Kaulig Racing Race Recap | Cabo Wabo 250

NKP #97: Shane Van Gisbergen, Kaulig Racing, Safety Culture Chevrolet Camaro, #51: Jeremy Clements, Jeremy Clements Racing, Wings Etc Grill & Pub Chevrolet Camaro

Shane van Gisbergen qualified 23rd for the Cabo Wabo 250 at Michigan International Speedway.
The No. 97 battled hard to maintain position until 15 laps into the event. A caution came out, and the No. 97 team opted to pit for four fresh tires and fuel. Van Gisbergen restarted the stage 29th. Another yellow flag flew with five laps remaining in the stage, and the No. 97 team opted to stay out, restarting the stage 21st. Van Gisbergen broke into the top 20 in the final laps of the stage, finishing Stage 1 in the 22nd position.
The No. 97 SafetyCulture team started Stage 2 in 16th. Van Gisbergen battled a very tight-handling race car throughout the entire stage. Another caution flag flew with nine laps remaining in the stage and the No. 97 opted to stay out and finish the stage instead of coming in for adjustments. Van Gisbergen restarted eighth, breaking into the top 10 for the first time. Van Gisbergen took the green-and-white checkered flag, 13th, to end the stage.
The No. 97 team came to pit road for adjustments, four new tires and fuel. The left rear tire was slow to come off, lining Van Gisbergen up to start 25th. A caution came out on the first lap of Stage 3, and the No. 97 came to pit road for fuel, restarting the stage in 24th. NASCAR issued a penalty to the No. 97 team for pulling out of line before the start-finish line on the restart, making Van Gisbergen do a pass through on pit road and cycle to the back of the field. Van Gisbergen continued to battle a tight car throughout the remainder of the race. Another caution flew with eight laps remaining in the race. The No. 97 SafetyCulture team chose to come to pit road for adjustments and fuel, restarting 28th. The event went into overtime and Van Gisbergen ultimately took the checkered flag 17th.

“I enjoyed this track, but unfortunately we just didn’t have any speed. It’s hard, we were flat the whole way around so people would just drive away from us. I made an error there on a restart and got a penalty, misjudged that, but still had fun and I’m continuing to learn! On to Daytona next weekend.”

– Shane van Gisbergen

AJ Allmendinger qualified 13th for the Cabo Wabo 250 at Michigan International Speedway.
On the initial start, the top lane took off better and Allmendinger fell back to 18th on the bottom lane. By lap six, Allmendinger was up to 16th and reporting his Campers Inn RV Chevy was loose. When the first caution came on lap 16, Allmendinger came to pit road for four tires, fuel, air pressure and track bar adjustments. On lap 19, the No. 16 restarted in 27th place, and by lap 25, when the caution came out, Allmendinger was scored in 12th. The team stayed out under the caution and Allmendinger went on to finish the first stage in ninth.
After the green-white-checkered, the field was brought to pit road for weather. When the race restarted, the No. 16 stayed on track to restart in sixth place on lap 37. When the caution came out one lap later, Allmendinger was in third place. The No. 16 Campers Inn RV Chevy restarted on the bottom of the front row on lap 42 and was scored in third when the caution came on lap 50. Allmendinger stayed out and restarted on the front row of the bottom lane on lap 55. Allmendinger finished the second stage in third place.
During the stage break, Allmendinger came to pit road for four tires and fuel. He restarted in 10th place for the final stage. Two laps into the stage, the caution came out and Allmendinger returned to pit road for fuel and a track bar adjustment and restarted in 17th on lap 72. Allmendinger continued to move forward, driving up to 11th by lap 90. When the caution came out on lap 117, the No. 16 was in ninth. On lap 123, the field was again brought to pit road for weather. Allmendinger restarted in eighth place for overtime and finished in 10th.

“I felt like overall we had a really solid day. Just a challenge with the motor and air package that we ran. Kind of got behind in the third stage with strategy a little bit. I thought if the caution hadn’t come out, we were on a really good strategy to finish top three. Solid day, earned stage points and a top-10 finish. Happy to have a clean race car and head to Daytona.”

– AJ Allmendinger

Josh Williams qualified 29th for the Cabo Wabo 250 at Michigan International Speedway.
Williams dropped four spots in the first two laps while getting up to speed with the pack. Once up to speed, he advanced to 28th by the time the race’s first caution came out on lap 16. No. 11 crew chief Eddie Pardue called Williams in for tires and fuel, and Williams restarted from 32nd on lap 19. After making up seven more spots to take 25th, the race’s second natural caution came out on lap 25. Refiring from 18th for a three-lap dash to the Stage 1 finish, Williams took the yellow flag running 19th.
Rain began falling during the stage break, and the race went under red flag conditions on lap 34 for 15 minutes. Upon rolling, Williams pitted for tires and fuel and took the Stage 2 green flag from 13th on lap 37, but the yellow came out on the restart lap. Williams restarted in 14th on lap 41 and fell back to 24th by lap 50, when a wreck at the front of the field brought out the caution. Williams pitted under yellow for two right-side tires and fuel and restarted in 29th with six laps to go in Stage 2. He finished in 29th.
Williams took the green for the final stage as the third car in the outside lane. A mid-pack wreck brought out the caution on lap 67, and Williams pitted to top off on fuel. Restarting from 22nd with 55 to go, Williams coasted in 20th until leaders began pitting for fuel under green with 16 to go. On lap 117, a crash brought out the yellow with Williams running in 19th. He pitted for tires and fuel, but rain once again brought out the red flag. The race restarted with two laps remaining and Williams running in 22nd. He took the checkered flag in 19th.

“We really did all we could to keep up, but whenever you tried making a move and didn’t get it done, you’d lose tons of time. Restarts were tough today. We made the most out of what we had.”

– Josh Williams

Daniel Dye qualified 23rd for the Cabo Wabo 250 at Michigan International Speedway.
Dye ran in line with teammate AJ Allmendinger for the opening laps. The first caution of the day occurred on lap 16. Not having any complaints about the handling of the car, Dye pitted for four tires and fuel. He continued to run consistently and finished Stage 1 in the 15th position.
Dye started Stage 2 content with the handling of his car. As the stage progressed, he struggled through the middle and late laps of Stage 2 to keep the power down. Relaying that he was plowing tight and snapping loose on exit, Dye pitted for four tires and a left-rear spring adjustment at the stage conclusion.
Early in Stage 3, on lap 66, Dye was on the outside of two cars when he was involved in a wreck that caused significant damage to the rear of the No. 10 Race to Stop Suicide Chevrolet. Dye finished 34th.