Kaulig Racing Post-Race Report | Darlington Raceway

AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL1

• AJ Allmendinger qualified 16th for the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
• Allmendinger reported early his No. 16 Action Industry Chevy was plowing tight. Running 16th on lap 18, spotter, Frank Deiny, relayed to Allmendinger he was running top-five lap times. On lap 33, the No. 16 came down pit road for this first scheduled green-flag stop of the race. The team made an air pressure adjustment to help with the handling of the car, and Allmendinger cycled out to 17th place. Allmendinger told crew chief, Matt Swiderski, on lap 56 the rear tires faded quicker this run, and that was his biggest struggle. The No. 16 Chevy came back down pit road on lap 67 for a scheduled green-flag stop. Once the pit-stop sequence cycled through, Allmendinger took over 14th on lap 74, and went on to finish the opening stage 13th.
• Allmendinger came down pit road under the stage break for tires, fuel and an adjustment. The No. 16 team picked up two spots on pit road and restarted 11th on lap 122. Allmendinger took over 10th on lap 141 and maintained position until coming down pit road under green on lap 152. By lap 171, Allmendinger made it back up to 11th before the caution came out for a track lighting issue in turns three and four. The No. 16 team came down pit road for four tires and fuel before the red flag was displayed on lap 188 to fix the lighting issue. When the field took the green flag on lap 191, Allmendinger restarted 17th and took over 15th on lap 193. Allmendinger told his team track position was critical, and he was stuck in traffic sitting 16th. The caution flag came out on lap 216, and the team came down pit road for tires and fuel. After a slow stop, Allmendinger restarted 20th on lap 221 and made his way up to 17th before the caution came back out on lap 226. The No. 16 came back down pit road, and restarted 18th on lap 229, where he finished the second stage.
• Allmendinger stayed out under the stage break and restarted 13th on lap 236 before reporting he was tight in traffic on lap 242. The team came back down pit road on lap 266 for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment to help with the handling of the car. Allmendinger cycled out to 11th where he ran until lap 289 when he fell to 12th place, reporting he needed more rear grip on the next stop. When the next caution came out on lap 310, the No. 16 was running 11th. The team came down pit road under caution for four tires, fuel and an air pressure to help the rear of the car. On the restart on lap 316, Allmendinger was 11th and had taken over 10th by lap 319 when maneuvered around wrecking cars in front of him that brought out another caution. The No. 16 stayed out under this caution to restart eighth on lap 327. Two laps later, the caution came out again while Allmendinger was running ninth, and the team came down pit road for fresh tires and fuel. Restarting in 17th with 31 to go, Allmendinger quickly made up ground, taking over 14th on lap 343 before going on to finish 13th in the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

“I’m really happy with the whole weekend our No. 16 team had in Darlington. We made significant improvement from the spring race. Our car had a good amount of speed, and we tried to fine tune the balance all night. This was the best I’ve ever felt in a Cup car and a career-best finish for me at this track. I’m satisfied with our end result.”

– AJ Allmendinger

Kyle Busch, No. 10 LA Golf Chevrolet Camaro

• Kyle Busch qualified 14^{th for the} Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway.
• Although Busch’s No. 10 LAGolf Chevy fired off loose, he gained three spots before the first caution came out on lap 13. He stayed out under caution and restarted 11^th on lap 17. After the first restart, Busch worked his way to eighth, but reported his No. 10 Chevy had begun handling extremely tight. Busch finished the opening stage in eighth place, after a debris caution ended the stage early on lap 44. 
• Busch pitted during the first stage break for tires, fuel, and multiple adjustments to free up the No. 10 Chevy. When the first caution of the second stage came out on lap 56, Busch reported his tires were much better, but by lap 70, he reported his No. 10 Chevy was plowing tight. Busch dropped back to 12^th place where he finished the second stage, as he battled an ill-handling race car. 
• During the second stage break, Busch pitted for more of the same adjustments to free him up and give him some front turn. He restarted the final stage in 11^th place, but reported he was still battling a tight-handling racecar when the next caution came out on lap 104. Crew chief, Alex Yontz, made the call to pit again for fresh tires and more adjustments, as the team had two sets of tires remaining. Busch restarted 19^th with 39 laps remaining. The next caution came out with 14 laps to go, and Busch pitted once again for his last set of sticker tires and an adjustment to continue freeing up the No. 10 Chevy. He restarted 12^th with 10 laps remaining before the final caution came out on lap 142, sending the race into overtime. Busch restarted 12^th and was able to work his way to ninth in the closing laps, earning a top 10 in his final race with Kaulig Racing.

“Not where we wanted to finish in our last race together. We were super-loose in practice and qualifying and tried to get ahead of it, thinking that’s how our No. 10 LA Golf Chevy would be  during the race, but we ended up plowing tight. Alex [Yontz] and the guys had some good stops and kept trying to free us up as much as they could without losing the rear, but unfortunately, we still fought super-tight. I wish we could have had a better outcome today.” 

– Kyle Busch

Chandler Smith, No. 16 Quick Tie Products Chevrolet Camaro

• Chandler Smith qualified 10th for the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway.
• The No. 16 fired off tight, but maintained position as the first caution came out on lap 12. Bruce Schlicker, the No. 16’s crew chief, radioed to Smith that he was losing time exiting each corner and to be more patient on the throttle. The race restarted on lap 17 with Smith still in 10th. He gained one spot just before the final caution of stage one came out on lap 43 and finished in ninth.
• Smith came in for an air pressure adjustment, fresh tires and fuel during the stage break. The No. 16 gained two positions on pit road and restarted in seventh on lap 51. Smith fired off decently but suffered lack of lateral grip, losing two spots before debris brought out a caution on lap 55. Smith restarted ninth on lap 60 and gained two positions over the next 31 laps. He finished stage two in seventh.
• Another fast full-service stop by the pit crew helped the No. 16 restart in fifth on lap 97 for the final stage. Smith was running in sixth when the next caution came out on lap 103, and he came back down into the pits for fresh tires and to top off on fuel. He restarted in 16th due to pit strategy on lap 109 and took advantage of cars on older tires over the next 24 laps to move into seventh. After another caution came out on lap 132, Smith came back down for another air pressure adjustment, more tires and fuel. The No. 16 restarted seventh on lap 138 and moved back to eighth by the time the final yellow came out to force overtime on lap 142. Smith lost four spots during the final two laps and finished the race in 12th.

“It was a solid day for the No. 16 team and the Quick Tie Products Chevy. We had great pit stops all day long and continued to make handling gains throughout.”

– Chandler Smith