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  • Shane van Gisbergen speeds to first Xfinity career pole at Sonoma

    Shane van Gisbergen speeds to first Xfinity career pole at Sonoma

    Rookie Shane van Gisbergen checked off another accomplishment to his racing resume by notching his first NASCAR Xfinity Series career pole for the second annual running of the Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250 at Sonoma Raceway on Saturday, June 8.

    The three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, commenced his first NASCAR weekend at Sonoma on a strong note by being the fastest during Friday’s lone practice session. After being one of 10 competitors to transfer into the final round of qualifying through two qualifying groups, van Gisbergen, who was the fastest in his qualifying group, posted his best qualifying lap at 95.933 mph in 74.677 seconds, which was enough to claim the pole position over a hard-charging Ty Gibbs.

    The first Xfinity pole for van Gisbergen comes on the heels of his first Xfinity career victory at Portland International Raceway a week ago, a victory that places him in contention to make the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs. He has also recorded two top-five and three top-10 results through his previous 13 starts in this year’s Xfinity campaign and is ranked in 14th place in the current Xfinity regular-season standings with 303 points.

    In addition to his road-course expertise and the speed of his No. 97 WeatherTech/Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro entry, van Gisbergen credited his wheel force test he performed in a Cup Series’ Next Gen Chevrolet stock car entry at Sonoma in early May that enabled him to navigate his way around Sonoma Raceway for the first time.

    “The WeatherTech Chevrolet, it’s rapid, man,” van Gisbergen said on FS2. “I didn’t do the best laps I could. Still, to have that gap on the field, these [No. 97] guys have done an awesome job. We changed quite a lot from last week. It’s good. I understand what I need from the car to be faster…These NASCAR races are an adventure, so I’m sure this afternoon won’t be plain sailing. We’ll try and get through it.”

    Ty Gibbs, a Cup Series regular who is making his third Xfinity start of the 2024 season for Joe Gibbs Racing, posted the second-fastest qualifying lap at 95.458 mph in 75.049 seconds and will share the front row with van Gisbergen. Gibbs finished in fourth place while competing in the inaugural Xfinity event at Sonoma a year ago.

    Austin Hill will line up in third place and start in the second row alongside AJ Allmendinger while Justin Allgaier will start in fifth place as he will share the third row with rookie Jesse Love. John Hunter Nemechek, Sam Mayer, Sheldon Creed and Sammy Smith, all transferred into the final round of qualifying, completing the top 10 in the starting lineup.

    Chandler Smith, the first competitor who fell short of transferring into the final round of qualifying, will start in 11th place and will share the fifth row with series’ points leader Cole Custer.

    Notably, Parker Kligerman, who was second fastest behind van Gisbergen during Friday’s practice session, will start in 14th place. Kyle Sieg, piloting the No. 28 RSS Racing Ford Mustang entry that won the inaugural Xfinity event at Sonoma with veteran Aric Almirola a year ago, will start in 32nd place. With Almirola not entered in this weekend’s event, we will see a new race winner in the series’ annual visit to Sonoma.

    In addition, Boris Said, who wrecked the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro during Friday’s practice session and switched to a backup car from JR Motorsports, will line up in 35th place as he relied on owner points to make the event. Other competitors who relied on owner points to make the event included Ryan Ellis, Matt DiBenedetto, Hailie Deegan and Garrett Smithley.

    With 39 competitors vying for 38 starting spots, Sage Karam, piloting the No. 35 Toyota entry for Joey Gase Motorsports, was the only competitor who did not qualify for the main event.

    Qualifying position, best speed, best time

    1. Shane van Gisbergen, 95.933 mph, 74.677 seconds
    2. Ty Gibbs, 95.458 mph, 75.049 seconds
    3. Austin Hill, 95.370 mph, 75.118 seconds
    4. AJ Allmendinger, 95.040 mph, 75.379 seconds
    5. Justin Allgaier, 95.009 mph, 75.403 seconds
    6. Jesse Love, 94.939 mph, 75.459 seconds
    7. John Hunter Nemechek, 94.751 mph, 75.609 seconds
    8. Sam Mayer, 94.716 mph, 75.637 seconds
    9. Sheldon Creed, 94.624 mph, 75.710 seconds
    10. Sammy Smith, 94.509 mph, 75.802 seconds
    11. Chandler Smith, 94.607 mph, 75.724 seconds
    12. Cole Custer, 94.563 mph, 75.759 seconds
    13. Parker Retzlaff, 94.427 mph, 75.868 seconds
    14. Parker Kligerman, 94.389 mph, 75.899 seconds
    15. Riley Herbst, 94.360 mph, 75.922 seconds
    16. Anthony Alfredo, 94.159 mph, 76.084 seconds
    17. Ed Jones, 94.102 mph, 76.130 seconds
    18. Ryan Sieg, 94.050 mph, 76.172 seconds
    19. Alex Labbe, 93.741 mph, 76.423 seconds
    20. Jeb Burton, 93.661 mph, 76.489 seconds
    21. Blaine Perkins, 93.624 mph, 76.519 seconds
    22. Austin Green, 93.601 mph, 76.538 seconds
    23. Jeremy Clements, 93.593 mph, 76.544 seconds
    24. Preston Pardus, 93.566 mph, 76.566 seconds
    25. Kyle Weatherman, 93.532 mph, 76.594 seconds
    26. Thomas Annunziata, 93.515 mph, 76.608 seconds
    27. Brandon Jones, 93.499 mph, 76.621 seconds
    28. Josh Williams, 93.270 mph, 76.809 seconds
    29. Leland Honeyman, 93.251 mph, 76.825 seconds
    30. Brad Perez, 93.131 mph, 76.924 seconds
    31. Josh Bilicki, 93.112 mph, 76.940 seconds
    32. Kyle Sieg, 93.109 mph, 76.942 seconds
    33. Brennan Poole, 93.039 mph, 77 seconds
    34. Ryan Ellis, Owner Points
    35. Boris Said, Owner Points
    36. Matt DiBenedetto, Owner Points
    37. Hailie Deegan, Owner Points
    38. Garrett Smithley, Owner Points

    The 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250 at Sonoma Raceway is set to occur on Saturday, June 8, and air at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Josh Williams to make 200th Xfinity career start at Sonoma

    Josh Williams to make 200th Xfinity career start at Sonoma

    In his eighth season with at least one start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Josh Williams is scheduled to achieve a milestone start. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250 at Sonoma Raceway, the driver of the No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro will make his 200th career start in the Xfinity circuit.

    A native of Port Charlotte, Florida, Williams made his inaugural presence in the Xfinity Series at Michigan International Speedway in June 2016. By then, Williams, who grew up competing in go-karts before ascending to Legends cars and stock cars, had made 89 career starts in the ARCA Menards Series and a single start in the Craftsman Truck Series, which occurred at Martinsville Speedway in March 2014 as most of his start occurred with his family-owned team. Driving the No. 79 Jimmy Means Racing Chevrolet as a start-and-park driver, Williams started 40th and finished 38th in his Xfinity debut. He would make a second start of the season at Kentucky Speedway in September and in the No. 92 Chevrolet for King Autosport, where he ended up in 37th place.

    The following season, Williams made a total of seven Xfinity starts between the Nos. 90 and 92 entries for team owner Mario Gosselin. During the season, he recorded a season-best 22nd-place at Bristol Motor Speedway in April. He then competed in 20 Xfinity events for Gosselin in 2018, where he achieved a season-best 20th-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in September.

    In January 2019, Williams transitioned to pilot DGM Racing’s No. 36 Chevrolet for all 33 Xfinity Series events. Despite not qualifying for the Xfinity event at Richmond Raceway in April, the Floridian achieved his first top-10 career result after finishing eighth at Talladega Superspeedway in mid-April. His next best result were a pair of 14th-place finishes that occurred during both Texas Motor Speedway scheduled events in April and October, respectively, as he also led four laps at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in September before settling in 17th place. Ultimately, he would notch a total of seven top-15 results and 17 top-20 results before settling in 17th place in the final standings. By then, he boosted his average-finishing result from 26.7 during the previous season to 20.6 during the 2019 season.

    Williams would compete in every event of the 33-race Xfinity schedule in DGM Racing’s No. 92 Chevrolet during the 2020 season. After notching his first top-10 result of the season at Auto Club Speedway with a 10th-place run in March, Williams would proceed to finish in the top 10 five additional times as he would finish ninth at Bristol Motor Speedway in June, ninth at Daytona in August, seventh at Talladega Superspeedway, a career-best sixth at Kansas and ninth at Texas, with the latter three occurring in October. To go along with a total of 13 top-15 results and 20 top-20 results, Williams settled in a career-best 15th in the final driver’s standings and with a career-best average-finishing result of 18.6.

    The following season, Williams, who remained at DGM Racing, recorded only a single top-10 result, which was a 10th-place finish at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in June. His next best results were a pair of 11th-place runs at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course and at Martinsville Speedway in October. Aside from not competing in the series’ inaugural event at Circuit of the Americas in May, the Floridian recorded 18 top-20 results throughout the 2021 Xfinity season before settling in 18th place in the final standings and with an average-finishing result of 20.7. By then, he had surpassed 100 career starts in the Xfinity Series.

    The 2022 season was an eventful year for Williams, who parted ways from DGM Racing and joined BJ McLeod Motorsports at the start of the season. After not qualifying in four of 21-scheduled events while only managing to finish in the top 20 three times, Williams returned to DMG Racing, beginning at Darlington Raceway in September as he split driving roles between the team’s Nos. 92 and 36 entries. For the final 10 events on the schedule, he earned a 19th-place result at Talladega Superspeedway in October before notching a season-best 15th-place run in the 2022 Xfinity Series finale at Phoenix Raceway in November. Despite missing five events, Williams’ average-finishing result was 25.8.

    Retained by DGM Racing to pilot the No. 92 entry on a full-time basis in 2023, Williams commenced the season by finishing 15th at Daytona followed by finishing 16th at Auto Club Speedway in February. Three races later at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Williams gained national attention that started when he sustained right-front damage to his No. 92 entry after being involved in a Lap 26 incident involving Jeb Burton and Brett Moffitt. After drawing another caution five laps later due to debris that came off of his damaged car, Williams was parked by NASCAR for the rest of the event under a provision in the Damaged Vehicle Policy standard. In response, Williams parked his damaged car across the start/finish line in the frontstretch, climbed out and walked to pit road, where he saluted the fans before making the trip to the infield care center. Eventually, NASCAR suspended him from competing in the series’ following event at Circuit of the Americas in March due to his actions at Atlanta. Returning at Richmond Raceway in April, Williams would proceed to record a total of three top-10 results, including a season-best eighth-place run at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July, and a total of 15 top-20 results before ending up in 21st place in the final standings and with an average-finishing result of 23.3.

    Twelve days after the 2023 season concluded, Williams was announced as the driver of the No. 11 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing for the 2024 Xfinity Series season, where he replaced Daniel Hemric as Hemric moved back up to the Cup Series with Kaulig. Currently, Williams has achieved three top-10 results through the first 13 events of the season and is coming off a seventh-place result at Portland International Raceway. He is ranked in 18th place in the driver’s standings and trails the top-12 cutline to make the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs by 109 points with 13 regular-season events remaining.

    Through 199 previous starts in the Xfinity Series, Williams has achieved 14 top-10 results, 19 laps led and an average-finishing result of 22.6 as he continues his pursuit for both his first Xfinity victory and Playoff berth.

    Josh Williams is scheduled to make his 200th Xfinity Series career start at Sonoma Raceway for the second annual running of the Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250 on Saturday, June 8. The event’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Shane van Gisbergen scores first Xfinity career victory at Portland

    Shane van Gisbergen scores first Xfinity career victory at Portland

    Nearly a year after making his inaugural presence in NASCAR quickly known with his first Cup Series career victory at Chicago, rookie Shane van Gisbergen checked off another accomplishment by clinching his first Xfinity Series career win in the third annual running of the Pacific Office Automation 147 at Portland International Raceway on Saturday, June 1.

    The three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, led three times for 12 of 75 scheduled laps in an event where he started on the front row and quickly endured a wild start by sending pole-sitter Sam Mayer for a spin. Despite struggling to launch on restarts and after slipping off the course during the second stage period, van Gisbergen managed to keep himself running towards the front in the closing stages. Amid two late-race restarts, van Gisbergen then managed to overtake and fend off Justin Allgaier during a four-lap shootout to the finish to claim his first Xfinity career win in his 13th series start.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Sam Mayer claimed his first Xfinity pole position of the 2024 season and the second of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 96.654 mph in 73.375 seconds. Joining him on the front row was rookie Shane van Gisbergen, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 96.596 mph in 73.419 seconds.

    Prior to the event, AJ Allmendinger dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car after he wrecked his primary car during the event’s qualifying session earlier in the day. The following names that included rookie Jesse Love, Patrick Gallagher, Brandon Jones, Hailie Deegan, ED Jones, Sage Karam, Austin Green, Chandler Smith, Kyle Weatherman and Logan Bearden also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Sam Mayer launched ahead with a brief lead over Shane van Gisbergen as the field fanned out entering the first set of turns. Then in Turn 1, van Gisbergen hit Mayer as Mayer was sent spinning backwards through the course’s first three tight turns. Amid the early contact with the field scattering to avoid Mayer as Mayer plummeted below the leaderboard, Riley Herbst navigated his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang into the lead as Justin Allgaier overtook van Gisbergen for the runner-up spot. As Cole Custer, Sheldon Creed and Parker Kligerman followed suit in the top six while Sammy Smith and Josh Bilicki battled for seventh, Herbst proceeded to lead the first lap.

    Over the next four laps, Herbst stabilized his advantage within four-tenths of a second over Allgaier while van Gisbergen trailed by a second in third place. Behind, Custer and Creed continued to trail in the top five along with Kligerman, Bilicki and Sammy Smith while Ryan Truex and Jeb Burton followed suit in the top 10. Meanwhile, Kyle Weatherman was trying to regain his momentum back on the course after he was sideways off the course in Turn 12 while AJ Allmendinger was mired in the top 30.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Herbst was leading by four-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Allgaier followed by van Gisbergen, Custer and Creed while Kligerman, Bilicki, Sammy Smith, Truex and Burton continued to follow suit in the top 10. Behind, Austin Hill trailed in 11th place ahead of Parker Retzlaff, Anthony Alfredo, Josh Williams and Jeremy Clements while Sage Karam, Ryan Sieg, Jesse Love, Chandler Smith and Sam Mayer trailed in the top 20, with AJ Allmendinger and Brandon Jones occupying 21st and 24th, respectively.

    Five laps later and as Logan Bearden was trying to rally from getting sideways off the course entering Turn 12, Herbst continued to lead by half a second over van Gisbergen while Allgaier dropped to third place. Behind, Custer and Creed continued to run in the top five while Kligerman was trying to fend off Bilicki for sixth place and with Sammy Smith, Truex and Hill racing in the top 10.

    Another lap later, van Gisbergen, who got to Herbst’s rear bumper through the frontstretch, pulled a crossover move on Herbst through three turns to move into the lead. Van Gisbergen would maintain the lead for the following lap while Allgaier was trying to find a way to overtake Herbst for the runner-up spot.

    Just past the Lap 20 mark, van Gisbergen stretched his advantage to more than a second and a half over Allgaier while Herbst, Custer, Creed, Kligerman and Bilicki continued to follow suit in the top seven and by within less than five seconds. Behind, Sammy Smith trailed by more than seven seconds in eighth place and ahead of Truex and Hill while Retzlaff, Karam, Chandler Smith, Mayer and Alfredo occupied the top 15.

    Then on Lap 22, Custer went for a spin entering the first turn after he locked the brakes and got loose while trying to avoid hitting teammate Herbst. Amid Custer’s issues, the race remained under green flag conditions as Custer proceeded despite dropping to eighth place. Another lap later, van Gisbergen surrendered the lead to pit his No. 97 Quad Lock Chevrolet Camaro under green. This enabled Allgaier to cycle into the lead over Herbst and Creed while Bilicki and Kligerman trailed in the top five and within less than four seconds.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 25, Allgaier, who navigated past a spinning Retzlaff in Turn 12, captured his ninth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Herbst settled in second followed Creed, Bilicki and Kligerman while Sammy Smith, Custer, Truex, Hill and Sage Karam were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the field led by Allgaier pitted for a unique, competitive pit sequence for this event, where the pit stops were to last a minimum of 63 seconds from the pit road entrance to exit. Amid the pit sequence, all competitors could either gain or lose positions on pit road, with the lineup for the next stage being determined by the order of exit from pit road. Following the pit stops, Allgaier retained the lead after he exited pit road first followed by Creed, Bilicki, Custer, Truex, Herbst, Chandler Smith, Hill, Sage Karam and Jesse Love.

    The second stage period started on Lap 29 as Allgaier and van Gisbergen occupied the front row. At the start, van Gisbergen struggled to launch and he was being pinned in a three-wide Joe Gibbs Racing sandwich in between Creed and Bilicki while Allgaier launched ahead through the frontstretch. As Allgaier led Creed through the first three turns, van Gisbergen made contact with Custer, which stalled their momentum as Bilicki and Ryan Truex overtook them to move up to third and fourth. As the field navigated through the next turns amid two tight lanes, Chandler Smith then passed van Gisbergen to claim sixth place. Amid the battles over the next sets of turns, Allgaier retained the lead by eight-tenths of a second by the Lap 30 mark.

    By Lap 35, Allgaier was out in front by more than a second over Creed and more than three seconds over Bilicki as van Gisbergen and Custer trailed in the top five ahead of Truex. Behind, Chandler Smith trailed in seventh ahead of Herbst and Sage Karam while AJ Allmendinger was scored in 10th.

    A lap later, van Gisbergen, who was racing with a damaged left-front fender amid his earlier contact with Custer, slipped off the course after he hopped the curbs in Turns 10 and 11. He then slid sideways and went off the course in Turn 12, all while battling Bilicki for third, but he managed to quickly blend back onto the racing surface as he dropped to seventh place.

    At the Lap 40 mark, Allgaier extended his advantage by more than over Creed as Bilicki, Custer and Chandler Smith occupied the top five. Meanwhile, van Gisbergen was mired back in sixth while Herbst, Truex, Karam and Allmendinger were in the top 10.

    Then on the final lap of the second stage period, Lap 49, the caution flew after Matt DiBenedetto stalled his RSS Racing entry on the course. DiBenedetto’s stalled incident was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 50 to conclude under caution as Allgaier proceeded to capture his 10th Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season and sweep both stages of the event. Creed settled in second followed by Bilicki, Custer and van Gisbergen while Chandler Smith, Herbst, Karam, Mayer and Ed Jones were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, the field led by Allgaier returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Allgaier retained lead after exiting ahead of Creed, Bilicki, Chandler Smith, Truex, Herbst, Karam, Ed Jones, Mayer and van Gisbergen.

    With 20 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Allgaier and Creed occupied the front row. At the start and as the field fanned out through the frontstretch, Allgaier and Creed dueled for the lead entering the first turn. Then as Bilicki was sent for a spin while three competitors led by Herbst missed the first turn, Creed muscled his No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota Supra ahead of Allgaier to move into the lead. Despite receiving numerous bumps into the rear by Allgaier for a series of turns, Creed retained the top spot when he led Allgaier back to the frontstretch.

    A lap later, however, Allgaier and Creed dueled through the frontstretch. Both competitors then proceed to hit and rub fenders against one another past the first three turns, with Allgaier reassuming the lead prior to entering Turn 4. Amid their contact, Chandler Smith tried to close in from third place while Truex and van Gisbergen were in the top five. Meanwhile, Jesse Love pitted with a crumbled hood after he T-boned into the rear of Mayer prior to the latest restart period.

    With 15 laps remaining, Allgaier was leading ahead of a side-by-side battle between Creed and van Gisbergen for second place while Mayer and Chandler Smith followed suit in the top five. Behind, Truex was in sixth ahead of Sammy Smith, Herbst, Ed Jones and Kligerman while Williams, Allmendinger, Weatherman, Retzlaff and Hill were in the top 15. With Allgaier maintaining a reasonable advantage of three seconds during the following lap, van Gisbergen bumped, rubbed and overtook Creed for the runner-up spot before Mayer seized third place from Creed during the next lap.

    Following another late caution period with 13 laps remaining after Hailie Deegan lost a right front tire in Turn 9, the race restarted under green with nine laps remaining as Allgaier and van Gisbergen occupied the front row for a second time. At the start, Allgaier muscled his No. 7 Brandt Chevrolet Camaro ahead of a four-wide battle for second place entering the first turn. With the field tightly navigating through the first three turns, Allgaier maintained the top spot over Creed, who moved back into second place, as van Gisbergen, Mayer and Sammy Smith followed suit in the top five.

    As Chandler Smith, who was running sixth, pulled his car off the course in Turn 12 with a damaged front nose, the caution quickly returned during the following lap for a multi-car wreck that ensued in Turn 12 when Brennan Poole and Blaine Perkins got turned sideways separately, with the latter getting spun into the path of Bilicki and Brandon Jones as Jones went head-on into the tire barriers while Andre Castro, Ryan Ellis, Kyle Sieg and Herbst were also involved. By then, Creed was assessed a drive-through penalty through pit road due to being penalized for a restart violation.

    During the next restart period with four laps remaining, Allgaier fended off van Gisbergen and teammate Sammy Smith through the frontstretch to retain the lead and through the first three turns. With the field behind navigating through the turns, the battle for the lead ignited as van Gisbergen attempted to make a move beneath Allgaier entering Turn 4. Despite sliding sideways through the next two turns, van Gisbergen managed to keep his car pointing straight while also keeping Allgaier next to him as he avoided spinning Allgaier through the turns. Then as Allgaier also got loose in between Turns 5 and 6, van Gisbergen seized an opportunity to move into the lead. As Allgaier was getting pressured by teammate Mayer for the runner-up spot, van Gisbergen retained the lead through the frontstretch and with three laps remaining.

    Then with two laps remaining, Mayer’s strong rally back to the front evaporated after he scrubbed the wall entering the frontstretch, which cut his left-rear tire as Mayer had to keep his No. 1 RTIC Outdoors Chevrolet Camaro running straight while going off the course. Amid Mayer’s incident, the race remained under green flag conditions as Allgaier was slowly closing in on van Gisbergen for the lead through each set of turns.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, van Gisbergen remained as the leader by four-tenths of a second over Allgaier while third-place Sammy Smith trailed by two seconds. As van Gisbergen retained the lead through the first three turns before he made his way to Turn 4, he started to extend his advantage by more than a second as Allgaier was losing ground. With Allgaier unable to close the deficit for the final nine sets of corners, van Gisbergen was able to keep his car running straight on the course and cycle back to the frontstretch victorious as he claimed his first checkered flag of the season and of his career.

    With the victory, van Gisbergen, who drifted his race-winning car through the turns while performing his victory burnouts and kicked a rugby ball into the frontstretch’s crowd, became the 178th competitor overall to win in the Xfinity Series as he joined rookie rival Jesse Love as first-time Xfinity race winners of the 2024 season. He also became the seventh foreign-born competitor to win in the Xfinity level and the first since Daniel Suarez made the last accomplishment at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November 2016. As an added bonus, van Gisbergen notched the first victory of the season for Kaulig Racing.

    “Firstly, I’m very sorry to Sam Mayer and the No. 1 team for [hitting them in the] first corner,” van Gisbergen said on FS1. “I just mucked up there and just clipped him. He got back well, but year, Quad Lock Chevy. Thanks Kaulig Racing, Trackhouse [Racing] guys. What a day. It was really cool. Had some great racing. I need to get better at my restarts and learn how to position, but man, that was so much fun. Really cool racing. I love these cars. They’re great.”

    Justin Allgaier, who led a race-high 46 laps, settled in the runner-up spot for a second consecutive season in Portland while teammate Sammy Smith, AJ Allmendinger and Ed Jones finished in the top five.

    Cole Custer, the winner of last year’s Xfinity event at Portland, rallied for sixth place while Josh Williams, Parker Kligerman, Parker Retzlaff and Riley Herbst finished in the top 10.

    Notably, Josh Bilicki piloted the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Supra to a 12th-place result behind Austin Hill, Sheldon Creed rallied for 13th, Jesse Love ended up 19th, Ryan Truex dropped to 27th after he spun on the final lap and Sam Mayer plummeted to 28th.  

    There were nine lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 14 laps. In addition, 27 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 13th event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Cole Custer leads the regular-season standings by 18 points over both Austin Hill and Chandler Smith, with Justin Allgaier trailing by 23 points and rookie Jesse Love trailing by 73 points.

    Results.

    1. Shane van Gisbergen, 12 laps led

    2. Justin Allgaier, 45 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner

    3. Sammy Smith

    4. AJ Allmendinger

    5. Ed Jones

    6. Cole Custer

    7. Josh Williams

    8. Parker Kligerman

    9. Parker Retzlaff

    10. Riley Herbst, 15 laps led

    11. Austin Hill

    12. Josh Bilicki

    13. Sheldon Creed, two laps led

    14. Ryan Sieg

    15. Austin Green

    16. Brennan Poole

    17. Ryan Ellis

    18. Kyle Sieg

    19. Jesse Love

    20. Blaine Perkins

    21. Nathan Byrd

    22. Garrett Smithley

    23. Andre Castro

    24. Patrick Gallagher

    25. Kyle Weatherman

    26. Leland Honeyman

    27. Ryan Truex

    28. Sam Mayer, one lap down

    29. Logan Bearden, one lap down

    30. Jeremy Clements, two laps down

    31. Matt DiBenedetto, two laps down

    32. Anthony Alfredo, three laps down

    33. Hailie Deegan, four laps down

    34. Sage Karam, six laps down

    35. Chandler Smith – OUT, Accident

    36. Brandon Jones – OUT, Accident

    37. Jeb Burton, 14 laps down

    38. Preston Pardus – OUT, Track Bar

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ second annual event at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California, for the Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, June 8, and air at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Billy Scott to call 300th Cup event as crew chief at Gateway

    Billy Scott to call 300th Cup event as crew chief at Gateway

    In his ninth season as a full-time crew chief in the NASCAR Cup Series, Billy Scott, crew chief for Tyler Reddick and the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota Camry XSE team, is scheduled to achieve a milestone start. By participating in this weekend’s Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway, Scott will call his 300th career event as a crew chief in NASCAR’s premier series.

    A native of Land O’Lakes, Florida, and a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering, Scott made his inaugural presence as a Cup Series crew chief at the start of the 2014 season, where he worked atop the pit box of the No. 55 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota Camry team piloted by former Xfinity Series champion Brian Vickers. By then, he had spent the previous two seasons as a lead engineer for MWR’s No. 55 team and had previously assumed the role of engineer for both MWR and Robert Yates Racing.

    In Scott’s first season as a crew chief, he led Vickers and the No. 55 team to a pole at Talladega Superspeedway in October, a season-best runner-up result at Daytona International Speedway in July, three top-five results, nine top-10 results, an average-finishing result of 18.6 and a 22nd-place result in the final driver’s standings.

    The following season, Scott retained his role as the crew chief for MWR’s No. 55 team that commenced the season with team owner Michael Waltrip competing in the 57th running of the Daytona 500 and Brett Moffitt earning a strong top-10 result at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March. Meanwhile, Vickers was absent for the start of the season due to health issues. Despite returning for the next two scheduled events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and at Phoenix Raceway, respectively, in March, Vickers was sidelined again due to blood clots, a health issue that would ultimately sideline him for the remainder of the season and would result with Moffitt and Waltrip filling in for the next six-scheduled events. By May, David Ragan became the full-time competitor of the No. 55 Toyota Camry as he finished no higher than 13th during his first four starts.

    Then in June 2015, MWR swapped the crew chiefs of its two-car entry field with Scott replacing Brian Pattie as crew chief of the No. 15 entry piloted by Clint Bowyer. In his first race paired with Bowyer, Scott led the No. 15 team to a 10th-place run at Michigan International Speedway. The duo then earned a strong third-place finish at Sonoma Raceway followed by another 10th-place run at Daytona in July. With a total of eight top-10 results in 12 races paired together, Scott and Bowyer managed to secure a spot for the 2015 Cup Playoffs based on points.

    Their run for the title, however, came to an early end at the start of the Playoffs when NASCAR issued a P4-level penalty and docked Bowyer’s team 25 points due to an illegal discovery made during the inspection process at Chicagoland Speedway in September. In addition, Scott was assessed a three-race suspension and a fine of $75,000. While MWR appealed the penalty, their appeal was denied as Scott was suspended, beginning at Dover Motor Speedway through Kansas Speedway in October. By then, Bowyer was one of four competitors to be eliminated from the Playoffs after finishing 19th, 26th and 14th, respectively, during the Round of 16. Once Scott returned atop the pit box at Talladega Superspeedway, he and Bowyer could only achieve just one additional top-10 result during the final seven scheduled events before capping off the season in 16th place in the final standings.

    When Michael Waltrip Racing ceased all operations following the 2015 campaign, Scott joined Stewart-Haas Racing for the 2016 Cup season and was paired with Danica Patrick and the No. 10 Chevrolet SS team. Commencing the season with a 35th-place run during the 58th running of the Daytona 500, the duo recorded an average-finishing result of 22.0 throughout the 36-race schedule, with Patrick’s best on-track result being an 11th-place run at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October, before finishing in 24th place in the final standings. Scott and Patrick would record a single top-10 result of 10th place at Dover throughout the 2017 season along with an average-finishing result of 23.8 before settling in 28th place in the final standings. At the conclusion of the 2017 season, Patrick retired from full-time competition.

    A month after the 2017 Cup season concluded, Stewart-Haas Racing shuffled its driver-crew chief pairing for the 2018 season, which included Scott transitioning to the No. 41 Ford Fusion team piloted by the 2004 Cup champion Kurt Busch. The new duo commenced the season with a 26th-place result in the 60th running of the Daytona 500 after Busch was involved in a late multi-car wreck while contending for his second consecutive 500 title. They rallied by recording three poles and 14 top-10 results during the next 23 scheduled events. Then at Bristol Motor Speedway in August, Scott achieved his first career victory as a NASCAR crew chief when Busch held off Kyle Larson in a 13-lap shootout to claim his first win of the season, his sixth at Bristol, his 30th Cup career victory and a spot to the 2018 Cup Series Playoffs.

    Despite enduring an up-and-down road throughout the Playoffs, the duo managed to transfer from the Round of 16 to 8. Their Playoff run, however, came to a late end during the Round of 8 after Busch recorded respective finishes of sixth, seventh and 32nd. With a 10th-place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November to cap off the 2018 season, Scott and Busch finished in seventh place in the final standings and accumulated a total of 22 top-10 results throughout the 36-race campaign.

    For the 2019 Cup season, Scott, who remained as the crew chief of SHR’s No. 41 team, was paired with the 2016 Xfinity Series champion Daniel Suarez, who replaced Busch as Busch joined Chip Ganassi Racing. Throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, Scott and Suarez endured an up-and-down journey that was highlighted with a pole at Kentucky Speedway in July along with nine top-10 results and a bid for a spot in the 2019 Playoffs. Ultimately, they missed the Playoffs by four points as Suarez proceeded to record two additional top-10 results during the 10-race Playoff stretch before finishing in 17th place in the final standings.

    Following the 2019 season, Scott, who was released by Stewart-Haas Racing, joined Richard Childress Racing and worked as the team’s head of engineering for the 2020 Cup season. He also served as a crew chief for a single Cup event for Kaulig Racing’s debut in NASCAR’s premier series with Justin Haley for the 62nd running of the Daytona 500. During the event, Haley, who managed to qualify for the event based on speed, settled in 13th place. Scott’s next pair of events as a crew chief occurred during the 2021 Xfinity Series season for Our Motorsports and Austin Dillon, where Dillon finished 37th at Watkins Glen International and sixth at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, respectively.

    In November 2021, Scott was announced as a Cup Series crew chief for 23XI Racing’s newly formed No. 45 Toyota TRD Camry that was set to be piloted by Kurt Busch for the 2022 season, which marked Scott’s return atop the pit box and his reunion with Busch since 2018. After accumulating four top-10 results during the first 12 scheduled events, the reunited duo achieved their first victory of the season when Busch prevailed over another late battle against Kyle Larson to grab a dominant win at Kansas Speedway in May and record the second career victory for 23XI Racing. The victory also gave Busch and the No. 45 team a guaranteed spot to make the Playoffs.

    Seven races and three additional top-10 results later, however, Busch was involved in a hard wreck during a qualifying session at Pocono Raceway in July and was forced to sit out while recovering from concussion-like symptoms, a move that would eventually force him to rule out from full-time competition for the remainder of the 2022 season along with the full 2023 schedule. Busch’s absence allowed newcomer Ty Gibbs to pilot the No. 45 entry for the remainder of the 2022 Cup regular-season stretch with Scott remaining atop the pit box. Then in September and at the start of the 2022 Playoffs, Scott moved over to 23XI Racing’s No. 23 entry along with Gibbs while the team’s primary competitor, Bubba Wallace, took over the No. 45 Toyota that was competing for the owners’ title, which made it as high through the Round of 12.

    Since being paired with Gibbs for the last 15 events, which started in mid-July, Scott has led the driver and 23XI Racing’s Nos. 23 and 45 entries to a single top-10 result, which occurred at Michigan International Speedway in August, along with a combined seven top-20 results. During the finale at Phoenix Raceway in November, Scott was paired with the 2021 Xfinity champion Daniel Hemric, who filled in for Gibbs as Gibbs missed the event due to the death of his father, Coy. With Hemric finishing in 17th place on the track, 23XI Racing’s No. 23 entry settled in 24th place in the final owner’s standings, 14 spots below the No. 45 entry.

    Returning as the crew chief of 23XI Racing’s No. 45 entry piloted by two-time Xfinity champion Tyler Reddick for the 2023 Cup season, Scott navigated the driver and team to two top-five through the first five-schedule events before they achieved their first victory of the season at Circuit of the Americas in March. Reddick led a race-high 41 laps and muscled away from the field during a two-lap shootout. Scott and Reddick then proceeded to record eight top-10 results in 19 regular-season events, minus Darlington Raceway in May after Scott was ejected due to Reddick’s car failing pre-race inspection twice two days before race day and before entering the Playoffs alongside teammate Bubba Wallace and the No. 23 23XI Racing team.

    Coming off a runner-up result in the Playoff opener at Darlington in September, Scott achieved his second Cup victory of the season after Reddick went from fifth to first during an overtime shootout to win and grab an automatic berth into the Round of 12. After transferring into the Round of 8 despite achieving only a single top-10 result in their next four races, the duo was eliminated from title contention after ending up eighth, third and 26th, respectively, throughout the Round of 8. Despite finishing in 22nd place during the finale at Phoenix, Scott and Reddick concluded their first campaign together in sixth place in the final driver’s standings, with the points result being the current best for both the driver and crew chief.

    Through the first 14 events of the 2024 Cup Series season, Scott has navigated Reddick and the No. 45 23XI Racing team to a single victory, which occurred at Talladega Superspeedway in April after Reddick dodged a final-lap multi-car wreck to overtake Brad Keselowski through the frontstretch to win for the first time at Talladega. To go along with seven additional top-10 results, including a fourth-place run during last Monday’s rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Scott and Reddick are currently ranked in sixth place in the 2024 regular-season standings and are guaranteed a spot to make the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs.

    Through 299 previous Cup events, Scott has achieved five victories, 10 poles, 34 top-five results, 85 top-10 results and 1,864 laps led while working with 12 different competitors.

    Billy Scott is scheduled to call his 300th Cup Series event as a crew chief at World Wide Technology Raceway for the Enjoy Illinois 300 on Sunday, June 2. The event’s broadcast time is set to commence at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Allmendinger to make 100th Xfinity career start at Atlanta

    Allmendinger to make 100th Xfinity career start at Atlanta

    In his return as a full-time competitor in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, AJ Allmendinger is set to achieve a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the driver of the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro will make his 100th career start in the Xfinity circuit.

    A former Champ Car competitor from Los Gatos, California, Allmendinger made his inaugural appearance in the Xfinity circuit at Auto Club Speedway in September 2007. By then, he was also competing in his first full-time season in the Cup Series for Red Bull Racing. Driving the No. 42 Dodge for Chip Ganassi Racing, Allmendinger started 18th and finished 36th in his Xfinity debut after being involved in a multi-car wreck just shy of the halfway mark. He would then compete in six of the remaining eight Xfinity events on the 2007 schedule with CGR, where he would record a season-best 13th-place finish at Phoenix Raceway in November.

    After making a single Xfinity start for Gillett Evernham Motorsports at Phoenix in 2008, where he finished 12th, Allmendinger spent the years 2009 to early 2012 competing in the Cup Series between Richard Petty Motorsports and Team Penske. After being suspended by NASCAR indefinitely for failing a drug test and being released by Team Penske before eventually being reinstated by NASCAR towards the end of the 2012 season, the Californian was re-hired by Team Penske to pilot the team’s No. 22 Ford Mustang at Road America and at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 2013.

    At Road America in June, Allmendinger, who started on the pole position for the first time in his career, led a race-high 29 laps and muscled through two overtime restarts to score his first Xfinity career win. Two months later, he led a race-high 73 laps and outlasted an overtime shootout to claim his second consecutive Xfinity victory at Mid-Ohio and achieve both road course victories of the season for Team Penske. Allmendinger’s pair of road course victories would eventually contribute to Team Penske’s No. 22 team claiming the 2013 Xfinity owner’s championship by a single point over Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 54 team.

    Following the 2013 season, Allmendinger spent the years 2014 to 2018 competing as a full-time Cup competitor for JTG-Daugherty Racing, where he would achieve both his first Cup victory at Watkins Glen International and first Playoff berth in 2014. During the five-year span, he made a single Xfinity start at Watkins Glen in August 2018, where he piloted GMS Racing’s No. 23 entry to a runner-up result.

    In 2019, Allmendinger joined Kaulig Racing to compete in select events in the team’s No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro entry. His first Xfinity start of the season occurred at Daytona International Speedway in July, where he initially finished in third place as part of a 1-2-3 finish for Kaulig Racing, a team that won for the first time in NASCAR with Ross Chastain recording the victory over Justin Haley. During the post-race inspection process, however, Allmendinger was demoted to last place after his car failed the inspection process that involved the engine vacuum test. A month later, he settled in a strong runner-up result behind Austin Cindric at Watkins Glen but was relegated to last place for a second time after his car failed post-race inspection, this time for his car being too low on both rear corners. He would proceed to finish third at Mid-Ohio and 24th at Road America after being involved in a late restart incident. Then at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in October, he led 20 laps and muscled away from the field during a three-lap shootout to claim his third Xfinity career win and the second ever for Kaulig Racing.

    For the 2020 season, Allmendinger returned to Kaulig Racing on a part-time Xfinity basis, but this time in the team’s No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro entry. After failing to qualify for the season opener at Daytona and finishing 10th during his first start of the season at Bristol Motor Speedway in June, he scored his fourth Xfinity career victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which would also mark his first win on an oval circuit, after leading the final 37 laps. He would then notch four top-five results and finish no lower than seventh during his next five starts before ending up with back-to-back DNFS at Daytona and Talladega, both due to last-lap accidents. Allmendinger then achieved his second Xfinity victory of the season and the fifth of his career at the Charlotte Roval in October after leading 12 laps and fending off both Noah Gragson and Daniel Hemric during an overtime shootout and amid wet conditions. The Californian would make his 11th and final Xfinity start of the season at Martinsville Speedway in late October, where he ended up 26th.

    Nearly a month after the 2020 season concluded, Allmendinger was announced as a full-time competitor of Kaulig Racing’s No. 16 entry. After notching a fifth-place result at Daytona before finishing no higher than 14th during the following two events, he notched his first victory of the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March after leading 44 laps and beating Hemric by nearly a second. Nine races later, he recorded his second victory of the season at Mid-Ohio in June following a two-lap restart, where he beat teammate Justin Haley by eight-tenths of a second. Another nine races later, he won for the third time in 2021 at Michigan International Speedway after leading a race-high 70 laps and beating Brandon Jones by a tenth of a second.

    Then four races later, Allmendinger battled and edged Austin Cindric at the finish line during an overtime shootout to win the regular-season finale at Bristol Motor Speedway in September before both wrecked across the frontstretch. Amid the carnage, Allmendinger, who claimed his fourth Xfinity win of the season, also achieved the regular-season championship before embarking on his first series appearance in the Playoffs. After winning for a third consecutive time at the Charlotte Roval in October and transferring from the Round of 12 to 8, he then notched three consecutive top-seven results to grab a Championship 4 spot for the season-finale event at Phoenix in November. Contending for his first NASCAR Xfinity title, Allmendinger was involved in a late spin and ended up in 14th place on the track and in a career-best fourth place in the final standings. Despite falling short of winning the title, Allmendinger capped off the 2021 season with a career-high five victories, a pole, a career-high 18 top-five results, 22 top-10 results, 422 laps led and an average-finishing result of 9.2.

    Remaining as a full-time Xfinity competitor for Kaulig Racing in 2022, Allmendinger commenced the season by finishing second at Daytona after being overtaken by Austin Hill on the final lap prior to a caution-ending wreck. After finishing no lower than ninth during his next four starts, Allmendinger claimed his first Xfinity win of the season at Circuit of the Americas in March after leading a race-high 27 laps. Eight races later and seven additional top-10 results later, the Californian won the series’ inaugural event at Portland International Raceway amid slick conditions. He would proceed to win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in August and record 10 additional top-10 results during the final 12 regular-season events before locking up his second consecutive regular-season title.

    Despite notching back-to-back victories at Talladega Superspeedway and the Charlotte Roval, respectively, during the Playoffs and transferring from the Round of 12 to 8, he was unable to transfer to the Championship 4 round after finishing 22nd, third and 16th, respectively, throughout the Round of 8. With his championship hopes of the 2022 season evaporated, Allmendinger capped off the season in fifth place both during the finale and in the final standings. In addition, Allmendinger, who notched a career-high five victories for a second consecutive season, achieved a career-high five poles, 17 top-five results, a career-high 28 top-10 results, 348 laps led and a career-best average-finishing result of 6.6.

    As Allmendinger moved up to the Cup Series on a full-time basis for Kaulig in 2023, he also competed in select Xfinity events with Kaulig, beginning at Circuit of the Americas in March. During the event, he led a race-high 28 of 46 laps from pole position and fended off William Byron to defend his race-winning title in Austin and notch his 16th career victory in the series. He would proceed to finish in the runner-up spot during the inaugural Xfinity event at Sonoma Raceway before rallying from an early spin to win at Nashville Superspeedway, both occurring in June. Allmendinger’s final two Xfinity starts of the season occurred at Road America in late July and Indianapolis in August, where he finished ninth and third, respectively.

    Scaling back to the Xfinity Series for this season, Allmendinger is coming off a 10th-place run in this year’s season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway as he reignites his bid for his first series title. He is currently ranked in a tie with Chandler Smith for seventh place on the 2024 Xfinity driver’s standings.

    Through 99 previous Xfinity starts, Allmendinger has notched 17 victories, 11 poles, 50 top-five results, 69 top-10 results, 1,272 laps led with an average-finishing result of 9.3.

    Allmendinger is scheduled to make his 100th Xfinity Series career start at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the RAPTOR King of Tough 250. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, February 24, and air at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Shane van Gisbergen joins Kaulig Racing for part-time Cup Series effort in 2024

    Shane van Gisbergen joins Kaulig Racing for part-time Cup Series effort in 2024

    Shane van Gisbergen will be competing in seven NASCAR Cup Series events in a joint effort between Kaulig Racing and Trackhouse Racing for the 2024 season.

    The news comes as the three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, is set to compete with Kaulig for the upcoming Xfinity Series season on a full-time basis while under contract with Trackhouse Racing.

    Van Gisbergen will be piloting Kaulig’s No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry that will serve as the team’s “all-star” entry, where AJ Allmendinger and Josh Williams will also make select Cup starts throughout the 2024 season while Travis Mack will serve as the entry’s crew chief. The New Zealander will make his first start of the season at Circuit of the Americas in late March. His other Cup starts include both Talladega Superspeedway events (April & October), the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (May), the Chicago Street Course (July), Watkins Glen International (September) and at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (October). During the Cup events, he will compete alongside Daniel Hemric, who will be piloting Kaulig’s No. 31 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on a full-time basis.

    “When I first started talking with Trackhouse about moving to the U.S., we had no idea how many races we could secure but I knew I wanted to be with that team and organization,” van Gisbergen said. “There has been a lot of hard work to get to this point and I could not be happier to know that I get to race for an Xfinity Series championship and then get a proper go at the Cup Series on road courses and ovals. Kaulig is a proven winner in both the Xfinity and the Cup Series, and I know with the alliance with Trackhouse, this will be an incredible first year for me in NASCAR.”

    Van Gisbergen took the NASCAR competition by storm during the 2023 season when he piloted Trackhouse Racing’s PROJECT91 entry to his first Cup Series win in his series’ debut at Chicago last July. In doing so, he became the 204th different competitor to win in NASCAR’s premier series and the seventh to do so in a Cup debut. He would proceed to finish 10th in his second Cup career start at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course and 19th in his Craftsman Truck Series debut at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, both occurring in August, all of which elevated his interest in transitioning from Supercars to NASCAR competition in the years to follow.

    Last September, van Gisbergen was announced to participate across NASCAR’s top three national touring series for the 2024 season as part of a development deal with Trackhouse Racing. Three months later, an alliance was formed with Kaulig Racing that would result in van Gisbergen inking a full-time Xfinity Series ride and a part-time Cup Series campaign. He will compete alongside Allmendinger and Josh Williams as full-time Xfinity competitors while Daniel Dye will make 10 Xfinity starts this upcoming season.

    In addition to his Xfinity and Cup efforts, van Gisbergen is set to compete in this year’s ARCA Menards Series’ season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway with Pinnacle Racing Group two weeks from now to receive approval to compete in superspeedway venues in NASCAR.

    “I’m excited to work with Trackhouse and have Shane join our Cup program this season,” Chris Rice, president of Kaulig Racing, said. “When we locked in [Shane van Gisbergen] for the Xfinity Series, it just became a natural next step on the Cup side since we have all the existing infrastructure and a relationship with the pit crews. Remember, SVG had to pass our car to win the Chicago race. We finished second. So, now we get to race with him which is kind of awesome.”

    “Shane is one of the best talents I’ve ever seen.” Justin Marks, owner of Trackhouse Racing, added. “We know he will be competitive on the road courses, so we needed to challenge him and ourselves on oval tracks against Cup Series drivers. This is a big freshman season for Shane, and I really appreciate Matt Kaulig and Chris Rice for helping us bring this to life.”

    Shane van Gisbergen’s 2024 part-time Cup Series campaign with Kaulig Racing is set to commence at Circuit of the Americas for the fourth annual running of the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. The event is scheduled to occur on March 24 and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Kaulig Racing reveals 2024 Cup Series crew chief lineup

    Kaulig Racing reveals 2024 Cup Series crew chief lineup

    Kaulig Racing took to social media to reveal its crew chief lineup for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season which features a new addition alongside a returning notable.

    The person who is new to the team for this upcoming season is Travis Mack, who will assume two roles, the first as crew chief for Kaulig’s No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry in the Cup Series and the other as technical director for Kaulig’s Cup program.

    Mack, a native of Louisville, Kentucky, joins Kaulig Racing after spending the previous three seasons at Trackhouse Racing, where he worked as Daniel Suarez’s Cup crew chief. He achieved his first career victory at Sonoma Raceway in June 2022, the same day where Suarez notched his first Cup career victory that enabled them to make the 2022 Cup Playoffs. Mack was also a crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in two Cup events in 2017 and for Kasey Kahne in 15 events in 2018.

    Through 124 appearances as a Cup Series crew chief, Mack achieved one victory, one pole, 10 top-five and 27 top-10 results while working with three competitors. He also worked as a crew chief for 79 Xfinity Series events, where he achieved his lone victory at Daytona International Speedway in February 2019 with Michael Annett while working for JR Motorsports.

    Kaulig Racing’s No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry is set to be piloted by multiple competitors for the 2024 Cup Series season, starting with AJ Allmendinger competing in this year’s 66th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in February. The remainder of the entry’s driver lineup and schedule for the 2024 season remains to be determined.

    Returning to Kaulig Racing is Trent Owens, who will continue to work atop the pit box of the No. 31 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as a crew chief and for Daniel Hemric, the 2021 Xfinity Series champion who returns to the Cup Series after spending the previous three seasons in the Xfinity Series, including the last two with Kaulig Racing as he made the Xfinity Playoffs and settled in the top 10 in the final driver’s standings during both seasons.

    Owens, a native of Davidson, North Carolina, is coming off his second full-time season as a Cup Series crew chief for Kaulig’s No. 31 entry that was piloted by Justin Haley. During the two-year stint, the duo achieved four top-five results and nine top-10 results, with their best points result being a 22nd-place result during the 2022 season. Owens’ first and only Cup victory to date as a crew chief spans back to July 2014 at Daytona International Speedway, where he led Aric Almirola and the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford team to a rain-shortened victory that enabled them to make the 2014 Cup Series Playoffs.

    Through 348 previous appearances as a Cup Series crew chief, Owens has achieved one victory, 12 top-five and 40 top-10 results while working with 10 competitors. He has also accumulated five Xfinity Series victories and one Craftsman Truck Series victory as a crew chief.

    Kaulig Racing’s 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season commences with the Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on February 4 at 8 p.m. ET on FOX. This event will then be followed by the 66th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway which will occur on February 18 and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Shane van Gisbergen joins Pinnacle Racing Group for the 2024 ARCA opener at Daytona

    Shane van Gisbergen joins Pinnacle Racing Group for the 2024 ARCA opener at Daytona

    Shane van Gisbergen will be joining forces with Pinnacle Racing Group for the 2024 ARCA Menards Series’ season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway in February.

    The news comes nearly a month after the three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand was announced to compete in the ARCA opener at Daytona as a required procedure to gain approval for a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series campaign, which van Gisbergen is set to embark with Kaulig Racing in 2024. His car number and sponsorship details with Pinnacle Racing Group remain to be determined.

    The 34-year-old van Gisbergen is coming off a historic debut season in NASCAR, where he piloted Trackhouse Racing’s Project 91 entry to his first Cup Series career victory in his series debut at the Chicago Street Course last July. In doing so, he became the first competitor to win in a Cup Series debut since Johnny Rutherford made the last accomplishment at Daytona International Speedway in 1963. He also became the first New Zealander to win in NASCAR’s premier series.

    Following his victory at Chicago, van Gisbergen would make his Craftsman Truck Series debut with Niece Motorsports at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in August, where he finished 19th before finishing 10th in his second Cup career start at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course two days later.

    For the 2024 season, van Gisbergen is set to campaign in his first full-time stint in the Xfinity Series, where he will be driving the No. 97 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing in an alliance with Trackhouse Racing. He will also make seven Cup Series starts with Trackhouse Racing this season, beginning at Circuit of the Americas in March and including both Talladega Superspeedway events (April & October), the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, Chicago Street Course in July, Watkins Glen International in September and at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October.

    Shane van Gisbergen’s first career start in the ARCA Menards Series with Pinnacle Racing Group at Daytona International Speedway is scheduled to occur on February 17 and air at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1. His first full-time season in the Xfinity Series with Kaulig Racing will follow suit on the same day as the event’s coverage is set to air at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Allmendinger tapped to drive Kaulig Racing’s No. 16 entry for 2024 Daytona 500

    Allmendinger tapped to drive Kaulig Racing’s No. 16 entry for 2024 Daytona 500

    Kaulig Racing took to social media to reveal that AJ Allmendinger will be driving the team’s No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry for the 66th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in February 2024.

    The news comes 13 days after the 42-year-old Allmendinger from Los Gatos, California, was announced to return to the Xfinity Series with the Kaulig organization for the 2024 season after spending this past season piloting Kaulig’s No. 16 entry in the Cup Series.

    Allmendinger’s bid for the 2024 Daytona 500 indicates that Kaulig Racing’s No. 16 entry will return as the team’s “All-Star” entry for the first time since 2022 and field multiple competitors throughout the 2024 season. Despite Allmendinger scaling back to being a part-time Cup competitor, Kaulig’s No. 16 entry is expected to be guaranteed a starting spot for the event as a locked chartered entry due to contesting in all 36 events throughout the 2023 Cup season, though this remains to be determined. For the 500, Allmendinger will be a teammate alongside Daniel Hemric, who will be piloting Kaulig’s No. 31 entry on a full-time basis as he makes his return to Cup Series competition.

    The 2024 Daytona 500 is set to mark Allmendinger’s 11th career apperance in the Great American Race and second in a row for Kaulig Racing. Through 11 previous starts, the Californian has achieved four top-10 results and two career-best third-place finishes in the 500 (2009 & 2017). He claimed a sixth-place finish during last year’s Daytona 500.

    This past season, Allmendinger scored a Cup Series victory at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in October, which marked his third win in NASCAR’s premier series. He also recorded four top-five results, seven top-10 results, 64 laps led and an average-finishing result of 19.6 throghout the 36-race schedule before settling in 21st place in the final driver’s standings. To go along with his Cup victory at the Charlotte Roval, Allmendinger won two Xfinity Series races (Circuit of the Americas in March and at Nashville Superspeedway in June).

    Additional driver plans regarding Kaulig’s No. 16 entry along with Allmendinger’s part-time schedule for the 2024 Cup Series season remains to be determined.

    Allmendinger’s 11th Daytona 500 career start and second with Kaulig Racing is scheduled to occur on February 18, 2024, with the event’s broadcast time set to air at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Kaulig Racing reveals driver-crew chief pairing for 2024 Xfinity Series season

    Kaulig Racing reveals driver-crew chief pairing for 2024 Xfinity Series season

    Kaulig Racing took to social media to reveal its driver-crew chief pairing that features a full shuffling of crew chief assignments alongside new and familiar drivers towards its three-car operation for the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.

    First off, Kevin Walter joins the Kaulig organization to serve as a crew chief for the first time in his career and for the No. 11 Chevrolet Camaro entry that will be piloted by Josh Williams in 2024. Walter joins Kaulig after previously serving as an engineer for JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series and as a Cup Series crew chief for five races while paired with Michael McDowell and Leavine Family Racing in 2015. He spent this past season as an engineer for Josh Berry and the No. 8 JRM team. Like Walter, his driver, Williams, is a newcomer at Kaulig, a team he joins after making 186 series career starts to date (2016-23). He spent this past season as an Xfinity competitor for DGM Racing, where he ended up in 21st place in the final driver’s standings and has both 11 top-10 career finishes and an average-finishing result of 22.7 to date.

    Meanwhile, Alex Yontz will return to Kaulig for a fifth season as he will work atop the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro entry team that will be piloted by veteran AJ Allmendinger. Yontz, a former racer turned crew chief from Walnut Cove, North Carolina, has eight Xfinity victories as a crew chief to date, including three this past season with Allmendinger twice (Circuit of the Americas in March & Nashville Superspeedway in June) and Kyle Larson once (Darlington Raceway in May) while working atop Kaulig’s No. 10 pit box. For 2024, he will be paired with Allmendinger, a 17-time Xfinity race winner who returns to the series amid a one-year absence, where he spent the previous season in the Cup Series at Kaulig and won at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course last October.

    Lastly, Bruce Schlicker also returns for a fifth season at Kaulig as he will work atop the No. 97 Chevrolet Camaro entry team that will be piloted by newcomer Shane van Gisbergen. Schlicker, who holds both a Bachelor of Engineering and Master of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering from West Virginia University, has seven Xfinity victories as a crew chief to date, including five with Allmendinger in 2022 and one this past season with Chandler Smith that occurred at Richmond Raceway last April. The upcoming season presents a new pairing for Schlicker as he will work with van Gisbergen, a three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, who won in his Cup Series debut at the Chicago Street Course last July and is set to campaign in his first campaign within NASCAR’s top three national touring series for the 2024 Xfinity circuit. The Australian will also compete as a part-time Cup Series competitor for Trackhouse Racing, the team which van Gisbergen won with at Chicago.

    The 2024 season is set to mark Kaulig Racing’s ninth consecutive season in the Xfinity Series and fourth fielding three full-time entries. Through a combined 524 starts, the organization has notched 23 victories, 15 poles, 121 top-five results, 274 top-10 results, 2,789 laps led. The team has also notched two Cup Series victories in a combined 158 career starts. Having placed at least one entry in the Xfinity Series Playoffs since the team’s and Playoff’s inception since 2016, Kaulig remains in pursuit of its first NASCAR national touring series championship.

    Kaulig Racing’s crew chief lineup for its NASCAR Cup Series operations, including its plans for the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team that still remains vacant along for Jason Trinchere, who served as the crew chief for Kaulig’s No. 11 entry in the Xfinity Series, remains to be determined.

    With Kaulig Racing’s driver-crew chief pairing for the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season set, the team’s upcoming season campaign commences at Daytona International Speedway for the United Rentals 300. The event is scheduled to occur on February 17, 2024, at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.