NASCAR team could make another driver change after Phoenix race

Through the first three races of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, three drivers have had the opportunity to drive the No. 16 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing.

After Josh Williams attempted to qualify for the preseason Busch Light Clash exhibition race at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, A.J. Allmendinger officially opened up the year in the car with a sixth place finish in the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

Williams then made his first start behind the wheel of the No. 16 Chevrolet at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but it only lasted a few laps, as he was taken out in an early multi-car wreck.

Derek Kraus, who actually qualified the car at Richmond Raceway last August for Allmendinger, then got to make his true Cup Series debut at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and he finished in 28th place.

For the first time all season, Matt Kaulig's team did not make a driver change ahead of this past Sunday's race at Phoenix Raceway, and Kraus returned and ultimately crashed out of the event.

Kaulig Racing still need a driver for Bristol race

But there is no confirmed driver of the No. 16 Chevrolet for this coming Sunday afternoon's race at Bristol Motor Speedway. In fact, of the 32 races remaining on the schedule, only 11 have confirmed drivers for the car.

Kraus is set to make four more starts, starting with the 12th race of the season at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, May 5, and Shane van Gisbergen, who competes full-time for Kaulig Racing in the Xfinity Series along with Allmendinger and Williams, is set to make seven, beginning with next weekend's road course race at Circuit of the Americas.

Will Allmendinger or Williams, whose first starts of the season remain their only confirmed races, get the call to drive the No. 16 Chevrolet in this Sunday afternoon's 500-lap race around the four-turn, 0.533-mile (0.858-kilometer) high-banked Bristol, Tennessee oval?

The Food City 500 hasn't been a race on Bristol's concrete surface since 2020, as the track hosted a regular season dirt race from 2021 to 2023. Fox is set to provide live coverage of the race beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, March 17. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now if you have not already had the chance to do so!