Christian Eckes will join Kaulig Racing full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2025, the team announced Saturday at Darlington Raceway.
Eckes, 23, will drive the No. 1 Chevrolet. 1. 16 of Matt Kaulig’s team under a multi-year agreement. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and is one of 10 Truck Series Playoff drivers currently in contention for the 10th time. this opportunity,” said Eckes. “It’s something I feel I’ve been waiting for a long time and to do with Kaulig Racing, Chris (Rice, team president), Matt (Kaulig, team owner) and many other great teammates is something I can’t wait. . Obviously I still have a lot to do this year, but I’m very excited about the future. “I’m ready to go to work.
AJ Allmendinger, who currently drives Chevrolet no. 16 of the team in the Xfinity Series, will return to the Cup Series in 2025 as a full-time driver for the organization. Shane van Gisbergen, who currently drives the Kaulig Chevrolet no. 97 and has three wins, he will also move on to the Chevrolet Driver’s Cup No. 88 Trackhouse Racing.Since joining McAnally-Hilgemann Racing in 2023, Eckes has accumulated seven wins, 21 top 5s, 29 top 10s and 1,184 laps led in 40 truck races. Eckes finished fifth in the final standings last season and currently sits atop the points table after the first race of Round 10 at the Milwaukee Mile last weekend, where he finished third. The 2024 campaign is Eckes’ fourth full-time season in the Truck Series.
Kaulig Racing announced last weekend at Daytona International Speedway that Daniel Dye will join the organization to race full-time for the team starting in 2025 With Eckes joining the team, Kaulig will have three full-time Xfinity drivers next season: Dye (No. 10), Josh Williams (No. 11) and Eckes (No. 16).
Rice said Saturday. that the team has no intention of distracting Eckes from his full-time focus – either with back-to-back Xfinity starts this year as he competes for the Truck Series crown, or with the Cup Series experience l next year with another entry in Kaulig. He also noted how Eckes has excelled when dealing with adversity this year, such as when he was battling a brake problem in Atlanta and then a crash with Corey Heim at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Those two examples were for Kaulig and Allmendinger.”Christian’s maturity, but also his speed, are qualities that we need as a company,” Rice said. “Okay, we need fast racing drivers and fast racing cars for drivers to race. I always say that a rider can’t ride a slow horse, no matter how good he is. So we noticed that his maturity was something that we want to keep in our team, of course.
Eckes will next compete in the second of three Round of 10 races at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sept. 19
