With just 53 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. Tyler Reddick 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: Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports #48 Chevrolet Camaro). a Tucson, Arizona native, entered all 36 NCS races. He scored four wins: Richmond (Apr 18), Dover (May 16), Pocono (Jun 26) and Martinsville (Oct 31). He also logged eight top-five and 16 top-ten finishes, had a 13.7 average start, a 15.1 average finish and led 161 laps. Bowman 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 Round of 8. Bowman closed out the season 14th in the NCS driver standings.
2022: After signing a two-year extension with Hendrick Motorsports, Bowman will be behind the wheel of the #48 Camaro through the 2023 season. Ally Financial sponsorship has also extended for two more years. Greg Ives will continue as crew chief for the team.
2021: Tyler Reddick (Richard Childress Racing #8 Chevrolet Camaro), a Corning, California native, entered all 36 NCS races. He scored three top-five and 16 top-ten finishes, had a 15.4 average start, a 15.0 average finish and led 43 laps. His best finishes were 2nd place at Homestead-Miami (Feb 28) and Charlotte Road Course (Oct 10). Reddick earned a spot in the 2021 NCS Playoffs Round of 16 by finishing 15th in the point standings at the end of the “regular” season. He failed to advance to the Round of 12. Reddick did well as a non-playoff competitor and earned enough points to close out the season two spots higher at 13th in the overall standings.
2022: The return to RCR’s #8 will mark Tyler Reddick’s third season in NASCAR’s top series under the direction of Randall Burnett, crew chief for the Chevrolet team.
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
2021: Ryan Sieg (RSS Racing #39 Ford Mustang), a Tucker, Georgia native, entered all 33 NXS races. He scored two top-fives (5th place at Talladega-Apr 24 and Kansas-Oct 23), seven top-tens, had a 17.7 average start, an 18.6 average finish and led 33 laps. Sieg closed out the season 14th in the NXS driver standings.
2022: Sieg will return to his family-owned Mustang for another season. Kevin Starland continues as crew chief. CMR Roofing announced that they will also return as the #39’s full-time primary sponsor for the third year. New for 2022: RSS has hired Parker Retzlaff to pilot a newly-added second car to compete as Ryan’s teammate in at least 10 Xfinity races. Car number and other details will be announced soon.
2021: Ty Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing #54 Toyota Supra), a Charlotte, North Carolina native, entered 18 of the 33 NXS races. He scored four wins (Daytona Road Course-Feb 20, Charlotte-May 29, Watkins Glen-Aug 7 and Kansas-Oct 23), nine top-fives, 10 top-tens, had an average start of 11.3, an average finish of 10.0 and led 244 laps. Gibbs closed out the season 13th in the NXS driver standings. He also dominated in the 2021 ARCA Menards Series. Driving his grandfather’s #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in all 20 AMS races, Gibbs won 10 races, scored 19 top-tens, had an average start of 2.0, an average finish of 3.0 and won the 2021 AMS Championship.
2022: Ty Gibbs’ 2022 season not firm yet but Interstate Batteries has already announced primary sponsorship for him in three races driving one of JGR’s NXS cars. He will also probably attempt to defend his ARCA Menards championship as well.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NTS)
2021: Austin Wayne Self (AM Racing #22 Chevrolet Silverado), an Austin, Texas native, entered all 22 NTS races. He scored four top-tens, had a 17.0 average start and a 17.6 average finish. His best finish was 8th place in the September 24th race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Self closed out the season ranked 14th in the NTS driver standings.
2022: Self has piloted the family-owned #22 truck full-time for the past six seasons. Unless something changes in the next couple of weeks, he will return for another one.
2021: Derek Kraus (McAnally-Hilgemann Racing #19 Toyota Tundra), a Stratford, Wisconsin native, entered all 22 NTS races. He scored one top-five at July 9 at the Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway, logged four top-tens, had a 16.0 average start, a 19.7 average finish and led 58 laps. Kraus closed out season ranked 13th in the NTS driver standings.
2022: MHR is operating from a GMS Racing building this season. With this alliance, they will switch from Toyota Tundras to Chevrolet Silverados in 2022. MHR also expanded to a two-truck operation adding Colby Howard as driver of the yet to be numbered new Silverado. Looks like Kraus will be returning to the #19 truck but MHR is still negotiating his contract 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 | Mike Bugarewics | 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 |
| 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 |
