NASCAR: Another new number revealed for 2022

The car number for the Kaulig Racing entry set to be driven by Justin Haley during the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season has been revealed.

Kaulig Racing purchased two charters from Spire Motorsports earlier this year so that they could run a two-car NASCAR Cup Series team on a full-time basis starting in 2022.

They confirmed that Justin Haley, who had driven the #11 Chevrolet for the team in the Xfinity Series from 2019 to 2021, would compete full-time behind the wheel of one entry, and that the second entry would be split by multiple drivers.

It was first announced that A.J. Allmendinger, who is set to pilot the #16 Chevrolet for the team in the Xfinity Series for a second full season next year, is set to be one of the drivers of the second entry.

Then earlier this week, it was announced that Daniel Hemric, who is set to replace Haley in the Xfinity Series after winning the 2021 series championship for Joe Gibbs Racing, and Noah Gragson, who competes in the Xfinity Series for JR Motorsports, are set to be the others.

But in addition to the exact Cup Series schedules for these three drivers, one detail that was left unknown was the car number for Haley’s entry.

While the number for the second entry, the #16 Chevrolet, had been confirmed, Haley’s entry was without one; the number 11 is already used by Joe Gibbs Racing for Denny Hamlin’s Toyota.

Now it has been confirmed that Haley is set to drive the #31 Chevrolet throughout the 36-race Cup Series season.

This confirmation was made this morning ahead of more testing of the Next Gen car at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

https://twitter.com/NASCAR/status/1471111415666810885

This marks the second big number confirmation this month, as it was confirmed last week that Ty Dillon is set to drive the #42 Chevrolet for the newly formed Petty GMS Motorsports team. He had been slated to drive the #94 Chevrolet for GMS Racing before GMS Racing and Richard Petty Motorsports merged.

The last time the number 31 was used for a Cup Series car was in May 2019, when Tyler Reddick drove the #31 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing at Kansas Speedway in what was his second and final start of the season.

The number 31 last appeared on a full-time entry in the 2018 season, which was Ryan Newman’s final season competing for Richard Childress Racing before his move to Roush Fenway Racing.

When Newman left Richard Childress Racing, Hemric replaced him, but he used the number 8 instead of the number 31. When Reddick replaced Hemric after the 2019 season, he continued to use the number 8.

The 2022 season is scheduled to get underway with the 64th annual Daytona 500 on Sunday, February 20. This race is set to be broadcast live from Daytona International Speedway on Fox beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET.