NASCAR: 3 possible replacements for Kyle Busch

Joe Gibbs Racing still have an opening in their “star car” for multiple races on the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule.

Following the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, it was obvious that Joe Gibbs Racing’s driver lineup would look a lot different in 2022. Daniel Hemric vacating the #18 Toyota to join Kaulig Racing as the driver of the #11 Chevrolet and Harrison Burton vacating the #20 Toyota to join the Cup Series with Wood Brothers Racing were only a part of the equation.

Even with the team dropping the #20 Toyota for 2022, that left them with a seat to fill throughout the entire 33-race season.

With Ty Gibbs, the primary driver of the team’s “star car”, the #54 Toyota, being promoted to full-time alongside Brandon Jones in the #19 Toyota, and Kyle Busch, who had long competed in the maximum allowable number of races in the “star car”, retiring after hitting 100 wins last year, that meant Joe Gibbs Racing would need a number of new drivers for the “star car” this year.

So far, three drivers have competed in five races behind the wheel of the “star car”, which is now the #18 Toyota: Trevor Bayne, Drew Dollar and Ryan Truex. They are set to compete in 11 more, and John Hunter Nemechek and Bubba Wallace are set to compete in five others.

But that still leaves 12 races for which Joe Gibbs Racing need to fill the “star car”. Who could they call upon?

Possible Kyle Busch replacements: No. 1 – Christopher Bell

Since becoming a full-time Cup Series driver in the 2020 season following two years with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Xfinity Series team, Christopher Bell hasn’t spent much time in the Xfinity Series. In fact, he didn’t compete in the series at all in 2020.

However, last year, in his first season competing for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Cup Series, he returned to their Xfinity Series team and ran two races, winning at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and placing sixth at Daytona International Speedway.

While the team have already confirmed drivers for the two races at those tracks later this year, there is little reason to believe that he won’t make a return at some point to fill in the “star car” schedule.