Stopping just short of confirming that the Cup Series No. 16 is once again a star car of sorts, Kaulig Racing confirmed that AJ Allmendinger has entered the Daytona 500.
Allmendinger was previously named the full-time driver of the No. 16 Xfinity Series car for the organization, where he raced in 2021 and 2022 following a full-time Cup Series stint last season, which ended with Daniel Hemric getting a promotion back to the highest level.
He will be paired there with crew chief Alex Yontz alongside racing teammates Josh Williams and Shane van Gisbergen.
Meanwhile, the No. 16 has been expected to have several drivers for quite some time, despite industry speculation that Ty Dillon was set to drive the car this upcoming season. Sportsnaut was told last month that this information was incorrect and that another driver of the No. 16 couldn’t be announced because ‘he is currently doing something else.’
Since then, Trackhouse Racing has leased van Gisbergen to Kaulig to contest the full Xfinity Series season and it would make a lot of sense for the three-time Australian Supercars champion to have been that driver.
It hasn’t entirely been made clear if SVG will contest his part-time Cup Series slate in 2024 for Kaulig or the Trackhouse Project 91 car that he made two starts in last season including his historic victory in the inaugural race on the Streets of Chicago.
For Allmendinger, this will be the 11th time he has started the Great American Race, looking to beat his best finish of third in 2009 and 2017 with Richard Petty Motorsports and JTG Daugherty Motorsports respectively.
He finished sixth last season.
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.