Kaulig Racing officially introduced 20-year-old Daniel Dye as the latest full-time driver in the race team’s NASCAR Xfinity Series stable on Friday afternoon. Dye will pilot the organization’s No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro for the entire 2025 campaign.
The announcement, which was held at the Chevrolet Experience Center, located at the infield of Daytona International Speedway, was a fun, light-hearted event. Michael Waltrip served as the emcee and got things started by cracking jokes. While the laughs were flowing as Dye’s news was delivered to the media on hand, the noticeable takeaway was the incredible representation of Kaulig Racing drivers and employees on hand for Dye’s announcement.
If you took a moment to look around the room, you’d see how many people, wearing blue Kaulig polos, were genuinely happy to show support for the new addition to the race team. And with that glance around the room, you’d truly get the sense that when you’re with Kaulig Racing, you’re family.
The family-like feel of the race team has been spearheaded by Team President Chris Rice, who says he leads with the same mantra that his family carried in their home growing up — ‘everybody love everybody’.
“You know, I grew up in a loving family. My mom and dad were somebody that we always said, ‘love you,’ to each other,” Rice explained. “We say it, and that’s the way I feel about these young guys and these kids and our race team. I love everybody on our race team from the bottom to the top. I love everybody on our race team. I want everybody to love everybody, and that’s what it’s all about.”
While he wants everyone within his team to care for one another, Rice understands that in a high-pressure sport with as much at stake as auto racing, tensions will inevitably rise among teammates, who have to battle each other on the track. But at the end of the day, there needs to be an understanding that they’re all a family.
“It’s still competition. They’re still going to get mad at each other. Daniel gets on the radio and gets mad at somebody when he leaves him. But, at the end of the day, I want everybody to love everybody,” Rice said. “We’re here to do a job, and we’re here to support our sponsors, but we’re with everybody for a long time. You guys sit in the media center forever. You don’t have to like each other, but you should care for somebody because it is what we’re supposed to do. This is a big family, this sport, but our race team is a big family. Matt [Kaulig] lets us do what we love, man. Everybody in Northeast, Ohio lets us do what we love.”
While Rice thrives on good energy and positive vibes, he’s had to stiff-arm away rumors of Kaulig Racing phasing out of NASCAR all year. While many have insisted that the team would not continue past 2023, all along Rice said Kaulig Racing wasn’t going anywhere. In the end, he was right. Rice says while others were focused on the team’s potential demise, the focus within the walls of Kaulig Racing, all along, has been directed at building the foundation for a strong future.
“We’re showing that we’re building this program,” Rice said of the addition of Dye. “And that’s what we want to do. I think everyone thought we were done, but actually what we were doing was trying to set up for the next wave, right, set up for the next wave. I think you’ll see that Daniel is going to show everybody that he belongs, and that’s what we’re excited about.”
While Dye is part of the new wave of Kaulig Racing drivers, AJ Allmendinger, who serves as the leader of the old guard, will move back up to the NASCAR Cup Series full-time in 2025. Rice said the move of Allmendinger to Cup was able to happen due to a partner coming on board to support it. Rice says if sponsorship support is secured, Daniel Hemric will likely return to the organization in 2025 as well.
The team president, who is always smiling, smiled even wider when talking about Allmendinger heading back to the organization’s NASCAR Cup Series program. He knows that Allmendinger as a full-timer will instantly improve the competition of the NASCAR Cup Series team. Allmendinger is a three-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner, two of them coming with Kaulig.
After exiting JTG Daugherty Racing at the conclusion of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season, it appeared that the California native’s chances at running in Cup had dried up permanently. That is until Kaulig Racing came calling. Rice is proud that his team is able to give Allmendinger what he truly deserves — a ticket to end his career on his own terms.
“No matter when AJ retires, he’s still going to be part of us. He’s still going to be part of Kaulig Racing,” Rice stated. “Because we feel like that he came out of retirement for us. He was forced into retirement. This time, he’ll be able to go out on his own [terms]. I think he gives back to us, and that’s what’s so cool. And even coming to this announcement, he definitely loves Daniel and thinks Daniel can do it. He likes racing around him. So that’s cool. But he knows, that when AJ gets into the Cup cars, he’s going to make them better. For sure.”
Heading into the back end of the 2024 season, Kaulig Racing is nearly done securing its driver lineup for the 2025 campaign. While Allmendinger is back as the team’s veteran voice, Dye has been added as the organization’s youthful exuberance. Rice will continue to lead the organization with an “everybody love everybody” attitude into 2025 and beyond.
