Team owner Matt Kaulig was actually the one – not Allmendinger, he said – who raised the possibility of skipping [Cup] practice and qualifying at Richmond Raceway in Virginia on Saturday to have the driver race at Road America, just outside Elkhart Lake. Allmendinger has won twice in three Xfinity Series starts this season and wasn’t about to say no.
The decision created another piece of NASCAR news with Wisconsin ties, as 21-year-old Stratford native Derek Kraus will climb aboard a Cup Series car for the first time to practice and qualify Allmendinger’s No. 16 Chevrolet at Richmond.
Allmendinger will have to start from the rear at Richmond because of the driver change.