Kaulig Racing’s NASCAR Cup Series expectations are simple ahead of Daytona 500: ‘Prove ’em wrong’

As far as experience goes in the NASCAR Cup Series, Kaulig Racing is the youngster of the group. 

Kaulig Racing is entering its third season in the Cup Series, though the Xfinity Series team has seen 23 wins since 2019. 

Matt Kaulig, owner of Kaulig Racing, sat at his desk while speaking to Fox News Digital over Zoom ahead of the Daytona 500, which kicks off the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season on Sunday. Behind him were numerous trophies in a case, and he was playing with a large black ring on his right hand.

He later flashed it to the camera, showing the spoils of winning at the Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October 2023. It was A.J. Allmendinger’s second career Cup Series win for Kaulig Racing in the No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet.

Kaulig has tasted winning on the Cup Series, and despite it only being year 3 there compared to others that have decades of experience, the expectations for 2024 are very simple.

“To win,” Kaulig told Fox News Digital.

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It starts in Daytona on Thursday when Kaulig Racing joins the NASCAR Foundation to run the Speediatrics Fun Day Festival, where kids from the area’s Boys & Girls Club will be surprised with bikes that the team will build.

From there, Kaulig Racing will be on hand in all the races of the weekend, including the United Rentals 300 where multiple drivers like Josh Williams will be competing. 

But Allmendinger and Daniel Hemric, who moved from the Xfinity Series to the Cup Series this season, will be racing in the coveted 500.

“Those guys will be able to work with each other,” Kaulig said. “They’re good friends, they’re as good of friends as we have on our team. Those guys work well together. But it’s also Daytona; who knows what’s going to happen? Any of the 40 cars can win. So, that’s our expectations.”

Kaulig Racing President Chris Rice also doesn’t temper expectations for his group. He’s learned that through years of experience on the circuit.

“I think we’re underrated this year,” said Rice. “I think everybody’s put us off to the side because we are rebuilding. We got a lot of new people in our shop, and I think everybody’s like, ‘Oh, they’re just going to throw people in there, and they’re just going to do this.’”

“We’re the underdogs again. Here we are going into the race underdogs again. Nobody’s looking at us saying we have a chance to win, so let’s go out and prove everybody wrong.”

That last line is exactly how Rice thinks expectations should be this year for Kaulig Racing. 

“Prove ‘em wrong. It’s super easy,” he reiterated.

Kaulig will also have a rotation with the No. 16 car that Allmendinger will be driving on Sunday, while Hemric will drive the No. 31 vehicle.

Other than proving people wrong, the goal is to make the playoffs, just like every NASCAR team wishes. That will require consistent finishes in the top 10 and higher, though victory lane is something Kaulig has experienced and wants to see more often.

“We are good enough to win,” he said. “The cars are good enough to win, the motors are good enough to win, the drivers are good enough to win. Those are the facts.”

“That’s why expectations are to actually go win, definitely go compete. In racing, especially in Cup, you never know. It’s almost sometimes like the NFL: any given Sunday. Any given Sunday, you could be fast, you could be the one, you could get the breaks.”

Winning is a “realistic” thing for this young NASCAR team, one whose trajectory continues to move up.

Kaulig is confident his group can do so with a bang to start the 2024 season at Daytona.