NASCAR powerhouse considered stopping after first win

Kaulig Racing: A strategic expansion

Kaulig Racing have expanded during their seven years in NASCAR, and they plan to continue to do so. However, the key is not trying to get too big too quickly, a lesson that Matt Kaulig learned from being involved in business before starting his race team.

“I started a business out of my house, LeafFilter, back in 2005, and just grown the organization almost systematically,” he explained. “And just being smart about it. Not expanding too fast, not getting too big, not spending too much money where you’re handcuffed. Even with that business, just started expanding throughout the United States and Canada. As we said today, we’ve got 140 LeafFilter offices in the U.S. and Canada. It’s a giant business, we have really, really great people, and we’ve got a whole army of men and women out there who are doing great in business.

“We’re doing the same thing with NASCAR where we’re systematically growing it, not growing it too fast. We’ve gone from one car in the Xfinity Series to one car and a part-time car. And then we were two full-time cars in the Xfinity Series, with a third part-time. And so just growing it, we’re doing the same thing in the Cup Series. We do have two cars.”

Kaulig Racing now have five full-time cars total, with three in the Xfinity Series and two in the Cup Series. The goal is eight total, with four in each.

“Our ultimate goal, which probably won’t take too long, is to have four cars. I want four cars in the Xfinity Series and four cars in the Cup Series, and try to grow both of those programs. But you can’t do that all at one time or else it’s just too much, even with people and resources and everything else.

“I think the lessons that I’ve learned in business are definitely applying to our NASCAR business and just expanding. Again, you saw us run eight or nine races last year in the Cup Series just to get our feet wet, just to get everybody used to it so that when we did jump in full-time, we were kind of used to it and it’s not all brand new.

“We do fit right in with everybody else there in the Cup Series; they know who we are, fans know who we are. They know our drivers. We don’t have rookie drivers who nobody has ever heard of. So it’s just been a really good situation that you take those lessons from business and you apply to NASCAR.”