The season finale at Phoenix Raceway will mark a significant change for Kaulig Racing. This event will be the team's final Xfinity Series race for the time being as it puts the program on pause.
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Kaulig Racing CEO Chris Rice confirmed the reports on Wednesday during his weekly appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. He said that the team will have to focus on its Cup and Craftsman Truck Series programs next season, which will push the Xfinity program to the side.
"We have made a choice that we need to focus really hard on our Truck program and our Cup program to push it forward," Rice said. "So you guys will see us back in Xfinity Series in the coming years, but we got to pause it for a little bit.
"And we got to sit back and push ourselves to build five wonderful trucks for Ram and also keep our Cup program where it's at."
Thank you to the Xfinity Series for 10 amazing years, 27 wins, two regular season championships, and a lifetime of memories! pic.twitter.com/CNzIliZ0Ij
— Kaulig Racing (@KauligRacing) October 28, 2025
Kaulig Racing will become the Ram factory team next season while fielding five full-time trucks. The company has to build this program from the ground up while putting together chassis, bodies, and the sim program.
The organization will have support from Ram on the Truck Series side, but its alliance with Richard Childress Racing will end on the Chevrolet side. This will put more of a burden on Kaulig Racing's employees.
"We got to focus on our Ram trucks and that's what we're going to do," Rice added. "And we're going to show Ram that we're here. We're going to try to win a lot of races for those guys and make every Ram fan happy, but also keep our Cup fans happy too.
"And I hope everybody understands that. And I hope that when we do come back there, they have open arms and welcome us back. As much as we love the Xfinity series, we're not quitting the Xfinity Series. We're pausing."
Rice said this move will be emotional for him and the team. After all, the company first started in the Xfinity Series back in 2016. It has won 27 races with seven different drivers parking in victory lane, and it has celebrated two regular-season championships.
The team has fallen short of the ultimate goal — the Xfinity Series championship — due to struggles at Phoenix Raceway, something Rice openly acknowledged on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. But the team plans to continue pursuing this prize once it takes the program off of pause.
Kaulig Racing just first has to become established in the Craftsman Truck Series while working with a new OEM partner. The pause also provides Stellantis time to complete NASCAR's required onboarding for the other national series.
"Honestly, we got to make sure that the Ram trucks are where they need to be," Rice said. And those guys have taken a huge chance on us, and we want to show them we're behind them to build this thing pretty big. We got a lot of people, as you've seen in that picture (on X).
"I'm very thankful for everybody that has made that program — 27 wins, so many top fives — but we got to pause it until you see us come back — and I believe you know why I'm saying that — and I think that's going to be fun when we come back."
