NASCAR team changes drivers (again) for Phoenix season finale

The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season is set to come to an end this Sunday afternoon at Phoenix Raceway, and for the eighth race weekend in a row, Kaulig Racing are set to have a different driver behind the wheel of the No. 16 Chevrolet.

Derek Kraus is one of five drivers who have driven the No. 16 Chevrolet this season. He hasn't driven the car since early June at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, but he is set to wrap up the year in the car in Sunday's 312-lap NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race around the four-turn, 1.022-mile (1.645-kilometer) Avondale, Arizona oval.

The No. 16 Chevrolet hasn't had the same driver from one race to the next since the final two races of the regular season and the first two races of the playoffs, when Shane van Gisbergen drove the car four weeks in a row. He also drove it in this past Sunday afternoon's race at Martinsville Speedway.

Kraus to return at Phoenix

A.J. Allmendinger, who drove the No. 16 Chevrolet full-time last year and is set to do so again in 2025, leads all drivers with 12 starts in the car this year. Van Gisbergen is second with 11.

Kraus and Ty Dillon, who is set to compete full-time for the team next year as Daniel Hemric's replacement in the No. 31-turned-No. 10 Chevrolet, each have five, with Kraus set to break that tie this weekend. Josh Williams has two.

In the playoffs, only Allmendinger and van Gisnbergen have driven the car. Allmendinger has made three starts while van Gisbergen has made six.

NBC is set to provide live coverage of the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race from Phoenix Raceway beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, November 10. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now if you have not yet already had a chance to do so!