No. 10 Black Widow Trucks Chevrolet
Start: 8th
Stage 1 Finish: 11th
Stage 2 Finish: 17th
Finish: 10th
Although he fired off free, Dye raced his way up to fourth and remained in the top five for a majority of the opening stage. With three laps remaining, Dye lost his help but was able to find teammates Christian Eckes and Josh Williams and linked up to finish the stage in 11th place. He pitted for right-side tires and fuel, gaining two spots on pit road, before starting the second stage fourth on the bottom lane behind his teammates. With a handful of laps remaining in the incident-free second stage, Dye fell out of contention for stage points late and decided to play it safe, crossing the line 17th. During the second stage break, he pitted for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment, before starting the final stage from 21st place. Dye made his only green-flag stop for fuel only on lap 68 and avoided multiple incidents, including a last-lap wreck. As the field finished under yellow, Dye went on to finish 10th, his second top-10 finish in a row.
“Throughout the race, I never felt like I could suck up to the guy in front of me very well, so that made it hard to make up any ground on whatever lane we were in. Thankfully, we played it safe when we needed to, and it worked in our favor. Our No. 10 Black Widow Trucks Chevrolet looked cool, and we came away with another top 10 and a clean race car.” – Daniel Dye
No. 16 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet
Start: 15th
Stage 1 Finish: 4th
Stage 2 Finish: 20th
Finish: 25th
By lap 10, Eckes found both the top 10, as well as teammate Josh Williams. The pair stayed linked together and finally joined their teammate, Daniel Dye, with three laps remaining in Stage 1. Eckes finished the opening stage in fourth place, earning valuable stage points. During the stage break, he pitted for right-side tires only, picking up two spots on pit road. Eckes started Stage 2 second on the bottom with the Nos. 11 and 10 cars in tow. He led two laps during the incident-free second segment but was stuck on the bottom lane with no help, finishing the stage in 20th. During the second stage break, Eckes pitted for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment, before starting the final stage in 22nd. He made his only green-flag stop of the day for fuel only on lap 68. Following the pit stop, Eckes radioed that he had lost all power steering in the No. 16 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevy. A timely wreck on lap 78 allowed Eckes to pit to fix the Chevy’s power steering issue and put four fresh tires on while under caution. Unable to get in position to contend, Eckes laid back, anticipating the inevitable last-lap wreck. He went on to finish 25th, as the race ended under yellow.
“Disappointing finish after a hard-fought day. We had a fast No. 16 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevy and got some good stage points. The No. 16 guys worked hard to overcome a power steering issue and give us another chance at the end. I just couldn’t stick with the cars in front of me well enough there on the last lap, so we played it safe to keep the car clean. Not how we should have finished, but we kept the racecar clean.” – Christian Eckes
No. 11 Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet
Start: 7th
Stage 1 Finish: 6th
Stage 2 Finish: 18th
Finish: 29th
Josh Williams ran the opening laps in the inside line, while at times being taken three and four wide. On lap 16, he got shuffled to the back of the lead group, which gave him the opportunity to link up with his teammates, Christian Eckes and Daniel Dye. The trio pushed hard on the outside until the stage end, with Williams finishing it in sixth. He pitted for two right-side tires and fuel during the stage break and restarted on lap 32 on the bottom of the third row. Staying on the bottom for the majority of the second stage, Williams tailed off in the closing laps and was told by spotter Reed Sorenson to be conservative if stage points weren’t on tap late; he obliged, taking the green-white-checkered flag in 18th. Under caution, Williams stopped for four tires, fuel, and an air pressure adjustment, taking the final stage’s green flag in 19th with 57 laps to go. Twelve laps later and under green, the No. 11 Alloy Employer Services Chevy, along with the No. 10 Black Widow Trucks and No. 16 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolets, stopped for four seconds of fuel. After the field cycled back through, a wreck occurred in front of Williams, and although he avoided it, he smashed into debris and damaged the Chevy’s nose. Under caution, he pitted multiple times so the Kaulig Racing pit crew could repair the damage and put new tires on the No. 11 Chevy. However, the team was penalized for having an extra person over the wall while on the Damaged Vehicle Policy clock, and Williams was held two laps. While exiting pit road, he sped, putting him three laps down. He regained a lap and finished in 29th, two laps down.
“We had a fast car, felt a bit free early but it wasn’t like it was bad. That’s Talladega for you, you know? Sometimes, you just don’t get the luck you need.” – 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 27 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. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.
