Kaulig CEO Says Team “Didn’t Have a Choice” in Pausing Xfinity Series Program

What’s Happening?

In 2026, Kaulig Racing will not field a NASCAR Xfinity Series car, marking the end of a 10-year run in the series. During a recent interview, Kaulig CEO Chris Rice explained what went into this difficult decision to pause their efforts in the series.

Kaulig Racing is one of the great NASCAR underdog stories of the past decade.

At one point in the team’s history, their only notable highlight was a pole win at Talladega in 2017. However, since their first Xfinity Series win in 2019 with A.J. Allmendinger, the team has risen to become a leader in the series and a staple in the NASCAR Cup Series.

In August, the team announced a partnership with the Stellantis brand Ram, which is returning to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2026. This partnership has the potential to pay off in the long run, as fellow Stellantis brand Dodge is expected to enter the NASCAR Cup Series in the coming years.

However, this new partnership, which is a massive undertaking for both team and OEM, is flanked by some key issues.

First, the team currently fields Chevrolets in the NASCAR Xfinity and Cup Series, a clear conflict of interest, which raises questions about their status with the bowtie brand.

Second is the increased need for staff and resources for their Truck Series program, which will field a series-high five full-time trucks.

The latter of those two issues has resulted in the team putting its storied Xfinity Series (soon to be O’Reilly Auto Parts Series) program on hold, despite past claims from CEO Chris Rice that the team was merely scaling back for the coming year.

During an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Wednesday morning, Rice explained what went into this decision, saying that Kaulig “really didn’t have a choice” in the matter.

“It’s Not Like We Want To”

First and foremost, Rice directly addressed their new Truck Series program’s relationship with this decision. He confirmed the rumors that they were turning their full focus to the program, saying, “We have made a choice that we need to focus really hard on our truck program and our cup program to push it forward.”

This announcement was a sad day for many, as one of the Series’ top teams stepped away ahead of what is set to be another milestone season in NASCAR’s secondary series, with new title sponsor O’Reilly Auto Parts coming aboard.

But, on a positive note, Rice also confirmed rumors that they will return to their old stomping grounds in the future.

“You guys will see us back in the Xfinity Series in the coming years, but we have to pause it for a little bit, and we have to sit back and push ourselves to build five wonderful trucks for Ram and also keep our Cup program where it’s at,” Rice said.

Although the promise of a return hasn’t made the move any less emotional for Rice or team owner Matt Kaulig, Rice explained that the decision was made over the past month, suggesting that they were perhaps initially planning to scale back, with the overhaul feeling more like a necessity than a choice.

“It’s not like we want to. We really don’t have a choice. Honestly. We got to make sure that the Ram trucks are where they need to be, those guys are taking a huge chance on us and we want to show them we’re behind them to build this thing pretty big.” — Chris Rice on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

As of press time, all but one of Kaulig’s Xfinity drivers from this season are sorted out.

The team parted ways with Josh Williams prior to this announcement, and Brenden “Butterbean” Queen, who drove the No. 11 for a majority of the leftober schedule, will join their Truck program with Daniel Dye, who drove the team’s No. 10 car this season.

The only driver left out of the picture as of press time is Christian Eckes, who has yet to announce his plans for the coming year, with rumors suggesting the truck series veteran could return to the series with or without Kaulig.

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