NASCAR
Toyota Facing Wide Sweeping Changes for 2023 NASCAR Cup Series
After scoring eight NASCAR Cup wins in 2022, Toyota Racing will undergo major offseason changes before 2023. Not one but both Busch brothers are leaving Toyota. As a result, two great talent gaps are left to be filled at Joe Gibbs Racing and 23XI Racing. Each replacement are more than capable drivers who have a lot of upside. Despite that, what many would call a down year for Toyota has question marks surrounding this manufacturer for the new year.
Joe Gibbs Racing
Three of Joe Gibbs Racing’s four drivers totaled six wins in 2022, giving the Toyota powerhouse a very mixed-results year. The only team to make the Championship 4 every year since 2014, JGR did continue this streak. However, off-track issues plagued Gibbs teams at multiple points throughout this season, keeping them from more victories.
For Christopher Bell, 2022 was a big step forward in his trajectory to NASCAR stardom. The Oklahoma native earned three wins and made the Championship 4. Two of Bell’s victories also came under must-win scenarios in Playoff elimination races at the Roval and Martinsville. Bell’s versatility as a driver took a big leap forward in 2022, as the 20 may now be a regular contender. Bell’s final win of 2022 was also a momentous one for JGR, being team victory number 200. Aside from the 20 however, JGR had a down year by their standards.
After a slow start to the season, Denny Hamlin scored two wins by May. Those would be Hamlin’s only triumphs however for the entire year. In position to make a fourth-straight finale appearance, Hamlin was ultimately eliminated by Ross Chastain’s Hail Melon move. The 11’s bid for a first championship will have to go onward into 2023, when Hamlin will be 41-years-old. Hamlin was still near his peak performance this year. However, he is approaching the age range where most driver’s careers begin to taper off.
Despite being the 2021 championship runner-up, Martin Truex Jr. had a largely disappointing 2022. Even with finishing the regular season fourth in points, the 19 missed the Playoffs entirely. Truex did see many potential wins escape his grasp in the regular season, including Richmond, Darlington, Nashville, Gateway, New Hampshire, and more. Signed on for one more year with Joe Gibbs Racing as of June, MTJ will try and return to his winning ways in 2023. Much like Hamlin though, Truex’s age is creeping closer towards a career twilight. The 2017 champion will turn 43 next June, as he hopes to find victory lane again in the new year.
In what turned into his swan song year in the 18, Kyle Busch was very up-and-down. Contract questions swirled around Busch from April to September. As a result, this team failed to ever find a great stretch of consistency. Busch’s lone win of the campaign came all the way back on Easter Sunday, in a lucky last lap at Bristol Dirt. Adding insult to injury for the 18, two engine failures in the Round of 16 saw this team be one of the first eliminated from the Playoffs.
With Busch moving onto the No. 8 at Richard Childress Racing, it is largely believed that reigning Xfinity Series champion Ty Gibbs will inherit the 18. While this announcement is not yet official, the young Gibbs’ talent is an unknown in the NASCAR Cup Series. Through 15 Cup starts in 2022, Gibbs scored just one top-10 and an average finish of 22.9. Gibbs’ raw talent is no question, but he will take time to refine into a Cup Series star. The 18 is perhaps the biggest question mark for the 2023 NASCAR season, as nobody quite knows how Ty Gibbs will fare as a Cup rookie.
23XI Racing
Initially starting off 2022 with drivers Kurt Busch and Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing had their own share of highs and lows. While both drivers picked up a win, that’s only half the 2022 picture from this team. After a July qualifying crash at Pocono, Busch was sidelined for the last 20 races with a concussion. This eventually forced the No. 45 team to withdrew their spot in the Driver’s championship. However, Wallace switched to this car number for the last 10 weeks, racing for an Owner’s title. During this time, Wallace scored his second career win at Kansas. Leading up to this victory, Wallace had the best stretch of his career across the late summer. This late season surge gives Wallace’s team plenty of optimism for a 2023 Playoff run.
Busch would announce late in the year that he is stepping away from full-time racing. This absence in the No. 45 Toyota would be filled by Tyler Reddick, who moves over from Richard Childress Racing a year earlier than planned. Scoring his first three wins in 2022, Reddick’s competitive ceiling is unknown for 2023. On paper, he appears to be a championship-caliber driver who now knows how to fully execute a full Cup Series race. Only time will tell how smooth the Toyota transition goes for Reddick, as he tries to put the 45 back in victory lane.
In the first season with the Next Gen car, Toyota teams as whole were not great or terrible. There were times where multiple Toyotas were the class of the field; likewise races where they were all struggling. Losing Kurt and Kyle Busch as drivers leaves a nearly-irreplaceable gap in the Toyota Racing roster. However, expect big things in the new season for both Gibbs and Reddick. Between these two promising young talents and their veteran star power, Toyota will have a great chance at capturing another Cup title in 2023.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR
