NASCAR: Joe Gibbs Racing decision sets up iconic return
By Asher Fair
Following their announcement, Joe Gibbs Racing have vowed to bring back the team’s original NASCAR Cup Series number at some point in the future.
While it wasn’t exactly a secret, Joe Gibbs Racing formally announced that Ty Gibbs is set to replace the Richard Childress Racing-bound Kyle Busch for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Busch left Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota after 15 seasons following the departure of longtime primary sponsor M&M’s. A once promising sponsorship deal, which presumably would have kept him behind the wheel of the #18 Toyota for a 16th year, ultimately fell through.
Joe Gibbs Racing initially wanted Gibbs to run two full seasons in the Xfinity Series before a Cup series promotion, but after winning the 2022 championship following a 2021 season which saw him win four races in 18 starts, they decided that he was more than ready for the promotion.
Gibbs also unexpectedly ran 15 Cup Series races in 2022 as well, doing so as the replacement for the injured Kurt Busch at the Joe Gibbs Racing-affiliated 23XI Racing.
But Gibbs will not replace Kyle Busch behind the wheel of the #18 Toyota.
Instead, Gibbs is set to continue to use the number 54. He used the number 54 for 50 of his 51 Xfinity Series starts and found victory lane in 11 of those races.
The 2023 season is set to be the first season without the number 18 in the Cup Series since 1991, as Joe Gibbs Racing began using the number in 1992.
However, the team indicated that the number 18 is set to return at some point in the future, stating that it is set to be used in the Cup Series “in future years”.
With Gibbs behind the wheel of the #54 Toyota for the foreseeable future, Joe Gibbs Racing’s original car number will likely end up replacing either the number 11, number 19, or number 20.
Denny Hamlin drives the #11 Toyota and is set for his 18th season with the team while Martin Truex Jr. drives the #19 Toyota and is set for his fifth. Christopher Bell drives the #20 Toyota and is set for his third.
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When will the number 18 return to Joe Gibbs Racing’s Cup Series team, and who will drive the #18 Toyota when it does? Which of their current numbers will end up being given up in order for the iconic number to make its comeback?