The 2024 iteration of the Cup Series just got more interesting with Kaulig Racing‘s higher official’s startling revelation about his driver’s drastic move. Despite being with the team for more than 5 seasons, starting in Xfinity Series circles, the #31 driver’s sudden switch shocked the community but not the team president.

Joining the #31 driver’s spotter for last season, Brett Griffin, on Door Bumper Clear, Kaulig Racing President Chris Rice revealed his driver’s planned switch to Rick Ware Racing days before the official statement came out.

Kaulig Racing President reveals his driver’s sudden change of plans, weeks before the announcement

Grant Park 220 runner-up and Kaulig Racing full-timer Justin Haley dropped a bomb on the community when he decided to switch bases to Rick Ware Racing and Ford after he signed a multi-year contract. The 24-year-old, who started his full-time NASCAR career in the organization’s second-class division, was a great addition to the Chevy camp.

However, as the action moved from the regular season to the playoff rounds, Haley’s decision to jump sides shocked his spotter, Brett Griffin. Griffin, who was joined by his team president, Chris Rice, on the podcast series, inquired about the team owner’s intentions, to which Rice simply said, “We’re not selling charter.” 

While the driver decided to try his luck with RWR, Rice, on the other hand, revealed he had anticipated the move. “Justin Haley’s moving on which we made the decision a couple of weeks before where he had made him and we loved Justin.”

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“He’s been there for 5 years and we bought our charters from Justin and the Brown group actually from Spire(Motorsports). So it was a great relationship, it will always be a great relationship with Justin Haley but we’re not selling charters,” said Rice. 

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With its full-time Cup Series driver switching sides, leaving Chevy and Kaulig Racing, officials at Kaulig have finalized a name for the #31 Chevy.

Rice emphasized his take to the hosts on DBC, saying, “We’re not selling charters because Matt(Kaulig) and I was talking about, I was the guy that signs right below Matt when you’ve to have somebody like something happens to Matt, that would be able to make decisions on it and yeah we’re not selling charters, we’re not even interested in selling charters, you know.” 

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A short while later, he let the cat out of the bag, mentioning they had everything figured out for the 31. “The No. 31 car is pretty much done,” said Rice.

He then added, “It’s in good shape and like I said from the get-go, I think everybody is going to be pretty surprised with what we’re doing with that. I’m excited, Matt Kaulig is excited, everybody that partners, and everybody that is involved is excited about it. That’s been a relief. I’ve been able to sleep a little bit.”