Much like the shuffling of a deck of cards, several drivers in the offseason made moves to different organizations in the NASCAR Cup Series making several new faces in new places in 2022.
The 2004 Cup Series champ and Las Vegas native, Kurt Busch, was one of the drivers to join a new team for the 2022 season as the 42-year-old will be bringing his expertise of over 750 NASCAR Cup Series starts to 23XI Racing’s newly formed No. 45 Toyota team with crew chief Billy Scott. 23XI Racing is Busch’s seventh different organization he has driven for in the NASCAR Cup Series; joining Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, Team Penske, Phoenix Racing, Furniture Row Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing. Busch won the Daytona 500 in 2017 and is looking to become the 13th different driver in the series history to win multiple Daytona 500s.
Announced last season, Brad Keselowski has joined Roush Fenway Racing and in process purchased an ownership stake in the company and starting in 2022 the organization has been rebranded to Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing (RFK Racing). The 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion, Keselowski, will pilot the No. 6 Ford with crew chief Matt McCall on the pit box. Keselowski is still looking for his first Daytona 500 victory, one of the last few jewels left to add to his crown of achievements in the sport. His best finish in the Great American Race is third back in 2014.
A vacancy in the No. 2 Ford at Team Penske provides the perfect opportunity for NASCAR Xfinity Series champion (2020) Austin Cindric to take the next step in his career and into the NASCAR Cup Series fulltime. The son of Team Penske’s President Tim Cindric, Austin will drive the No. 2 Ford with the guidance of crew chief Jeremy Bullins. Cindric made his NASCAR Cup Series career debut in last season’s Daytona 500; he started 39th and raced his way up to a 15th-place finish.
With Trackhouse Racing’s acquisition of the Chip Ganassi Racing assets at the conclusion of the 2021 season, the organization expanded to a two-car team and signed Ross Chastain to be the driver for the newly formed No. 1 Chevrolet team. Chastain will be working with crew chief Phil Surgen this season and the pair will make their debut this weekend as both look for their first Daytona 500 victory. Chastain has made three Daytona 500 starts and posted his career-best finish of seventh in last season’s race.
Another graduate into the NASCAR Cup Series this season is Harrison Burton. The second generation racer spent the last two full seasons with Joe Gibbs Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series earning the Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors in 2020 and making the Playoffs both seasons (2020-2021). Now the 20-year-old will have his shot at driving the famous Wood Brothers Racing’s No. 21 Ford with crew chief Brian Wilson at his side. Burton made his NASCAR Cup Series career debut last season at Talladega Superspeedway where he started 39th and finished 20th. This weekend will be his first attempt at competing in the Daytona 500.
Following in his father David Gilliland’s footsteps, Todd Gilliland will take the reins of the No. 38 Ford for Front Row Motorsports in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2022. Gilliland has spent the last three full seasons competing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. This season, Gilliland will be working with crew chief Seth Barbour. Gilliland will be making his series career debut this weekend at Daytona.
Kaulig Racing has made the fulltime jump to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2022 and will have Justin Haley piloting the newly formed No. 31 Chevrolet Team with a rotation of drivers (AJ Allmendinger, Daniel Hemric and Noah Gragson) sharing the seat time in the No. 16 Chevrolet. Kaulig Racing made big splash in the NASCAR Cup Series after winning the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course race in their first part-time season in the series.
One other group to keep your eye on this season is The Money Team Racing (TMT Racing) a newly formed race team by boxing legend Floyd Mayweather. TMT Racing will have Tony Eury Jr. as crew chief and Kaz Grala as the driver of the No. 50. The team will look to make their series debut this weekend at Daytona.
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