Kaulig Racing took to social media to reveal its 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series crew chief lineup that features the return of three familiar names from the previous season.
For the upcoming racing season, Kevin Walter will be working atop the pit box of the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro team that is set to be piloted by incoming Xfinity Series rookie Daniel Dye. Veteran Eddie Pardue will remain as a crew chief for Josh Williams and the No. 11 Chevrolet Camaro team, a position he assumed midway into the 2024 season, while Alex Yontz will return as a crew chief for Kaulig’s No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro team that will be driven by incoming rookie Christian Eckes.
The news comes as Kaulig Racing is coming off its ninth consecutive campaign in the Xfinity Series and fourth in a row fielding three full-time entries. The organization has also fielded a fourth entry for 10 races total that was piloted by Dye, the latter of whom was making his first set of appearances in the Xfinity division while also competing as a full-time competitor for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing in the Craftsman Truck Series.
Throughout the 2024 season, the Kaulig organization notched four victories, three with Shane van Gisbergen and one with AJ Allmendinger as both also made the Playoffs. While van Gisbergen finished 12th in the final driver’s standings, Allmendinger finished third after he made the Championship 4 round by winning the Playoff’s Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October. Meanwhile, Williams, who campaigned in his first Xfinity season at Kaulig, finished 18th in the standings on the strengths of four top-10 results while Dye recorded two top-10 results during his 10-race stint.
In total, Kaulig Racing achieved a combined four victories, three poles, 14 top-five results, 34 top-10 results and 374 laps led in 2024.
Fthe start of the 2025 season at Kaulig’s No. 10 team is set to mark his third different entry working within the organization and since he began as an Xfinity crew chief in 2024. He initially commenced this past season as a crew chief for Williams and the No. 11 team. Following the first 20 scheduled events, Walter replaced the departing Bruce Schlicker to work atop the pit box of Kaulig’s No. 97 Chevrolet that was piloted by van Gisbergen. Through 33 appearances as an Xfinity crew chief, Walter has notched one pole, two top-five results and seven top-10 results while working with two competitors (van Gisbergen and Williams). Both he and driver Daniel Dye enter the 2025 season with pursuits of notching their first victories in the series.
Walter’s midseason change of Kaulig entry teams in 2024 resulted in Eddie Pardue assuming the position of crew chief Williams and the No. 11 Chevrolet team, beginning at Michigan International Speedway in August. It also marked Pardue’s first appearance as a crew chief in the Xfinity circuit since he was at TriStar Motorsports in 2016. Having made his Xfinity crew chief debut at the start of the 1998 season while working with Elton Sawyer, Pardue has called a current total of 351 events while working with 24 competitors as an Xfinity crew chief.
Throughout the span, Paedue achieved three victories, two with Greg Biffle and one with Matt Kenseth, while leading Roush Fenway Racing’s No. 16 Ford team in 2009. Before being elevated as a crew chief for Kaulig, he was the team’s engineering manager, a position he held since December 2022. Having also called 33 events as a Cup Series crew chief and 22 in the Truck Series, Pardue is set to call a full season with Williams, the latter of whom continues his pursuit for his first Xfinity victory.
Meanwhile, Alex Yontz remains as a crew chief for Kaulig’s No. 16 Chevrolet team for a second consecutive season come the start of the 2025 season. With AJ Allmendinger returning for a full campaign at Kaulig, Christian Eckes assumes Allmendinger’s Xfinity seat after spending the previous two seasons in the Truck Series, where he won a total of eight races with McAnally-Hilgemann Racing and made the Championship 4 round this past season.
Yontz, who made his crew chief debut at the start of the 2019 Xfinity season, has achieved a total of nine victories with four competitors through 184 appearances as a crew chief. During the six years, he also made two Championship 4 appearances: the first with Justin Haley in 2020 and his recent with Allmendinger in 2024, both of which resulted in third-place finishes in the final driver’s standings. Eckes will become the 16th competitor overall to work with Yontz, the latter of whom continues his pursuit for his first NASCAR championship as a crew chief.
Ironically, Kaulig’s reveal of its Xfinity crew chief lineup in 2025 comes exactly two weeks after the organization revealed its Cup crew chief lineup that consists of Andrew Dickeson and Trent Owens for Ty Dillon and Allmendinger, respectively.
The 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season will commence at Daytona International Speedway on February 15 at 5 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
