NASCAR: 3 possible replacements for Kyle Busch in 2023

Possible Kyle Busch replacements: No. 3 – Tyler Reddick

Tyler Reddick is under contract with Richard Childress Racing through the end of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, team owner Richard Childress confirmed earlier this summer.

Richard Childress Racing picked up an option in Reddick’s contract to keep him behind the wheel of the #8 Chevrolet for next year. However, what the team didn’t do was extend his contract, and Reddick went on to not only earn his first career victory but to sign with 23XI Racing and Toyota for 2024.

The move shocked Richard Childress Racing, which responded by stating that the timing of the announcement could not have been worse.

As a result, Reddick is now set to spend the next year and a half with his current team before switching not only teams but manufacturers.

But is there a chance that he gets out of his deal early, given Richard Childress Racing’s response, especially now that Kyle Busch is set to join the team and they only run two chartered cars?

We have seen instances of drivers signing with new teams early before, so staying behind the wheel of the #8 Chevrolet — or a non-chartered car — isn’t unprecedented, even if awkward.

But in the off chance that Reddick and the team do cut ties early, is Joe Gibbs Racing an option for 2023?

It’s hard to imagine a proven Cup talent such as Reddick joining a top-tier Cup Series team on a one-year deal, but the advantages in this unique scenario are abundant.

First of all, Reddick already knows that his future is secure with 23XI Racing and Toyota, having signed a multi-year deal that runs through at least the 2025 season, so it wouldn’t be a typical one-year deal.

Secondly, it would give him an extra year with Toyota before he joins the Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan-owned team.

And finally, this would give Joe Gibbs Racing the perfect opportunity to allow Ty Gibbs to spend an extra season in the Xfinity Series before being promoted to the Cup Series, preventing them from rushing him simply because a deal wasn’t able to get done with Busch.

With Reddick on a one-year deal, they would know for a fact that he would be out post-2023, so they could effectively do what 23XI Racing did with Reddick: confirm Gibbs for 2024.

With Joe Gibbs Racing and Kyle Busch unable to reach an agreement to keep the latter behind the wheel of the #18 Toyota for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, who will replace him? Will it be one of these three drivers?