Kaulig Racing announced today that Trackhouse Racing founder and owner Justin Marks will drive the No. 10 Jockey Chevrolet in the July 1 NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) race on the Chicago Street Course.
The quality of Kaulig Racing’s Chevrolets, along with the inaugural street race made for an easy decision for both Kaulig Racing and Marks to team up for this historic event. Marks will step away from his NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) owner duties to join forces with Kaulig Racing’s powerhouse road-course racing program and race in the NXS for the first time since 2018.
“It’s very difficult to retire as a racecar driver,” said the 41-year-old 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. Jockey coming on board makes it even more enticing to run well in Chicago.”
Marks owns 35-career NXS starts including a victory at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 2016, along with three top five and seven top-10 finishes. Each start has come on road courses.
Marks, whose Trackhouse Racing team fields Cup Series entries for drivers Daniel Suárez and Ross Chastain, boasts an extensive sports-car racing resumé, earning multiple wins across the Rolex Grand-Am Sports Car Series and the Weathertech Sportscar Championship Series. Most recently, he won the Trans-Am race at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut on May 29.
He is with the right organization to return to victory lane in Chicago.
Of Kaulig Racing’s 22-total Xfinity wins, nine have come at road courses. The team also earned its first win in the NCS with its victory at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in 2021 with AJ Allmendinger.
“If you’re in a road-course car in the Xfinity Series, AJ [Allmendinger] 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 racecar.”
Kaulig Racing’s No. 10 Chevrolet, which features an all-star roster, has earned two wins so far in the 2023 Xfinity season. The three-car NXS team has earned three-total wins in 2023, along with nine top fives, 22 top-10 finishes and 319 laps led.
“We’re excited to have Justin [Marks], 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 Chevrolet will carry Jockey’s red, white and blue paint scheme in Chicago, a partnership that began last year with Trackhouse, the first such team sponsorship in the 147-year history of the apparel brand. At the core of the partnership was the launch of the brand’s Made in America* Collection – proudly grown and crafted right here in the USA. Designed with high quality American-grown cotton, these durable staples help to support the communities Americans call home.
NASCAR will officially kick off its first-ever event weekend at the Chicago Street Course beginning with the Loop 121 Xfinity race on July 1 at 5 p.m. EST. The USA Network will televise the race at 5 p.m. EDT.
