CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks will drive for Kaulig Racing in the Xfinity Series race on the Chicago Street Course next week.
It will be the first Xfinity Series start for Marks since 2018. He has 35 career Xfinity starts, including a victory at Mid-Ohio in 2016. Of his 80 career starts across NASCAR’s three national series, six were in the Cup Series.
“It’s very difficult to retire as a race car driver,” said Marks. “I’ve got a lot of experience on street courses, so when NASCAR announced it was going to Chicago, I just felt like I really had to be a part of that experience.
“We have a great relationship with Kaulig Racing through our pit crew department and being a fellow Chevrolet team, so making my return to racing with the team just felt right.”
The Chicago weekend is NASCAR’s first-ever foray into street course racing.
Marks, who bought out Chip Ganassi Racing at the end of the 2020 season to launch Trackhouse, fields full-time Cup cars for Daniel Suarez and Ross Chastain. But Marks himself has an extensive sports car racing resume with multiple victories across several series, most recently a May 29 victory in a Trans-Am race at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut.
Kaulig, meanwhile, has won nine of its 22 Xfinity Series races on road courses. It scored its first Cup victory in 2021 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course with AJ Allmendinger.
“If you’re in a road course car in the Xfinity Series, AJ demonstrates pretty consistently that the Kaulig Racing cars are the ones you want to be sitting in,” said Marks. “It’s going to be a very unique event, and I know we will have a good race car.”
Marks will drive the No. 10 Chevrolet, which has two wins so far this season.
“We’re excited to have Justin, another road course ringer, come out of retirement and compete for us in the Xfinity Series,” said Chris Rice, president of Kaulig Racing. “I think that says a lot about the tremendous success Kaulig Racing has had in just a few short years, especially on road courses.
“Not only is Justin Marks a successful team owner in NASCAR, but he has a ton of experience on street courses, so having him come on board for this historic weekend in our industry just makes sense.”
The No. 10 will be sponsored by Jockey, which has a partnership with Trackhouse in the Cup Series.