NASCAR: 5 candidates for a second 23XI Racing seat

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Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing, NASCAR (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

Candidates for 23XI Racing expansion: No. 5 – Ty Gibbs (2023)

Harrison Burton may be the farthest driver up the Toyota ladder when it comes to getting to the NASCAR Cup Series, but he is set to move to Wood Brothers Racing in the Cup Series next year, leaving Toyota for Ford.

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But either way, it’s hard to argue against Ty Gibbs being the top prospect in the Toyota camp anyway, given what he has demonstrated in his limited time behind the wheel of one of his grandfather’s Xfinity Series cars this year.

Gibbs, who finished in second place in the 2020 ARCA Menards Series East standings competing for Joe Gibbs Racing, finished in fifth in the 2020 ARCA Menards Series standings despite the fact that he only ran 16 of the 20 races on the schedule. He won six of those 16 races.

This season, he competes full-time in the ARCA Menards Series, and he has won seven of the season’s first 12 races. As touched upon above, he has also gotten the opportunity to compete part-time for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series this season, and he has been arguably the best driver in the field over the nine races he has done so far.

He won in his series debut at the Daytona International Speedway road course, and he added a win at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He has finished in the top five in five of his other seven starts thus far.

Anything less than a full-time Xfinity Series ride for Gibbs next year would be seen as restricting him, and that option seems likely, especially with Burton slated to vacate the #20 Toyota. But it’s highly unlikely that Gibbs is going to be in a Cup Series car, at least not as a full-time driver, next year.

However, if a 23XI Racing expansion ends up being delayed until 2023 due to the lack of a second charter or if a veteran they sign ends up only running a single season in 2022, he could and probably should be the young driver to whom they turn.

This move would put him on a path to potentially jump into one of his grandfather’s Cup Series cars at some point in the near future as well.

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Who will be behind the wheel of a second Toyota for 23XI Racing in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season if and when the Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan-owned team make the decision to expand their operation? Will it be a veteran or a young guy?

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