Matt Kaulig will trade pit-box perch for hosting golf tournament this week to support charities like The NASCAR Foundation

Matt Kaulig is one of the most hands-on owners in NASCAR. Whenever there‘s practice, qualifying and, of course, a race in the NASCAR Cup or Xfinity Series, the Ohio native will be found on top of the pit box, cheering on his drivers and teams.

But after attending Saturday‘s NASCAR Xfinity race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Kaulig won‘t be present for Sunday‘s NASCAR Cup race at the 1-mile flat bullring.

You might say Kaulig will be going golfing instead.

Kaulig will be the host and master of ceremonies of one of the five biggest PGA Champions Tour events around, this weekend‘s Kaulig Companies Championship at the Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.

The weeklong event — which is highlighted by the 72-hole, four-day tournament this Thursday through Sunday — will bring some of the biggest senior names in the golf world to try their luck for a big chunk of the $3.5 million purse.

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But the 78 golfers entered are just part of the highlights of the event. A number of celebrities from the sports and entertainment worlds will also be on hand, including NBA great Steph Curry, as well as all of Kaulig‘s NASCAR drivers: AJ Allmendinger, Justin Haley, Daniel Hemric and Chandler Smith.

And, of course, show cars for those drivers will be strategically placed around the course.

In what will be the first year of a four-year agreement, Kaulig has taken over primary sponsorship of the tournament, previously known for several years as the Bridgestone Invitational.

“Obviously, Firestone Country Club is a very well-known location in the country,” Kaulig told NASCAR.com. “It’s one of the premier events on the tour.”

Kaulig isn‘t sponsoring the tournament for glory or personal recognition. He wanted to continue the long history the event has with Firestone Country Club, which will celebrate the 70th year of the tournament this weekend.

With all the national and international recognition the event will bring, one of the biggest reasons why Kaulig and his privately held, family-run group of companies stepped in to be primary sponsor of the tournament is to raise money for various charities and foundations, including The NASCAR Foundation.

As he does in his daily business life, Kaulig is setting the bar high in his hopes of fund-raising for the various charities that will benefit from the tournament‘s generosity.

Last year, the tournament raised over $900,000 for charity. Kaulig hopes to double last year‘s total and raise nearly $2 million this weekend.

If successful in that goal, Kaulig will continue a tradition where, since its inception, the tournament has raised more than $30 million to local charities in the Akron/Canton/Cleveland areas.

“At Kaulig Companies, we continuously look for ways to better our community, and it is an honor to partner with PGA TOUR Champions to sponsor one of their flagship events,” Kaulig said when it was first revealed a year ago that his group of companies will sponsor the event. “Being able to support the city of Akron, along with the tournament‘s impressive track record of giving back to local charities — many of the same that we give back to through Kaulig Giving — made it an easy decision for our team to sign on as the title sponsor.

“We look forward to building upon the tournament‘s success and for an exciting four years ahead.”

Contributing to charities, particularly those in the Akron area, has been one of the most significant elements of Kaulig‘s DNA since he formed his company in 2005. Matt and wife Lisa subsequently founded Kaulig Charitable Giving Programs, also known as Kaulig Giving, a private family foundation, in 2019, designed to promote the educational, physical and emotional well-being of children and their families.

Last year, the Kaulig Foundation gave nearly $1 million to local charities, a figure Matt hopes to double in 2023.

Kaulig‘s charitable efforts are written and included as a major part of the company‘s overall purpose: “Philanthropy is at the heart of everything we do at Kaulig Companies. As the title sponsor of the PGA Champions Tour event at Firestone Country Club, we will showcase some of the world‘s best professional players, iconic places and organizations in Northeast Ohio, and local charities making a difference for children and families while we generate millions of dollars to benefit the region.”

To help achieve the lofty goal of $2 million to be donated to charity this year, Kaulig has brought in a number of major partners for the golf tournament to be part of the fundraising effort, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, MLB‘s Cleveland Guardians, The NASCAR Foundation and other heavyweights.

“It’s more than just a golf tournament for us,” Kaulig said. “It’s just really helping out the community that we live in and that I went to school in.”

Kaulig has selected 18 charities that will benefit from this weekend‘s tournament and fundraising efforts, including The NASCAR Foundation and the LeBron James I Promise School/LeBron James Family Foundation.

Of note, the LeBron James I Promise School will host a clinic for children. Kaulig Giving was the primary benefactor for construction of the state-of-the-art I Promise School media lab.

In addition to being a longtime member of the Firestone Country Club, Kaulig has attended the last 30 PGA Tour events there.

“I’m 50 years old now, so I started attending when I started college,” he said. “When the (tournament) sponsorship became available, and all the stuff that we do in Northeast Ohio, I mean, it was just a really good fit.

“I went to and played football at the University of Akron, my wife’s from Akron, she was a cheerleader at Akron, and we make our home here. With just all the things that we do with our charitable giving aspect, it just made sense.

“It’s a really great event for the community, it always has been. So even the possibility of that thing possibly moving or going away was just not something that we wanted to see. So we got involved.”

In the 18 years since he formed Kaulig Companies, the company patriarch and his wife have donated to over 250 different charities in and around the Akron and Northeast Ohio area.

“We‘re really involved in helping those kids, and most of our giving is done in Northeast Ohio,” Kaulig said. “We want to make our community better. I mean, there’s so many charities and nonprofits out there that really aren’t being helped or people are just making money off of.

“So that’s one of the big things that we responsibly give, so to speak, where we really vet organizations and really try to maximize what we’re giving and really get involved. The golf tournament is a really good example of that.”