FRESH FACES IN NASCAR CUP SERIES

One of the most notable new driver/team pairings for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season is “new” in name only. In fact, the driver and his boss even share a last name.

That driver, of course, is Ty Gibbs and the team is Joe Gibbs Racing – the organization owned by Ty’s grandfather, NASCAR Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs. It’s also the team that Ty, who turned 19 in October, has competed for the past two seasons in the NASCAR Xfinity Series – first on a part-time basis and then full time.

The 2022 season featured major peaks and valleys and just about everything in between for Gibbs, who remarkably won seven races on the way to a championship that he solidified with a convincing victory in the season finale at Phoenix Raceway. But sadly, triumph turned to tragedy just

OTHER NEW DRIVER/TEAM COMBINATIONS

a few hours later when Ty’s father, Coy – a Joe Gibbs Racing executive – died unexpectedly in his sleep at the age of 49. Despite being the target of major criticism at times last season for his aggressive style of driving that often led to bad outcomes for fellow competitors, Gibbs received a tremendous outpouring of support from the NASCAR community in the days and weeks after his father’s passing. What all this means for the season ahead and how he’ll perform in his first full season at the Cup Series level is anyone’s best guess. More certain is that Gibbs will be in top-notch equipment and be surrounded by veteran teammates in Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin who will be willing to help show him the way.

While Ty Gibbs’ promotion to the NASCAR Cup Series a season after winning the Xfinity Series championship is big, these four drivers made offseason moves that are arguably just as significant.

Noah Gragson

THE 2022 XFINITY SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP runner-up to Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson put on a driving clinic in NASCAR’s No. 2 division last season when he won a series-high eight races for JR Motorsports. Gragson’s new home for his first full season in the Cup Series is Petty GMS, where he’ll get to learn from two seven-time Cup Series champion bosses –Richard Petty and Jimmie Johnson.

Kyle Busch

AFTER 15 MOSTLY REMARKABLE YEARS AT Joe Gibbs Racing, Kyle Busch joined forces with Richard Childress Racing for 2023 when JGR was unable to grant him a contract extension. Although Busch and new team owner Richard Childress haven’t always seen eye to eye, all that seems to be in the past as both parties believe they can accomplish a lot together.

THE DRIVER WHO KYLE BUSCH IS REPLACING in Richard Childress Racing’s No. 8 Chevrolet, Tyler Reddick caught a lot of people by surprise last summer when he announced he was leaving RCR for 23XI Racing. Although initial plans called for Reddick to join the Denny Hamlin- and Michael Jordan-owned team in 2024, the plan changed and he was able to make the switch a year

Ryan Preece

DEMOTED TO A PART-TIME CRAFTSMAN

Truck Series schedule in 2022 after three seasons in the Cup Series, Ryan Preece has something to prove as the new driver of the No. 41 StewartHaas Racing Ford. Along with his truck duties, Preece spent last year doing simulator work for SHR, so he’s plenty familiar with the Tony Stewart co-owned organization. Whether that will translate to success remains to be seen.