Although there have been rumors, Dale Earnhardt Jr. seems to have confirmed them. Ty Dillon is heading to Kaulig Racing, looks like it’s happening. Dillon has been a bit of a companion in NASCAR recently. It has funding, but the results just aren’t up to par.
In his “2023 Report Card & Way Too Early Championship Picks” episode of The Dale Jr. Download, the subject of Kaulig was broached. Dale Jr. gave his opinion on next season. Dillon is out of the Spire Motorsports 77 car and Carson Hocevar will jump into that car for his rookie season.
We know that Daniel Hemric is going to the Cup Series with Kaulig Racing. His teammate just hasn’t been officially announced. Earnhardt had no trouble pronouncing Ty Dillon’s name when talking about this organization’s second car.
“Daniel Hemric returns to the Cup Series with Kaulig”, Dale Jr. said on his podcast. “Ty Dillon is going there to race a second car and so those cars struggled a lot in Phoenix. It wasn’t good. I think it’s going to be a very difficult year on the Cup side for Kaulig. I don’t know if this is a big surprise to anyone.
So, I tend to agree with Earnhardt here. AJ Allmendinger went out and won at Roval this season. It can win you one or two races a year on road courses. Will he ever win a championship? No, but it’s perplexing that they can’t get more funding for Allmendinger in the Cup Series.
Now, 2024 has fewer road courses. But I don’t see how Ty Dillon will drive the #16 better than Allmendinger.
Kaulig Racing in a strange situation for 2024
Over the past few years, Kaulig Racing felt like it was gaining momentum. They had victories. From Xfinity to Cup, things were moving forward. Justin Haley in 31, a great young talent. Chandler Smith was another great young talent they signed to Joe Gibbs Racing in Xfinity.
All of a sudden… things seem empty. Lost. I’d rather put Chandler Smith in my Cup car than Ty Dillon, if I’m honest. But now Haley is going to Rick Ware Racing, Smith is back at JGRand things don’t look promising.
Allmendinger is going to come back down in the Xfinity Series and run well. I really believe it. To be honest, no one has ever really worried about this Xfinity program. It’s on the Cup Series side that this becomes a concern.
AJ Allmendinger finished 21st in the points standings and Justin Haley 26th. Ty Dillon was 32nd, last among full-time drivers. Will he and Hemric do better than 21st and 26th places with one win, five top-5s and 13 top-10s? I don’t think they will.
