We blinked, and the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series was over.
The year was filled with excitement and dominance by three particular drivers. Of the 33 races this season, 20 were won by three drivers: Noah Gragson, who scored eight wins; Ty Gibbs with seven and AJ Allmendinger parked his car in victory lane five times.
For those who aren’t up to speed with silly season for 2022-23, all three of these drivers are expected to be in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2023. Gragson is going to Petty GMS Racing to drive the No. 42 Chevrolet after spending four full seasons in the Xfinity Series, all with JR Motorsports. Allmendinger is sticking with Kaulig Racing, but is trading in his Xfinity Series patch for a Cup Series one when he takes over the Cup No. 16 Chevrolet full time in 2023 after driving it part-time for two seasons. Finally, Gibbs is believed to be the successor to Kyle Busch in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, but no official announcement has been made.
Nearly two-thirds of 2022’s race winners are departing for the next level. It’s an understatement to call them each immensely talented.
Since 2019, Allmendinger has scored 13 Xfinity victories (of 15 total career triumphs in the series), including five wins in both 2021 and 2022. Gragson went winless in his 2019 rookie season before scoring two wins in 2020 and three in 2021. He exploded in 2022, leading all drivers with eight wins. Gibbs has 11 victories in 51 career Xfinity starts. They’re all successful and have accounted for 37 wins over the past four seasons.
Who succeeds them in the talent pool? The only direct successors to these drivers announced so far are Brandon Jones and Chandler Smith.
Jones has been in the Xfinity Series full time since 2016. He drove for Richard Childress Racing in 2016 and 2017 but joined Joe Gibbs Racing in 2018, where he had been since. Jones scored his first career win in 2019, another three in 2020, went winless in 2021 and scored a single win in 2022 at the spring Martinsville Speedway race. He has big shoes to fill as he takes over the No. 9 at JR Motorsports for Gragson.
Smith spent 2021 and 2022 with Kyle Busch Motorsports in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and previously drove a part-time schedule for KBM in 2019 and 2020. He defects from Toyota to Chevrolet, joining Kaulig Racing and taking over the No. 16 for Allmendinger. Smith will be teammates with Landon Cassill and Daniel…
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