When Nick Sanchez captured the 2022 ARCA Menards Series driver’s championship in the season finale at Toledo Speedway on Oct. 8, the garage turned its eyes to 2023. Although the 2023 schedule has not been released, which drivers will pair with which teams for next season?
It is highly probable the top four drivers in the championship standings all will graduate to the NASCAR national series in 2023. Champion Sanchez told Frontstretch that he will drive a “Very, very, fast Chevrolet vehicle,” in 2023. Runner-up Daniel Dye has been promoted to a full-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series ride with GMS Racing.
Rajah Caruth told Racing America editor-in-chief Matt Weaver that his 2023 plans have him “Really excited. Hopefully, it’ll work out.” And Sammy Smith, who led ARCA with victories in 2022, is viewed as a favorite to land a NASCAR Xfinity Series ride with Joe Gibbs Racing.
Fifth in the standings in 2022, Greg Van Alst will return full-time to ARCA in 2023. Van Alst scored one top-five finish with a fifth-place result at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and 11 top 10s in 2022.
Brad Smith earned his second ARCA career top 10 at Berlin Raceway in 2022, and he piloted his No. 48 to an eighth-place points finish. Smith made his 400th career ARCA start in 2022 too, and he’ll continue piling up starts as he too is returning full-time in 2023.
During the Toledo race weekend, Venturini Motorsports team co-owner Billy Venturini told sports reporter Casey Campbell that the team will likely look very similar to its 2022 driver lineup as well as the team will have three full-time entries and a fourth part-time entry.
Jesse Love and Landon Pembelton are the favorites to run full-time for Venturini in 2023.
Love “is going to be an amazing talent. I think he’s going to be tough to beat next year,” Venturini told Campbell. Love is a two-time ARCA Menards Series West champion. In his main ARCA career, Love has two wins, including one in 2022, eight top fives and 12 top 10s. Even though Love has only run a part-time main ARCA slate, he has finished 10th and eighth in the 2021 and 2022 standings, respectively.
Love will turn 18 on Jan. 14, 19 days ahead of Pembelton, who will celebrate his 18th birthday on February 2, 2023.
Pembelton has a high ceiling in terms of his raw talent, according to Venturini. He burst forth onto the stock car scene with his 2021 late model victory at Martinsville Speedway. The Virginian competed three times in ARCA…
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