After a slight down year in 2021 that saw less drivers not return to NASCAR due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on 2020 entry lists, the crop of racers not back in at least one of NASCAR’s national series in 2022 is comparatively hefty.
None were particularly expected, save for perhaps Derrike Cope; even as drivers like Michael Annett announced their retirement from full-time NASCAR competition at the end of 2021, some still show up in one-off appearances, something that wasn’t as common in 2022.
Indeed, 2022’s list includes an 18-time NASCAR Cup Series winner, multiple past Daytona 500 winners, a slew of dirt racers and many more.
Some initially made plans to race in 2022, only to be sidelined due to sponsorship constraints. Others could be found at your local short track, be it asphalt or dirt.
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Michele Abbate: Abbate competed in Trans Am in 2022 after making her NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut in 2021 with On Point Motorsports at Circuit of the Americas.
Morgan Alexander: Multiple starts across the Truck and ARCA Menards series disciplines in 2021 did not translate to 2022 starts for Alexander, who raced on the dirt scene this year.
Willie Allen: Allen’s Rackley WAR NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team scored its first win in 2022 at the hands of Matt DiBenedetto at Talladega Superspeedway. Allen himself did not drive one of the team’s trucks.
Michael Annett: Rumblings about a part-time slate of races after his retirement from full-time competition didn’t materialize for Annett. His longtime sponsor Pilot Flying J now often adorns the entries of Sammy Smith.
Tanner Berryhill: Berryhill mostly races dirt midgets these days.
Brian Brown: Brown is back racing solely on dirt tracks outside the NASCAR realm after his one-off start with Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Truck Series last year.
James Buescher: The one-time Truck champion works as a realtor and made no return to NASCAR in 2022 after a one-off Daytona International Speedway start in the Truck Series last year.
Ray Ciccarelli: Ciccarelli’s only NASCAR-related appearance in 2022 came when his team, CMI Motorsports, was the listed owner of Andrew Gordon‘s Bristol Motor Speedway dirt track truck, as the chassis had not been properly moved over to G2G Racing, the team with which Gordon…
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