FANTASY NASCAR Racin

MATT KAULIG - 10/19/1973 -
was born in Columbus, Ohio, and raised in Cincinnati. Matt moved to the Chicago area at age 14 where he attended high school. Matt came to Northeast Ohio to attend the University of Akron, where he was a standout quarterback for the Zips. Kaulig decided to establish roots in Northeast Ohio when he started LeafFilter Gutter Protection in 2005 from the basement of his home. He is the founder and Executive Chairman of LeafFilter. Matt has grown the company from one small office in Stow, Ohio to 57 offices that span across North America. It is the leading national gutter protection brand and has been recognized nationally by numerous publications, earning awards for being a Top Remodeler in the nation, and receiving recognition for the company’s growth and expansion. Kaulig brought that same desire, drive, and enthusiasm to his newest endeavor — NASCAR. In 2016, he founded Kaulig Racing and established the headquarters in Welcome, North Carolina. Setting the team up for success early on, Kaulig Racing joined forces with Richard Childress Racing to create a technical alliance, including the use of ECR engines. Longtime NASCAR crew chief Chris Rice was hired as the team's general manager and crew chief. Blake Koch was hired the

first season to drive full time and the young driver had five Top 10 finishes and finished seventh in points. Koch returned in 2017 and again he got five Top 10 finishes; but fell to eleventh in points. On January 9, 2018, Kaulig Racing announced that they parted ways with Koch and had signed Truck Series driver Ryan Truex to drive the #11. Truex finished 7th in his team's debut. Truex got the team their first Top five finish when he placed fifth at Mid-Ohio. After a mediocre 2018 season with only one top five finish, the team announced on December 1, 2018, that Truex would be replaced by NASCAR Truck series title contender Justin Haley, who will compete for Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors in 2019. The organization make a major step forward by expanding

out and added asecond car which was ran by a variety of experienced drivers. In January 2019, Kaulig Racing announced that Chastain would drive the #10 car for three races from Daytona, Chicagoland, and Texas. Austin Dillon would drive a car for the Las Vegas spring race, while Elliott Sadler, who had retired from full-time racing after the 2018 season, drove the #10 at Richmond and the fall Vegas event. AJ Allmendinger was brought in to run a five-race schedule at Daytona, Watkins Glen, Mid-Ohio, Road America, and the Charlotte Roval. In July in the Cirkle K Firecracker 250 at Daytona, Chastain would get Kaulig Racing their first career win as the team posted a 1-2-3 finish with Haley finishing second and AJ Allmendinger finishing third. However in post race inspection it was

found that Allmendinger engine failed inspection and he was disqualified. Allmendinger was once again disqualified at the 2019 Zippo 200 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International on August 3, 2019 when his second-place finishing car was discovered to be too low on both rear corners during post-race inspection. Allmendinger held off Tyler Reddick to win at the Charlotte Roval, scoring Kaulig Racing's second win of the season Haley wasn't able to reproduce the wins he had achieved in the Truck Series the season before; but he did have four top five and 20 top ten finishes and advanced to the Chase. Haley was eliminated from Chase contention at the end of the second round and finished the season 12th in points. Haley had a best finish

of second at Daytona in July; and also added top five finishes at Charlotte, Indianapolis and Dover. Austin Dillon drove the #10 four races and added a Top 5 at Las Vegas. For 2020 Kaulig Racing fielded two full time entries in the Xfinity series. Haley returned in the #11 and he was joined by Ross Chastain in the #10. Matthew Kaulig had came onto the scene quickly and wanted to race for wins. 2020 saw him field two full time teams while AJ Allmendinger ran 11 races in a third team car. Haley was able to win three times and was the super speedway king for 2020. His first win came at Talladega. Haley and Jeb Burton had a fierce battle for the last nine laps first one driver would lead, then the other. One the final lap Haleys teammate Ross Chastain was able to position himself behind Haley and give him the boost he needed to beat Burton to the finish line. His second win fell in his lap and

came at Daytona. Teammates AJ Allmendinger and Chastain were out front far enough the win was going to be settled between the two of them; with Haley riding in third. Coming off the final corner Chastain went to make a move to pass Allmendinger and AJ moved to block. He mis-judged how far along side Chastain was up along side him and the both crashed. Haley inherited the lead and got the win. In the Fall race at Talladega, Haley again had a strong car and was second with three laps to go. Noah Gragson was leading and with the help of Ryan Sieg Haley was able to draft by Gragson as they come to the white flag. Haley held on to win, with Sieg second and Gragson third. Haley made it all the way to the final race to run for

the Championship. But, just as he been all season Austin Cindric was strong and won the race. Haley finished third in the points. For the season Haley had the three wins; and ten Top 5 and 21 Top 10 finishes. Ross Chastain run just as well as Haley all season; but something always seemed to happen to keep him out of victory lane. He had three races where he finished second and posted a whopping 15 Top 5 finishes. He had 21 Top 10's in the 33 race schedule. This was far better than Haley in both categories. Meanwhile Allmendinger made the most of his eleven starts. In his second race; he won his first ever oval track race at Atlanta. In the next five races, he posted four finishes in the top four, with the other being a seventh.

Then he had issues with crashes at Talladega and Daytona before getting his win on the Roval at Charlotte. In his eleven races he posted a very respectable two wins, six Top 5 and eight Top 10 finishes. Kaulig Racing made their first start in the Cup series in 2020 also. Haley would wheel the car in the Daytona 500 and have a respectable 13th place finish. Rumors are Kaulig wants to purchase a Charter or two and move into full time Cup racing in 2022. For his Xfinity series team in 2021 Kaulig Racing will have Haley return to the #11. Chastain has been tabbed to move up to the Cup Series so Kaulig is going to put Jeb Burton in the seat of the #10. Allmendinger will be back to run a full time schedule. Kaulig Racing ventured further into the Cup Series. Making their first start in 2020; they had nine starts in the Cup Series in 2021. It was believed this is in preparation to go full time Cup racing in 2022. AJ

Allmendinger ran five races, and grabbed the surprising win on the road course at Indianapolis. It was only their seventh career team start. Meanwhile in the Xfinity; where they have placed their primary interest up to this point; their drivers were AJ Allmendinger; Justin Haley and Jeb Burton. AJ got five wins and was the regular season champion. He made it to the Championship race, but his car just wasn’t competitive all day and finished 14th. Jeb Burton got his first career win, coming at Talladega. He was leading when the rain came and was able to get the win. At season end, Burton announced he was leaving to look for a ride elsewhere. After the season ended, Landon Cassill was announced to be Burton’s replacement. Justin Haley also won a race. The win came at Daytona in

August. He too made the Chase but was eliminated the race before the Championship. As it come to pass; Kaulig Racing bought two Charters from Spire Motorsports. Haley would drive the #31 full time; while Allmendinger, Daniel Hemric and Noah Gragson will split the driving duties of the other car in the Cup Series. Allmendinger won another five races this past season and was the regular-season champion in the series, but Haley moved to the Cup Series full-time, and Burton went to drive the #27 car for Our Motorsports. Kaulig Racing filled those two open spots

with 2021 series champ Daniel Hemric to drive the #11 car and longtime veteran of the series Landon Cassill to pilot the #10 machine. Neither Hemric nor Cassill were able to successfully hunt any trophies in 2022. Allmendinger is moving to the Cup Series again full-time in 2023 to drive Kaulig’s #16 car, which leaves the Xfinity Series side of the organization with a pair of incumbent drivers who have won one race combined in 810 NASCAR starts. 20-year-old Chandler Smith will join Kaulig Racing to fill Allmendinger’s spot in the #16 Xfinity Series car after two full-time Camping World Truck Series campaigns in which Smith won five races combined in the #18 truck for Kyle Busch Motorsports. He also reached the Championship 4 in the

Truck Series. Smith has some big shoes to fill in a car Allmendinger has made one of the most competitive in the series, but Smith might suddenly be the organization’s best chance to win any Xfinity Series races next season. For 2023, Kaulig Racing is potentially poised for a big Cup Series season with Allmendinger and Haley as teammates. The roots of the organization in the Xfinity Series, however, could be in for a bit of a rebuild year as Smith acclimates to the series and his teammates continue to hunt for those elusive trophies. 2023 proved to be a mixed bag. On the positive side, AJ Allmendinger got the owners their second ever Cup win, when he went to victory lane at the Roval at

Charlotte. He added four top five and seven top ten finishes. Justin Haley’s season was up and down also. He wasn’t able to get a win, and he only had one top five finish. That came on the street course at Chicago. He did have six top ten finishes. All in all, it wasn’t near as good a season as they had expected for either driver. Dirt track ace Jonathan Davenport, made one start when he raced at Bristol on the dirt. He was involved in a crash and finished 36th. Chandler Smith also made three starts for Kaulig in the Cup series. The rookie had respectable runs with finishes of 17th, 15th and 11th. In the Xfinity series, Kaulig fielded two full time cars and one other cars split between

several drivers. Daniel Hemric ran full time, but failed to visit victory lane. He made a strong run at Atlanta on both races there, when he finished second both times. He also was second at Bristol. He made the Chase but was eliminated after the Round of 12. Chandler Smith had a good season, and got the organizations lone win at Richmond. He was eliminated from the Chase just before the championship race at Phoenix. Kyle Larson made a start for Kaulig, coming at Darlington. He started third and got the win. As of the time of this writing, things are kind of up in the air for Kaulig Racing in the Cup series. One move will see Allmendinger moving back to race full time in

the Xfinity series. Road course ace Shane van Gisbergen will move from the Australian Super Car Series to drive full time in the Xfinity series; with hopes of racing Cup full time in 2025. Josh Williams will take over the #11 car. In the Cup series, no firm decision has been made as to who will drive the #16 car Allmendinger is vacating. Rumors are it could be Ty Dillon. Haley is leaving Kaulig to go drive for Rick Ware Racing in 2024. Daniel Hemric will move from Kaulig’s Xfinity car up to wheel the #31 Cup car that Haley is leaving.