Chris Rice DENIES Kaulig Merger Rumors: “We’re Going to be Here a Long Time.”
What’s Happening? Kaulig Racing Team President Chris Rice joined Sirius XM NASCAR Radio on Thursday, and he addressed recent rumors…
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As Silly Season 2025 rolls on, Kaulig Racing is one team that no one can figure out. The closest we can get is a Bob Pockrass report that says both rides are down to sponsorship and a Chris Rice comment in a Sirius XM NASCAR Radio interview saying, “We have some exciting stuff that’s going on behind the scenes.” What will Kaulig Racing do in 2025?
What’s Happening? Kaulig Racing Team President Chris Rice joined Sirius XM NASCAR Radio on Thursday, and he addressed recent rumors…
According to Pockrass, both Kaulig Racing rides will be a matter of dollars and cents. Drivers need to bring sponsorship for Kaulig to use them in 2025.
Pockrass does mention A.J. Allmendinger as a possible candidate should the sponsorship money line up. Allmendinger is the most accomplished NASCAR-specific driver under the Kaulig umbrella, and moving him down to Xfinity was all about sponsorship, not performance.
What about Daniel Hemric? He’s brought Poppy Bank to Kaulig Racing, and other sponsors like South Point and Cirkul have latched onto him for his time in the series. While his performance has been pedestrian at best, funding could keep him in the seat. After all, he’s not a terrible driver, given that he is an Xfinity Series Champion.
The part-time drivers Ty Dillon and Derek Kraus likely had to bring some money to race this season. Whether or not they have enough for a full season is a different question.
There are plenty of potential and current SHR free agent drivers, such as Josh Berry, Noah Gragson, and Ryan Preece. There are also young drivers in the lower series who could be looking to make a jump up. However, many of these drivers are candidates for other rides.
One of the current Cup Series drivers to watch is Harrison Burton. He brings funding from Dex Imaging, who has supported Burton since he was a teenager. Since The Wood Brothers seem likely to move in another direction, maybe Burton could slot into one of these seats. However, it wouldn’t be much of an upgrade over Hemric, with Burton sitting 33rd in points.
Kaz Grala could be one to watch, as he has brought at least some funding to Rick Ware Racing. If Kaulig offers him a full season, maybe Grala will make the move.
Sponsorship situations are very fluid, and some drivers have more than others. This makes it tough to speculate who is a candidate for this ride. However, Kaulig has some other teams from which they can pull talent.
Kaulig Racing has two major alliances, one with Trackhouse and another with Richard Childress Racing. Both teams could help Kaulig out in some regard.
Trackhouse has a problem with too many drivers and not enough seats. With Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez expected to return, Zane Smith gone from Spire, SVG looking ready to move up to Cup, and Connor Zilisch looking for a lower series ride, could Kaulig help out? Kaulig team President Chris Rice denied an outright merger with Trackhouse, but both teams could help each other out.
Maybe Kaulig could house SVG or Smith in the Cup Series for 2025 as Trackhouse figures out its next move. Trackhouse already helps sponsor both SVG and Smith despite them racing for different teams, so that could help alleviate some of Kaulig’s sponsorship issues in the short term. This also opens up more room in the lower series for Zilisch, maybe in that third Kaulig Xfinity car.
Richard Childress Racing may be unable to loan full-time drivers, but they could loan part-time drivers. Kaulig and RCR are on the same campus, so why not put someone like Austin Hill in a Cup Series car now and again? Maybe Jesse Love could get some opportunities this way as well.
However, RCR has a third car that they can use occasionally. It might be impractical to loan their drivers to another team every few weeks, even if it is on the same campus.
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