NASCAR: The other car that doesn’t have a number for 2023

While much of the focus has been on Jimmie Johnson’s Petty GMS Motorsports entry, another car is still without a number for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Just before the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season ended, seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson announced that he will be returning to the sport in the 2023 season, joining Petty GMS Motorsports as both a part owner and a part-time driver.

Johnson hasn’t competed in the Cup Series since retiring from full-time competition at the end of the 2020 season. He competed part-time in IndyCar in 2021 before becoming a full-time driver in 2022. Shortly after the 2022 season ended, he announced that he would not be returning to the series as a full-time driver in 2023.

While Johnson’s Cup Series return has been confirmed, there are still several key missing details. He is set to make his Petty GMS Motorsports debut in the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, but no other races have been confirmed.

A crew chief hasn’t yet been confirmed either, nor has a car number.

Ever since the announcement of Johnson’s return to the Cup Series, there has been speculation about what number he will run on his Chevrolet entry. But amid all of the excitement about Johnson’s return, there is another part-time entry without a confirmed number for the 2023 season.

Like Johnson, Zane Smith is set to run a part-time schedule throughout the 2023 season, doing so in a third entry for Front Row Motorsports as he continues to compete full-time for the organization in the Truck Series as the reigning champion. He is also set to attempt to qualify for the Daytona 500.

Smith’s part-time entry is also without a confirmed number for the 2023 season. The last time Front Row Motorsports ran a third entry was in 2021, when David Ragan competed in the Daytona 500. He ran the No. 36 Ford in that race. The No. 36 was also the number the organization used when they most recently ran a third full-time entry in 2019 for Matt Tifft.

Smith drives the No. 38 Ford for the team in the Truck Series, but the No. 38 is already used for one of the organization’s two full-time Cup Series entries. The other number run by the team is No. 34. Michael McDowell is set to for a sixth season behind the wheel of the No. 34 Ford in 2023, while Todd Gilliland is set for a second year behind the wheel of the No. 38 Ford.

The 65th annual Daytona 500 is scheduled to get the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season underway on Sunday, February 19. Single-car qualifying for the race is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, February 15, and the two qualifying races are scheduled to take place on Thursday, February 16.