With just 46 days to go before the green flag drops for the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500, this is a brief look at 2021 driver stats and what’s ahead in the new season. Kurt Busch and others in the NASCAR Cup, Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series will be covered this week. Since many teams have yet to firm up their 2022 plans, follow NASCAR Headlines and “Player” News on this website for the latest updates. The tentative list of Cup Driver/Team lineups shown below is for those who plan on entering all events, including teams with multiple drivers splitting time in one car.
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
2021: Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing #20 Toyota Camry), a Norman, Oklahoma native, entered all 36 NCS races. He scored one win (the February 21st race at the Daytona Road Course), seven top-five and 16 top-ten finishes, had an 11.5 average start, a 15.8 average finish and led 100 laps. With the win, Bell earned a spot in the 2021 NCS Playoffs Round of 16. He advanced to the Round of 12 but was eliminated from the Playoffs before the start of the Round of 8. Bell closed out the season 12th in the NCS driver standings. Bell also entered two Xfinity Series races in the JGR shared #52 Toyota. He won at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and finished 6th in the August race at Daytona.
2022: Bell is scheduled to return for another full season in JGR’s #20 Camry. Adam Stevens will also return as crew chief for the team.
2021: Kurt Busch (Chip Ganassi Racing #1 Chevrolet Camaro), a Las Vegas, Nevada native, entered all 36 NCS races. He scored one win (the July 11th race at Atlanta Motor Speedway), six top-five and 14 top-ten finishes, had a 14.6 average start, a 15.5 average finish and led 208 laps. With the win, Busch earned a spot in the 2021 NCS Playoffs Round of 16 but was eliminated before the Round of 12.
2022: CGR closed up shop at the end of 2021 season leaving Kurt Busch without a ride. The Michael Jordon and Denny Hamlin owned 23XI Racing organization expanded to a two-car team in 2022. Busch was hired to drive the new #45 Toyota Camry as a teammate to Bubba Wallace (#23 Toyota). Monster Energy followed Busch to the #45. McDonald’s will also cover multiple races. Billy Scott was picked to be #45 teams crew chief and Jason Jarrett, son of Dale Jarrett, will be on the spotter stand as Busch’s eye-in-the-sky.
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
2021: Jeremy Clements (Jeremy Clements Racing #51 Chevrolet Camaro), a Spartanburg, South Carolina native, entered all 33 NXS races. He scored eight top-tens, had a 13.7 average start, a 16.4 average finish and led 5 laps. His best finish was 6th place in the May 8th race at Darlington Raceway. Clements earned a spot in the 2021 NXS Playoffs Round of 12 but was eliminated before the Round of 8. He closed out the season 12th in the NXS driver standings.
2022: Clements, owner/driver of the #51 Chevy will return for another season. With sponsorship from First Pacific Funding, All South Electric and Fly & Form Structures, he has every race covered for the upcoming season.
2021: Riley Herbst (Stewart-Haas Racing #98 Ford Mustang), a Las Vegas, Nevada native, entered all 33 NXS races. He scored five top-fives, 13 top-tens, had an average start of 13.3, an average finish of 17.1 and led 57 laps. His best finish was 3rd place in the September 17th race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Herbst earned a spot in the 2021 NXS Playoffs Round of 12 but was eliminated before the Round of 8. He closed out the season 11th in the NXS driver standings. Herbst also entered the NASCAR Truck Series race on the Daytona Road Course driving David Gilliland’s #51 Ford F-150. He started 25th and finished 5th.
2022: Herbst will return to SHR’s #98 Ford Mustang. Richard Boswell will again serve as crew chief for the team and Monster Energy will also continue as primary sponsor.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NTS)
2021: Johnny Sauter (ThorSport Racing #13 Toyota Tundra), a Necedah, Wisconsin native, entered all 22 NTS races. He scored five top-fives, eight top-tens, had a 12.9 average start, a 16.6 average finish and led 36 laps. His best finishes were 4th places in the April 17th race at Richmond Raceway and the September 24th race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Sauter closed out the season ranked 12th in the NTS driver standings.
2022: Nothing firm yet but Sauter will likely return for another season in ThorSport’s #13 Toyota Tundra. He will have a new crew chief since Joe Shear Jr. is no longer listed in that position for the team. No announcement yet on his replacement.
2021: Grant Enfinger, a Fairhope, Alabama native, entered 21 of the 22 NTS races. He drove 12 in ThorSport Racing’s #98 Toyota Tundra and 9 in Codie Rohrbaugh’s #9 Chevrolet Silverado. Enfinger scored six top-fives, 11 top-tens, had a 17.5 average start, a 12.4 average finish and led 125 laps. His best finish was 2nd place in the September 16 race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Enfinger closed out season ranked 11th in the NTS driver standings.
2022: Enfinger has signed on as the full-time driver of the GMS Racing #23 Chevrolet Silverado. His contract extends through the 2024 season. Champion Power Equipment will cover expenses as the primary sponsor for most races in both seasons. Enfinger’s crew chief has not been announced at this time.
2022 Tentative NCS Series Team Chart
| Car | Driver | Owner | Crew Chief | Sponsor |
| 1 Chevy | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | Phil Surgen | To Be Announced |
| 2 Ford | Austin Cindric R | Team Penske | Jeremy Bullins | Menards, Discount Tire |
| 3 Chevy | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Justin Alexander | To Be Announced |
| 4 Ford | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Rodney Childers | GearWrench |
| 5 Chevy | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Cliff Daniels | HendrickCars.com |
| 6 Ford | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Matt McCall | Violet Defense, Fastenal |
| 7 Chevy | Corey LaJoie | Spire Motorsports | Ryan Sparks | To Be Announced |
| 8 Chevy | Tyler Reddick | Richard Childress Racing | Randall Burdett | To Be Announced |
| 9 Chevy | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Alan Gustafson | NAPA Auto Parts, Adrenaline Shoc, Kelley Blue Book, Hooters, Llumar |
| 10 Ford | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Drew Blickensderfer | To Be Announced |
| 11 Toyota | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chris Gabehart | FedEx |
| 12 Ford | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Jonathan Hassler | Advance Auto Part, BodyArmour, Menards, DEX Imaging, Discount Tire |
| 14 Ford | Chase Briscoe | Stewart-Haas Racing | John Klausmeier | To Be Announced |
| 15 Ford | To Be Announced | Rick Ware Racing | Pat Tryson | To Be Announced |
| 16 Chevy | AJ Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Matt Swiderski | To Be Announced |
| 16 Chevy | Noah Gragson | Kaulig Racing | Matt Swiderski | To Be Announced |
| 16 Chevy | Daniel Hemric | Kaulig Racing | Matt Swiderski | To Be Announced |
| 17 Ford | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Scott Graves | Fastenal, Castrol, Fifth Third Bank, Violet Defense |
| 18 Toyota | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Ben Beshore | M&Ms, Skittles, Pedigree, Interstate Batteries, Sports Clips, STANLEY |
| 19 Toyota | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | James Small | To Be Announced |
| 20 Toyota | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Adam Stevens | To Be Announced |
| 21 Ford | Harrison Burton R | Wood Brothers Racing | Brian Wilson | Motorcraft/Quick Lane, Menards |
| 22 Ford | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Paul Wolfe | To Be Announced |
| 23 Toyota | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Bootie Barker | McDonald’s, Wheaties, Leidos |
| 24 Chevy | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Rudy Fugle | Axalta, Liberty University, Valvoline |
| 31 Chevy | Justin Haley | Kaulig Racing | To Be Announced | To Be Announced |
| 34 Ford | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | To Be Announced | To Be Announced |
| 38 Ford | Todd Gilliland R | Front Row Motorsports | Seth Barbour | To Be Announced |
| 41 Ford | Cole Custer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Mike Shiplett | Haas Automation / HaasTooling.com |
| 42 Chevy | Ty Dillon | Petty GMS Motorsports | Jerame Donley | To Be Announced |
| 43 Chevy | Erik Jones | Petty GMS Motorsports | Dave Elenz | FOCUSfactor, U.S. Air Force |
| 45 Toyota | Kurt Busch | 23XI Racing | Billy Scott | Monster Energy, McDonald’s |
| 47 Chevy | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | To Be Announced | To Be Announced |
| 48 Chevy | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Greg Ives | Ally Financial |
| 52 Ford | To Be Announced | Rick Ware Racing | Jason Houghtaling | To Be Announced |
| 53 Ford | To Be Announced | Rick Ware Racing | To Be Announced | To Be Announced |
| 77 Chevy | To Be Announced | Spire Motorsports | To Be Announced | To Be Announced |
| 78 Ford | BJ McLeod | Live Fast Motorsports | Frank Kerr | To Be Announced |
| 99 Chevy | Daniel Suarez | Trackhouse Racing | Travis Mack | Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge |
| R - Sunoco Rookie of The Year contender |
