Kaulig Racing to have full-time Cup entry in 2022

Kaulig Racing will compete in Cup full-time next year, team owner Matt Kaulig told NBC Sports on Wednesday morning.

“We definitely know we’re going to run at least one Cup car,” Kaulig told NBC Sports of his 2022 plans. “If we have the right situation … we certainly could run two cars or do it on a part-time basis.”

The move is not surprising since the team will run about 10 Cup races this year and looked to 2022 as its target with the Next Gen car’s debut. Kaulig Racing will continue to run full-time in the Xfinity Series.

“We want to be one of the bigger teams in NASCAR,” Kaulig told NBC Sports. “That is our goal. We do want to dominate. We do want to win races. We look at the other organizations out there like Gibbs, Penske and Hendrick. We want to be like those organizations.

“We’re young. I’m 48 years old. Our president, Chris Rice, is 47 years old. So we’ve got a lot of years left. We’ve got a lot of energy. We want to accomplish a lot of things.”

Kaulig also stated his goals in an interview Wednesday morning with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Kaulig Racing will need to acquire a Cup charter to be guaranteed a starting spot for each race and the financial benefits that go with it.

Kaulig told NBC Sports he’s confident about acquiring a charter.

“I certainly don’t lose sleep over it,” he said.

Kaulig Racing will be the fourth new Cup team since the beginning of this season. Trackhouse Racing, 23XI Racing and Live Fast Motorsports are all new teams this season.

Kaulig Racing has grown since its debut in the Xfinity Series in 2016 with driver Blake Koch.

The organization has won two of the first eight Xfinity Series races this season. AJ Allmendinger won at Las Vegas. Jeb Burton won last weekend’s race at Talladega. Justin Haley, who reached the championship race last year, seeks his first win this year after scoring three victories last season.

Kaz Grala finished sixth in last weekend’s Cup race at Talladega for Kaulig Racing. Allmendinger placed seventh for the team at the Daytona road course in February. Grala was 28th in the season-opening Daytona 500.

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Kaulig Racing to have full-time Cup entry in 2022 originally appeared on NBCSports.com