NASCAR team drops back down to two cars for Richmond race

Shane van Gisbergen made his 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season debut behind the wheel of the No. 16 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing in this past Sunday afternoon's race at Circuit of the Americas.

But A.J. Allmendinger, who drove the car in the previous weekend's race at Bristol Motor Speedway, still competed for the team in this race.

After the car made five appearances (four starts) last season, Matt Kaulig's team fielded the No. 13 Chevrolet for the first time this season on Sunday afternoon, and Allmendinger drove the car to a sixth place finish.

Kaulig Racing running just two cars at Richmond

The No. 13 Chevrolet is a non-chartered entry, giving the team three cars this past weekend; Daniel Hemric is the full-time driver of their chartered No. 31 Chevrolet.

But for this weekend's race at Richmond Raceway, where the No. 13 Chevrolet made its first start last year with Chandler Smith behind the wheel, the car is not on the entry list, as Kaulig Racing have opted to go with only their two chartered entries.

Ty Dillon is set to become the fifth different driver of the No. 16 Chevrolet through seven races this year after confirming a five-race deal with the organization to which he had long been heavily linked.

Van Gisbergen and Josh Williams have each driven the car once this year, while Allmendinger and Derek Kraus have driven it twice. Van Gisbergen is confirmed for seven more events, Kraus is confirmed for four more, and Williams is confirmed for one more. Factoring in Dillon's deal, the No. 16 Chevrolet now needs a driver for only 13 more races this season.

The team have not confirmed if or when the No. 13 Chevrolet will return to their lineup.

Richmond Raceway is scheduled to host the Toyota Owners 400 this Easter Sunday, March 31. Fox is set to provide live coverage of the race beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the action!