NASCAR Cup Series driver switches cars for Las Vegas race

Full-time Xfinity Series driver Shane van Gisbergen has competed in six of the eight most recent NASCAR Cup Series races for Kaulig Racing, and he is set to make it seven of nine in this coming Sunday afternoon's South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

This past Sunday afternoon at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, Kaulig Racing fielded three entries for the fifth time this year. On all four previous occasions, they added the No. 13 Chevrolet for A.J. Allmendinger, while van Gisbergen drove the chartered No. 16 car alongside full-time driver Daniel Hemric in the No. 31 car.

But at the Charlotte Roval, it was van Gisbergen whom the team moved to the No. 13 car. Allmendinger, who won the race in the No. 16 car last year when he competed full-time in the Cup Series, drove it again on Sunday. Van Gisbergen took the pole position and finished in seventh place while Allmendinger qualified third and finished sixth.

At Las Vegas, Matt Kaulig's team will be dropping back to two cars.

Van Gisbergen is set to be back behind the wheel of the No. 16 Chevrolet, the car he drove in each of his first nine starts of the 2024 season, in this Sunday's 267-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Las Vegas, Nevada oval.

His season-best finish is second place at Watkins Glen International, and his most recent finish is 15th at Talladega Superspeedway, which marked his career-high result on an oval.

Only Allmendinger, who also competes full-time in the Xfinity Series, has driven the No. 16 car in more races this year than van Gisbergen has, having done so 11 times.

Three other drivers have driven the No. 16 Chevrolet this year. Derek Kraus and Ty Dillon have each done so on five occasions, and Josh Williams, an Xfinity Series teammate of van Gisbergen and Allmendinger, has done so twice.

The South Point 400 is set to be shown live on NBC from Las Vegas Motor Speedway starting at 2:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, October 20. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss it!