18 laps remaining, conserving fuel where he could. The second caution of the day came out with six laps remaining, as Allmendinger sat third. He stayed out under caution and chose the inside lane for the first overtime attempt. The caution came back out as chaos ensued in turn one on the restart, but not before Allmendinger cleared the second-place car. Following a short red flag, Allmendinger chose to restart in the inside lane behind the leader. Another caution came out after the restart, sending the field into a third overtime attempt. Allmendinger restarted third and fought off teammate, Shane van Gisbergen, ultimately finishing third.
“Overall, I felt like we maximized our day. Definitely struggled being lose all day; we could never get the extra speed I needed and comfort of the race car. I felt like we were a fourth or fifth place car all day. We did everything we could on the restarts; Alex [Yontz] did a really good job with the strategy after getting a flat tire and being able to fight back from that. Wish we could have more speed to contend for the win. At the end of the day, we ran our race, clinched our playoff spot and did everything that we needed to do.” – AJ Allmendinger
SHANE van GISBERGEN
No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro
- Shane van Gisbergen qualified 14th but started at the rear after making unapproved adjustments after qualifying for the Mission 200 at the Glen at Watkins Glen International.
- Van Gisbergen steadily worked his way up through the field and entered the top 20, nine laps into the race. Running in the 15th position with three laps remaining, Van Gisbergen came to pit road for fresh tires and fuel. He returned to the field to complete the stage in the 36th position.
- The No. 97 team opted to stay out at the stage break caution and Van Gisbergen started the second stage, 7th. He battled a loose handling condition but continued to consistently maintain position. With four laps remaining in the stage, Van Gisbergen and his team opted to pit for fuel, fresh tires and an adjustment. He rejoined the field, 31st with three laps remaining. Van Gisbergen would complete the caution free stage and take the green and white checkered flag, 31st.
- The No. 97 team stayed out at the stage break caution and started the final stage 10th. Van Gisbergen quickly made his way to 6th before the first caution of the race came out, 3 laps into the stage. Van Gisbergen restarted the stage, 3rd. He gained the lead position on lap 54. The No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet led 13 laps before being forced to pit for fuel and fresh tires with 16 laps remaining in the race. On the last pit stop, Van Gisbergen was issued a pass through penalty with 14 laps remaining in the race. Van Gisbergen rejoined the field 24th and battled to work his way forward. A caution came out with six laps remaining and Van Gisbergen restarted the final stage 14th. Another caution occurred on the restart, resulting in a red flag to clean up debris. Van Gisbergen would try for another restart in 8th with two laps remaining in the race. After another caution flag flew on the first attempt of overtime, Van Gisbergen and the No. 97 stayed out and restarted the second attempt of overtime, 5th. Van Gisbergen took the checkered flag, 5th in overtime.
“It was a tough race for our 97 WeatherTech Chevy. Was hoping for a better day, but just didn’t have much speed and then ended up getting a speeding penalty there in the final stage. Going to continue to learn from this and hopefully get another shot at the win tomorrow in our WeatherTech 16 Cup car.” – Shane van Gisbergen
JOSH WILLIAMS
No. 11 Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet Camaro
- Josh Williams started 38th, as per the rulebook, after the No. 11 Alloy Employer Services team changed the Chevy’s transmission and did not participate in qualifying.
- Williams spent all of Stage 1 methodically picking up positions, rolling into 30th before end-of-stage pit stops occurred. He finished Stage 1 in 24th, benefiting from the leaders’ short-pitting.
- Williams pitted during the stage caution for tired, fuel, and an air pressure adjustment. He restarted from 24th on lap 25 but fell four places on the restart. Gaining off of leading drivers’ short-pitting strategy once again, Williams took the Stage 2 finish in 19th.
- Williams rolled off for Stage 3 after pitting for four tires and fuel in 23rd on lap 45. After moving into 22nd, the caution came out, and Williams pitted for fuel only, restarting in 21st with 33 laps to go with the hopes of making it to the checkered flag without having to pit again. He began inheriting positions because of other teams’ decisions to top off on fuel, and by lap 58, he was in 17th. He continued charting fast lap times, and after moving into 16th, spotter Reed Sorenson told Williams that he was “faster than the next four cars in front.” On lap 68, Williams drove the No. 11 Alloy Employer Services Camaro into 11th. Drivers who stopped for fresher tires in Stage 3 caught up to Williams on lap 73, and Williams dropped to 15th on lap 76. The yellow flag displayed that same lap for a stalled car, and crew chief Eddie Pardue elected to keep the No. 11 out of the pits for the restart. Williams restarted in 12th with two laps to go, and upon entering turn one, Williams was hit from behind, and the caution and a subsequent red flag came out. Williams was disqualified for driving the Chevy during the red flag, resulting in a 32nd-place finishing and ending his day prematurely.
“I thought we were going to get to have a successful day. I felt like we should’ve pitted when we stayed out, and that’s what led to us getting hit into [turn] one, but it’s part of it. Hopefully, we go on and run well at Bristol.” – Josh Williams
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 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.
