NASCAR: 5 possible Joe Gibbs Racing replacements for 2023
By Asher Fair
Possible Joe Gibbs Racing 2023 replacements: No. 3 – Sammy Smith
Like Trevor Bayne, nobody made more starts behind the wheel of Joe Gibbs Racing’s #18 Toyota during the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season than Sammy Smith did. Smith only turned 18 years old in June, so many of his nine starts came in the second half of the 2022 season.
While the results weren’t always there, they don’t tell the full story. In the six starts he actually finished, he posted an average finish of 10.83. He led laps at Watkins Glen International and finished in a season-high third place behind Kyle Larson and A.J. Allmendinger, which is no small feat.
Smith won his second consecutive ARCA Menards Series East championship this year, doing so with five wins in seven races, and he led the ARCA Menards Series in wins with six, despite only competing in 16 of 20 races.
Even with four missed starts — and thus a missed 50-point bonus for competing in all five of the season’s first five races — he still managed to finish in fourth place in the standings, doing so with twice as many wins as the top three drivers combined.
Toyota have to know that if they don’t keep Smith in the family, he is probably going to be scooped up by Chevrolet of Ford in the very near future (not that this has stopped them from losing other talent in the past).
Giving him a full-time opportunity in one of the most competitive rides in the Xfinity Series is a good way to make sure that doesn’t happen.