Kaulig Racing Post-Race Report | Atlanta Motor Speedway

Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart

AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Nutrien Ag Solutions FARMSMART Camaro ZL1

• AJ Allmendinger qualified 19th for the Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart.
• Allmendinger fell back to 22nd in the opening laps before using the bottom lane to make his way up to 16th, as the first caution came out on lap 16. Allmendinger told his team that his No. 16 Nutrien Ag Solutions FARMSMART Chevy was edgy on the top lane. The team stayed out under this caution, and would restart on lap 23 in 14th place. Allmendinger cracked the top 10 and took over ninth place on lap 52. Allmendinger fell back to 18th on lap 57 when the No. 45 got a run on the top line, shuffling the No. 16 back. Allmendinger went on to finish stage one 14th, telling the team his balance was still good, but his Chevy was tight in dirty air.
• Allmendinger restarted stage two in 14^th place on lap 67. When a caution came out on lap 79, Allmendinger had made it up to 13^th, telling the team he was areo-tight on the top lane. Crew chief, Matt Swiderski, brought the No. 16 back down pit road for right side tires and an air pressure adjustment. On lap 85, Allmendinger restarted in 15^th and continued to drive through the field making his way up to sixth before the caution came out on lap 93. Allmendinger restarted fourth as the second car on the top lane. Pushing the No. 17 on the restart, the two pulled away by three car lengths from the third-place car. Allmendinger had fallen to fifth when the caution came out on lap 125. He came down pit road under caution and would restart 17^th on lap 129. Allmendinger battled hard in traffic, making it up to fourth by lap 152 and ultimately finishing stage two in fifth place.
• Allmendinger stayed out under the stage caution, and restarted first on lap 164. He led the field for two green-flag laps before the No. 24 took the lead on lap 167. The No. 16 was third when the caution came out on lap 177. During caution laps, rain began in the area, and the race was called official. Allmendinger finished third, earning his first top five and highest finish of the 2023 season.

“At the end of the day, I am proud of everyone at Kaulig Racing. We brought a really, really good Nutrien Ag Solutions FARMSMART Chevy. We didn’t quite have the speed, but it really handled well and I could maneuver it like it needed to. We didn’t have enough speed to lead, but it was a lot of fun to drive. I’m proud walking away from this one. We had a good points day, top-five finish, our best finish of year. We rebounded after the disappointment last week and we moved on to the next one.“

– AJ Allmendinger

Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1

• Justin Haley qualified 17th for the Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart.
• Haley dropped a few spots on the start of the race, relaying that his No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevy was extremely loose handling as the first caution flag fell on lap 16. Crew chief, Trent Owens, made the call for Haley to pit for tires, fuel and adjustments, in order to get ahead of things early. The field went back to green on lap 24 and would stay green for the remainder of the stage. Haley was able to work his way into the top 10 before ultimately finishing the opening stage in 13^th place. Haley pitted during the break for more adjustments to continue tightening his No. 31 Chevrolet.
• Haley quickly made his way into the top 10 early in stage two, making it as high as sixth place. The first caution of the second stage fell on lap 79. Haley was ninth when crew chief, Owens, made the call for a fuel-only pit stop as weather began to play a factor in strategy. The field went back to green on lap 85. The next caution fell only seven laps later, as Haley had made it up to third. Haley restarted as the first car on the inside but lost momentum on the restart and fell back to 10^th when the next caution came out on lap 123. Trent Owens made the call to stay out due to weather moving in. The field restarted lap 128 and went green until lap 155. This caution would end the stage, scoring Haley seventh. Haley pitted for four tires and a splash of fuel before starting the final stage.
• The field only went green until lap 177, which ended the race early, due to rain. Haley finished eighth, his second top-10 finish in a row.

“Atlanta continues to be a really strong track for this Kaulig Racing team. We fired off super loose, but Trent (Owens) made some great adjustments that got us back where we needed to be for the start of the second stage. It was a lot of fun running second there for a while and racing in the top five. We knew the weather was moving in, and we thought we might have a good strategy there. Unfortunately, it ended just a little too soon, but overall it was a good day for Kaulig Racing.”

– Justin Haley

Alsco Uniforms 250

Daniel Hemric, No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet

• Daniel Hemric qualified 11th for the Alsco Uniforms 250.
• Hemric, alongside teammate Justin Haley, worked together at the start to move into the top 10. He stayed there for most of the stage as the single-file train developed up front. He stayed out during the first caution and restarted third on the inside line, but the No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet lost grip quickly, and Hemric finished stage one in 13th.
• Hemric pitted for four tires, fuel and adjustments to help tighten the car during the stage break. He restarted 23rd, and made his way up to 18th before a caution on lap 52. Hemric came back to pit road for an additional adjustment, and restarted 35th. The No. 11 made its way back up to 17th in seven laps before another caution came out. Hemric stayed out during this round of pit stops and finished seventh in the stage.
• Kaulig Racing teammates Haley, Smith and Hemric started the final stage on the top row. Hemric pushed his teammates, and the three broke away to a single-file, 1-2-3 running order. Hemric held off the No. 21 with just over 10 laps remaining, keeping the Kaulig team 1-2-3. He fell back to fifth as the final yellow flag flew to force overtime. The No. 11 lined up second on the inside line. After Smith ran out of fuel coming to the green, Hemric fought through to second coming to the white flag where he finished the race.

“My crew chief, Jason Trinchere, and everyone on this Kaulig Racing team did a great job of grinding away on the Cirkul Chevrolet to make it as good as it was. Clean air was huge. Taking right-sides only on the last stop was important to get that clean air. It was really similar to what we did during the last race here. That kind of band-aided some of the issues we had tonight. Something might have been off on the travel, because we were really sideways at certain points. I probably couldn’t be as aggressive as I wanted to throughout the last 20 laps, even with trying to hold off the No. 21 for our organization. When the dust started to settle, I thought we had the opportunity to do something special there, but we just came short.”

– Daniel Hemric

Justin Haley, No. 10 Campers Inn RV Chevrolet

• Justin Haley qualified 13th for the Alsco Uniforms 250.
• Haley quickly made his way through the field and into the top five by lap six. Finally settling into sixth place, spotter, Frank Deiny, told Haley he was a tenth better than the cars in front of him. As the first caution fell on lap 27, Haley reported his No. 10 Campers Inn RV Chevy was handling well. The race went green with six laps remaining in the opening stage, and Haley went on to finish fourth.
• Haley asked for no changes to his No. 10 Chevy, as he made his first pit stop, getting just fuel and tires. As the first caution of the second stage came out on lap 50, Haley was told to save fuel. When another caution fell on lap 62, crew chief, Alex Yontz, told Haley to pit for an adjustment to tighten him up, as data showed that the track would continue to trend free throughout the race. The field went back to green on lap 71, and Haley went on to finish the second stage in 12^th.
• Haley reported his No. 10 Chevy was beginning to trend freer, and the team made the call to pit during the stage break to tighten him up. He received an adjustment and fuel, but no tires. He restarted on the front row on lap 86 before a caution for a big wreck came out just one lap later. Haley took over the lead, in front of teammates Hemric (second) and Smith (third). The Kaulig cars all chose the top, lining up for the restart on lap 96. Haley continued to lead with his teammates in tow, until the overtime restart. Haley lined up as the first car on the top, followed by the No. 16. The No. 11 lined up as the second car on the bottom. Haley eventually lost help and momentum on the final lap, falling to fourth where he finished the race.

“It’s an unfortunate end to what was looking to be a great race for Kaulig Racing. Leading all those laps and running wide open caused us to be a little short on fuel there at the end. [Smith] was running second for the majority and ran out as well. Our No. 10 Campers Inn RV Chevy started stumbling out of [turn] four, so I got down to try and give Daniel [Hemric] the best chance. Wish we could have gotten a Kaulig team win, but we just came up short.” 

– Justin Haley