NASCAR: 3 possible car numbers for Jimmie Johnson in 2023
By Asher Fair
Jimmie Johnson landing spots: No. 2 – No. 94 Chevrolet
Before Richard Petty Motorsports and GMS Racing merged to form Petty GMS Motorsports ahead of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, Richard Petty Motorsports had planned on continuing to run one entry, the No. 43 Chevrolet, for Erik Jones. Jones joined the team in 2021 after Bubba Wallace left for 23XI Racing.
GMS Racing, which had never before competed at the sport’s top level, had planned on entering a car for Ty Dillon. While Dillon did end up competing for the newly formed Petty GMS Motorsports, he did not do so with the number that GMS Racing had initially planned on running.
The plan was for Dillon to drive the No. 94 Chevrolet, and he even tested that car late in the 2021 season at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval and early in the ensuing offseason at the track’s oval. But upon the merger with Richard Petty Motorsports, the decision was made to use the No. 42 instead, as a nod to the Petty family legacy.
With the team already running two car numbers, No. 42 and No. 43, with deep ties to the Petty family on a full-time basis, could a third part-time entry revert back to the number the team’s other owners were originally going to use? They obviously can’t use the No. 48 for Johnson, so this might be the next best option.