By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer
Kaulig Racing’s President, Chris Rice, revealed on SiriusXM NASCAR on Monday afternoon that NASCAR driver AJ Allmendinger will pilot the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro SS at Daytona International Speedway.
The NASCAR Racing Experience 300 at Daytona on Feb. 15 will mark just the second time that Kaulig Racing will field three entries in the same race. The sponsor and crew chief for Allmendinger will be announced later.
Allmendinger ran five races for the NASCAR Xfinity Series organization last year. He initially finished third at Daytona before his car was disqualified for a failed engine seal. Allmendinger had two top-five finishes including a win at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.
Rice was excited to have Allmendinger return to the Xfinity organization:
“My PR department will probably kill me, but I’ll be more than glad to let you know that AJ Allmendinger is coming back to run Daytona with us in the 16 car. AJ has done us a great job. We’ve got more things that we’re going to announce in January, but AJ is going to pilot that car and I know he will do a great job. He did a great job in July, so I look forward to it.”
It was previously announced that Allmendinger would run the third Kaulig Racing car at the four road course events, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Watkins Glen International, Road America, and Charlotte, as well as Martinsville Speedway.
In 16 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts, the Los Gatos, Calif. native has three victories, all on road courses. Allmendinger also has five top-five finishes and two pole positions, all of which also came on road courses.
Allmendinger’s NASCAR Cup Series stats include one victory, 11 top-five and 57 top-10 finishes. The NBC Sports IMSA broadcaster also has four pole positions.
At Daytona, Allmendinger has three top-five and six top-10 finishes. His best finish at Daytona is third, which also accounts for all three top-five finishes.
Kaulig Racing has previously announced that they will also field the third Chevrolet, in addition to the No. 10 of Ross Chastain and No. 11 of Justin Haley at both Daytona races and Talladega Superspeedway. Further announcements are expected soon.