NASCAR: The 3 seats still open for the 2023 season

There are just three chartered entries which still need drivers for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season following Front Row Motorsports’ announcement.

Front Row Motorsports confirmed what many expected on Thursday, announcing that both Michael McDowell and Todd Gilliland are set to return to the team for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season.

McDowell is set for his sixth season behind the wheel of the No. 34 Ford, and Gilliland is set for his second season behind the wheel of the No. 38 Ford.

While there was never much doubt that both drivers would be returning to the team in 2023, specifically after the organization confirmed that Zane Smith would be continuing to compete full-time in the Truck Series, this announcement officially means that there are now just three seats open for next season.

Two of those seats are at Rick Ware Racing, the No. 15 Ford and the No. 51 Ford. The No. 15 Ford was shared by multiple drivers during the 2022 season, while the No. 51 Ford was driven full-time by Cody Ware.

Ware is expected to return to the team in 2023.

The other seat is the No. 78 Ford-turned-Chevrolet at Live Fast Motorsports, though that seat isn’t available for all 36 races. The B.J. McLeod and Matt Tifft-owned team recently announced that Josh Bilicki is set to drive the car part-time during the 2023 season, though his exact schedule hasn’t yet been announced.

Since the team entered the series in 2021, McLeod has driven the No. 78 car in all of the oval races, except for the two dirt races at Bristol Motor Speedway. The team have brought in other drivers to fill in for that race and for the road course races.

It appears that they are set for something similar in 2023, with Bilicki reportedly set to make his 2023 debut in the season’s first road course race at Circuit of the Americas on Sunday, March 26.

Does this mean that McLeod is set for another 29-race campaign? Will he and Bilicki be the team’s only two drivers, or will somebody else get the call to compete here and there?

The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season is scheduled to get underway on Sunday, February 19 with the 65th annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. The race is set to be broadcast live on Fox beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET.