Christian Eckes to join Kaulig Racing for full-time Xfinity campaign in 2025

Christian Eckes will join Kaulig Racing full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2025, the team announced Saturday at Darlington Raceway.

Eckes, 23, will drive the No. 16 Chevrolet for the Matt Kaulig-owned team as part of a multiyear agreement. The Middletown, New York native currently pilots the No. 19 Chevrolet for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and is one of 10 Truck Series Playoffs drivers currently battling in the Round of 10.

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“Just super excited for this opportunity,” Eckes said. “This is something I feel like it’s been a long time coming, and to do it with Kaulig Racing, Chris (Rice, team president), Matt (Kaulig, team owner) and so many great teammates as well is something that I’m really looking forward to. Obviously, have a lot to achieve this year still, but very excited for the future. Just ready to get to work.”

AJ Allmendinger, who currently drives the No. 16 Chevy for the team in the Xfinity Series, will return to Cup Series in 2025 as a full-time driver for the organization. Shane van Gisbergen, who currently pilots the No. 97 Kaulig Chevy and posted three wins, will also jump to Cup in the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet.

Since joining McAnally-Hilgemann Racing in 2023, Eckes has accumulated seven wins, 21 top fives, 29 top 10s and 1,184 laps led in 40 Truck races. Eckes finished fifth in the final standings last season and currently ranks first in the points table through the Round of 10‘s opening contest at the Milwaukee Mile last weekend, where he finished third. The 2024 campaign is Eckes‘ fourth full-time season in the Truck Series.

Kaulig Racing announced last weekend at Daytona International Speedway that Daniel Dye would join the organization to race full-time for the team beginning in 2025. With Eckes‘ entrance into the team fold, Kaulig will sport three full-time Xfinity drivers next season: Dye (No. 10), Josh Williams (No. 11) and Eckes (No. 16).

Rice said Saturday that the team does not plan on steering Eckes away from his full-time focus — either with one-off Xfinity starts this year as he competes for the Truck Series crown, or with any Cup Series experience next year in another Kaulig entry. He also noted how Eckes’ composure stood out when he faced adversity this year, both when battling a brake issue at Atlanta and after a run-in with Corey Heim at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Both those instances made impressions on both Kaulig and Allmendinger.

“So the maturity of Christian, but also how fast he could go because those are the things that we need as a company,” Rice said. “OK, we need to have fast race car drivers and fast race cars for the drivers to ride them. I always say a jockey can’t ride a slow horse, no matter how good the jockey is. So we noticed that his maturity was something that we want to keep in our camp, for sure.”

Eckes will next compete in the second of three Round of 10 races at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sept. 19 (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).