NASCAR: Joe Gibbs Racing confirm driver for No. 18 Toyota

Joe Gibbs Racing have made the first confirmation about their 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series lineup, announcing the driver of the No. 18 Toyota.

With Kyle Busch leaving Joe Gibbs Racing after 15 seasons to join Richard Childress Racing for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, Ty Gibbs, son of team owner Joe Gibbs, got the call to move from the Xfinity Series to the Cup Series as Busch’s replacement. Ty is set to drive the No. 54 Toyota, renumbered from No. 18, during the 2023 season.

Ty spent the last two seasons behind the wheel of the No. 54 Toyota in the Xfinity Series. He competed part-time in 2021, winning four races, and won the championship with a seven-win season in his first year as a full-time driver in 2022.

Joe Gibbs Racing also lost Brandon Jones from their Xfinity Series lineup. After spending five years with the team behind the wheel of the No. 19 Toyota, he decided to move to JR Motorsports for 2023, replacing the Cup Series-bound Noah Gragson behind the wheel of the No. 9 Chevrolet.

Now Joe Gibbs Racing have confirmed the first driver in their NASCAR Xfinity Series lineup for the 2023 season.

Sammy Smith, who competed for the team behind the wheel of the No. 18 Toyota, also known as the “star car”, in nine races during the 33-race 2022 season is set to drive the No. 18 Toyota full-time in 2023.

Pilot Flying J is set to serve as his primary sponsor, joining partners Allstate Peterbilt, Renda Group, Sinclair Tractor, and Mobil 1 in supporting his efforts. Jeff Meendering, who had been Jones’s crew chief, is set to serve as Smith’s crew chief.

The 18-year-old Johnston, Iowa native won the 2021 and 2022 ARCA Menards Series East championships with Joe Gibbs Racing and Kyle Busch Motorsports, respectively. He also won six races in 16 starts during the 20-race 2022 ARCA Menards Series season.

He finished in fourth place in the ARCA championship standings behind three full-time drivers. Had he competed in the four races he missed, he would have received not only additional points from those races but a 50-point bonus like the full-timers did, and he probably would have won the title. He won twice as many races as the top three drivers combined.

In his nine Xfinity Series starts, he recorded a top finish of third place at Watkins Glen International. In the six races he finished, his average finish was 10.83.

The team have not confirmed how many cars they will run in 2023, nor whether or not they will continue to run a separate “star car” for multiple drivers like they have done in the past. Aside from Smith, eight drivers competed in at least one race behind the wheel of the “star car” in 2022. It is likely that they will sign at least one more full-time driver for 2023.