NASCAR: Toyota’s other new full-time driver for 2023

In addition to Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota organization Sam Hunt Racing also confirmed a full-time driver for their 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series lineup.

Just two Toyota teams, Joe Gibbs Racing and Sam Hunt Racing, competed full-time during the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, and those two teams are set to be the only two Toyota teams competing full-time in the 2023 season as well.

Both teams made confirmations regarding their 2023 lineups last week. Joe Gibbs Racing needed to replace both of their full-time drivers from 2022, with Ty Gibbs moving to the Cup Series to replace the Richard Childress Racing-bound Kyle Busch and Brandon Jones moving to JR Motorsports to replace the Cup Series-bound Noah Gragson.

They announced that Sammy Smith and John Hunter Nemechek, both of whom spent time behind the wheel of the “star car” during the 2022 season, are set to become their full-time drivers, with Ryan Truex, who also spent time behind the wheel of the “star car”, set to drive it again in select races during the 2023 campaign.

But while Gibbs and Jones were Toyota’s only two full-time drivers during the 2022 season, Smith and Nemechek aren’t the manufacturer’s only two full-time drivers for the 2023 season.

Sam Hunt Racing have only competed in the Xfinity Series since 2019, and they only began competing on a full-time basis in 2021. In all four of their seasons in the series thus far, they have fielded just one entry, the No. 26 Toyota.

But in 2023, they plan to field two entries, and both on a full-time basis.

The second entry, the No. 24 Toyota, is set to do what the No. 26 Toyota has done and serve as a rotational ride. Connor Mosack, who drove in one race for Joe Gibbs Racing and another race for Sam Hunt Racing in 2022, is set to serve as the primary driver of that car in 2023. He is set to compete in 20 of 33 races.

No other part-time drivers have been confirmed for the organization, but they have confirmed their first ever full-time driver: Kaz Grala.

Grala competed part-time in all three national series during the 2022 season, doing so for Chevrolet teams in each. In the Cup Series, he competed in three races for The Money Team Racing, and in the Truck Series, he competed in 12 races for Young’s Motorsports.

In the Xfinity Series, he competed in five races for Big Machine Racing, three races for Alpha Prime Racing, and one race for Jesse Iwuji Motorsports.

Then in the Xfinity Series season finale at Phoenix Raceway, he competed for Sam Hunt Racing for the first time, marking his first Toyota start of any kind since the 2016 K&N Pro Series East season when he drove part-time for Ben Kennedy Racing.

Grala placed 23rd at Phoenix Raceway before landing the full-time ride. He has not competed full-time in any series since 2017, when he drove for GMS Racing in the Truck Series.