NASCAR Cup Series: Leavine Family Racing switching to Toyota for 2019

As previously speculated, Leavine Family Racing are set to switch their manufacturer from Chevrolet to Toyota for the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season.

It has been speculated for quite some time that Leavine Family Racing would be switching their manufacturer from Chevrolet to Toyota in the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season. It was confirmed on Wednesday that this will, in fact, be the case in what is set to be the team’s ninth overall season, fourth full season and third season with a full-time driver in the Cup series.

Leavine Family Racing entered the NASCAR Cup Series in the 2011 season with one part-time car. They entered the season as a Ford team and fielded the #95 Ford, which was driven part-time by multiple driving over the course of the five-year span from the 2011 season through the 2015 season.

Ahead of the 2016 season, Leavine Family Racing made the switch from Ford to Chevrolet. In the 2016 season opener, the Daytona 500, at Daytona International Speedway, they fielded two entries for the first time. They fielded the #95 Chevrolet and the #59 Chevrolet in this race.

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While the #59 Chevrolet has not returned since then, the #95 Chevrolet has been a full-time entry ever since then. Ty Dillon and Michael McDowell split time behind the wheel of the #95 Chevrolet throughout the 2016 season.

McDowell returned to the team as the full-time driver of the #95 Chevrolet in the 2017 season. He recorded the team’s best ever finish, a fourth place finish, in the July race at Daytona International Speedway en route to securing a 27th place finish in the championship standings, which was naturally the best ever finish by one of the team’s drivers considering they had never had a full-time driver before.

After the 2017 season, McDowell left Leavine Family Racing for Front Row Racing. He was replaced by Kasey Kahne, who drove in the first 25 races of the season and tied the team’s best ever finish with a fourth place finish in the July race at Daytona International.

Medical issues have sidelined Kahne ever since the season’s 25th race at Darlington Raceway, and he has been replaced by Regan Smith in each race that has taken place since then. In fact, he just announced his retirement from the sport, as he already announced in mid-August that he would not be returning to the sport in the 2019 season.

How will Leavine Family Racing perform in the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season with Toyota as their new manufacturer? The season is scheduled to begin on Sunday, February 17, 2019 with the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.