NASCAR Cup Series: Driver changes from 2021 to 2022

Several teams have made changes to their driver lineups between the 2021 and 2022 NASCAR Cup Series seasons. Here’s a brief rundown.

Ahead of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, there have been quite a few changes to the driver lineup from last year among several different teams.

Let’s takes a look at where each of these changes were made to the driver lineup between the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

NOTE: Only the 32 cars set to be driven by full-time drivers are included in the list below. (R) means rookie.

Multiple changes

Chip Ganassi Racing*, Chevrolet

*team acquired by Trackhouse Racing Team

• Out: #1 – Kurt Busch
• Out: #42 – Ross Chastain

One change

23XI Racing, Toyota

• In: #45 – Kurt Busch
• No change: #23 – Bubba Wallace

Front Row Motorsports, Ford

• In: #38 – Todd Gilliland (R)
• Out: #38 – Anthony Alfredo
• No change: #34 – Michael McDowell

JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet

• Out: #37 – Ryan Preece
• No change: #47 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Kaulig Racing, Chevrolet

• In: #31 – Justin Haley (drove part-time for the team in the #16 Chevrolet, a part-time entry, in 2021 along with A.J. Allmendinger and Kaz Grala. Allmendinger is set to drive the #16 Chevrolet, now a full-time entry, part-time in 2022 along with Noah Gragson and Daniel Hemric.)

Petty GMS Motorsports*, Chevrolet

*team formed by a merger between Richard Petty Motorsports and GMS Racing

• In: #42 – Ty Dillon
• No change: #43 – Erik Jones

RFK Racing*, Ford

*team renamed from Roush Fenway Racing due to the addition of Brad Keselowski as a third co-owner

• In: #6 – Brad Keselowski
• Out: #6 – Ryan Newman
• No change: #17 – Chris Buescher

Team Penske, Ford

• In: #2 – Austin Cindric (R)
• Out: #2 – Brad Keselowski
• No change: #12 – Ryan Blaney
• No change: #22 – Joey Logano

Trackhouse Racing Team, Chevrolet

• In: #1 – Ross Chastain
• No change: #99 – Daniel Suarez

Wood Brothers Racing, Ford

• In: #21 – Harrison Burton (R)
• Out: #21 – Matt DiBenedetto

No changes

Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet

• #5 – Kyle Larson
• #9 – Chase Elliott
• #24 – William Byron
• #48 – Alex Bowman

Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota

• #11 – Denny Hamlin
• #18 – Kyle Busch
• #19 – Martin Truex Jr.
• #20 – Christopher Bell

Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet

• #3 – Austin Dillon
• #8 – Tyler Reddick

Rick Ware Racing

• #51* – Cody Ware
  • * = formerly a Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet

Spire Motorsports, Chevrolet

• #7 – Corey LaJoie

Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford

• #4 – Kevin Harvick
• #10 – Aric Almirola
• #14 – Chase Briscoe
• #41 – Cole Custer

The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season is scheduled to get underway on Sunday, February 20 with the 64th annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Fox is set to broadcast this race live beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET. Begin your free trial of FuboTV today!