NASCAR: 3 possible replacements for Kyle Busch in 2023
By Asher Fair
Kyle Busch will not sign a new deal to return to Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season. Who will replace him?
Kyle Busch unofficially got NASCAR Cup Series silly season underway with the comments he made back in April at Talladega Superspeedway about not having a deal with Joe Gibbs Racing for 2023 and the possibility of “goodbye” if significant sponsorship could not be found.
Longtime partner M&M’s announced before the 2022 season started that they would not be returning to the #18 Toyota next year, and that caught a lot of people, including Busch and Joe Gibbs Racing, by surprise.
There had been a promising development for Busch and Joe Gibbs Racing on the sponsorship front after Busch’s comments about wanting to have a deal done “yesterday”, but that deal ultimately fell through.
Busch publicly admitted that he would be willing to take a pay cut to remain where he is, and he was even made an offer by Joe Gibbs Racing. But he also admitted he was talking to other teams and had been offered a contract by a number of them, and he ultimately decided to sign with Richard Childress Racing, ending a 15-year relationship with Toyota.
Who could replace the 37-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada native?
Possible Kyle Busch replacements for 2023: No. 1 – Ty Gibbs
The obvious option and clear favorite to replace Kyle Busch is Ty Gibbs, who competes for his grandfather’s team in the Xfinity Series and has impressed since winning in his first start at the Daytona International Speedway road course in February 2021.
A Cup Series promotion for Gibbs is justifiably seen as a matter of when, not if, and with the 19-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina native being backed by Monster Energy, sponsorship doesn’t appear to be an issue.
Joe Gibbs did say that he would like Ty to run two full seasons in the Xfinity Series before promoting him, as he doesn’t want to run the risk of ruining his career by rushing him to the sport’s top level.
While Ty did run 18 of 33 races on the 2021 schedule, that obviously isn’t a full season. What he has done recently, however, is gain Cup Series experience, replacing the injured Kurt Busch at the Joe Gibbs Racing-affiliated 23XI Racing for several races.
In the event that a deal cannot get done with Busch, would one and a half seasons plus several Cup Series races be enough to justify Ty’s promotion to the Cup Series for 2023, or would the team look elsewhere?