NASCAR Draft Kit: 2023 Xfinity Rankings

This article is part of our NASCAR Draft Kit series.

1. Josh Berry – No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet – Berry's first full season of Xfinity Series racing was a tremendous success last year. The JR Motorsports driver would win three races and collect 20 Top-10 finishes en route to a championship challenging drive. Berry would make a deep playoff run and wind up fourth in the final standings after the championship finale in Phoenix. With Ty Gibbs and Noah Gragson now moved on to the NASCAR Cup Series, it would appear Berry is in the position to be the odds-on favorite to win the 2023 Xfinity Series championship. He returns to the No. 8 JRM team and reunites with crew chief Taylor Moyer, who comes over from the No. 1 team at JRM. The duo worked together throughout the early portion of 2021 when Berry ran a part-time schedule and picked up a victory at the spring Martinsville race. Look for them to be the team to beat in this division of NASCAR.
2. Justin Allgaier – No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet – The 12-season veteran has been a fixture in the Top 5 of the Xfinity Series for years now. Allgaier just completed a three-win, 23 Top-10 finish campaign that saw him race for the championship in the season finale and finish third-place in the final standings. The elusive Xfinity Series championship still evades this driver and team, but 2023 could be the season where Allgaier breaks through to championship glory. At 36-years-old he's showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Allgaier returns to JRM and the No. 7 team, but he'll be teamed with a new crew chief this season. Jim Pohlman takes over for Jason Burdett atop the team's war wagon and the two will look to develop chemistry quickly. Allgaier's 400+ starts in the Xfinity Series and 19 victories make him a legacy driver in this division of NASCAR.
3. John Hunter Nemechek – No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – Nemechek returns full-time to the Xfinity Series after a couple successful years racing in the Craftsman Truck Series. The young driver nabbed seven victories and 31 Top-10 finishes in the last two seasons of that division of NASCAR and now returns for his first full-time Xfinity effort since 2019. Nemechek made 11 starts last year in the Xfinity Series, split between Joe Gibbs Racing and Sam Hunt Racing. He would have some limited success in those outings collecting three Top-5 and four Top-10 finishes. Now with the departure of Ty Gibbs, JGR is willing to put Nemechek in a full-time ride with tons of corporate sponsorship and Ben Beshore at crew chief. It's a situation set up for success and to make a championship push. We'll finally get to see Nemechek's full potential in the Xfinity Series. 
4. Brandon Jones – No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet – Jones' swan song with Joe Gibbs Racing last season netted just one win and 13 Top-10 finishes in what was a mildly disappointing campaign. He now moves on to JRM and the No. 9 team and what he hopes are greener pastures for 2023. This race team stormed to eight victories and 21 Top-5 finishes under the guidance of Noah Gragson last season. While it would be a stretch to expect Jones to equal those feats, he should still get a tremendous boost in terms of performance and post career-best marks in the upcoming season. Jones has 236-career starts in this division of NASCAR, and his best season to this point was his three-win, 19 Top-10 campaign of 2020. The pairing with crew chief Jason Burdett should help to surpass those marks. JRM cars have been dominant recently and bring out the best in drivers. We should get to clearly see what Jones has to offer this season.
5. Chandler Smith – No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet – After an impressive five-win, 28 Top-10 finish campaign for Kaulig Racing last season, AJ Allmendinger makes the move to full-time racing in the NASCAR Cup Series this season. The fantastic car and Kaulig team that helped him to make that happen have tabbed Smith to continue on with that great work in the Xfinity Series. The young driver comes over from the Craftsman Truck Series where he piloted a KBM Toyota to five wins and 25 Top-10 finishes over the past two campaigns. Smith was a championship contender in that division of NASCAR, but came up short of the title the last two seasons. The No. 16 Chevrolet team is well established now and has the sponsorship, leadership and excellence to propel Smith to wins and title contention in the Xfinity Series.
6. Austin Hill – No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet – Hill had a very nice first season with RCR in 2022. The youngster nabbed two victories, 11 Top-5's and 21 Top-10 finishes. It all added up to a career-defining season in his first full Xfinity Series campaign. Now the 28-year-old driver will look to follow up and improve on his sixth-place finish in last year's final driver standings. Hill will return to the No. 21 Chevrolet team and look to continue the good work they started together last season. Andy Street will return to serve as crew chief and build on the two-win campaign they made together. Hill has succeeded at every level of his NASCAR journey, so it's no surprise to see him contending for wins and championships in the Xfinity Series. He'll even get a few part-time Cup starts in the 2023 season.
7. Cole Custer – No. 00 Stewart Haas Racing Ford – Custer makes a full-time return to the Xfinity Series after a three-season cup of coffee in NASCAR's top division. Things didn't quite work out in SHR's Cup car, but he got a pretty favorable landing in the Xfinity Series and the No. 00 Ford entry. Custer is a 10-time winner in this division of NASCAR and finished runner-up in the championship chase in both 2018 and 2019, so he's no stranger to dominating in this series. The 25-year-old Californian made five starts last year in the Xfinity Series and turned some heads with his one victory and three Top-10 finishes in the under-equipped No. 07 Ford of SS-Green Light Racing. Custer is talented and will be eager to succeed in this really good team situation.
8. Sammy Smith – No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – Smith made a successful, part-time debut in this car in the Xfinity Series last season. Now he gets the full-time driver promotion at JGR and will take over the No. 18 Toyota full-time. With that will come all the money, sponsors and resources an 18-year-old driver needs to succeed. Smith nabbed just three Top 10's in his nine starts last season, but gained valuable seat time and experience. He's been a race winner and champion in the lower divisions of NASCAR, so Smith has the driving talent. This transition will take a bit, but he should begin to get some traction early in the upcoming season. Smith and crew chief Jeff Meendering make an intriguing combination.
9. Sam Mayer – No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet – He was overshadowed by much more high-profile rookies last season, but Mayer was the best young driver in the Xfinity Series that didn't get the headlines every week. Mayer made a big splash with the No. 1 JRM team by collecting 11 Top-5 and 19 Top-10 finishes. Although the young driver didn't scratch the win column, Mayer showed incredible maturity and consistency behind the wheel on a weekly basis. The result would be a decent drive into the Xfinity Series playoffs and a final ranking of seventh-place in the driver standings. Mayer will get a new crew chief for season two. Mardy Lindley joins the team and will look to continue Mayer's development as a driver. We would not be surprised to see him crack the win column in 2023 and post even more counting performance stats.
10. Riley Herbst – No. 98 Stewart Haas Racing Ford – Herbst resigned with Stewart Haas Racing in November of last year. He's coming off a career-best campaign of eight Top-5 and 20 Top-10 finishes, however, no victories. Consistency wasn't an issue at all and it led to a career-best average finish of 13.0 for Herbst. With now over 100 starts of experience in this division of NASCAR and turning 24-years-old in February, he's becoming a seasoned young driver. Herbst returns to the same No. 98 SHR team and crew as last season and will look to break through for that first-career win as well as possibly throw his hat in the ring for the championship. He has a lot of unrealized potential to this point in his NASCAR career and a lot of room to grow. The presence of a new teammate, Cole Custer, could also help in that development.
11. Unknown Drivers – No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – Joe Gibbs Racing had Ty Gibbs in this car last season, and it was a championship-winning outfit. Gibbs is gone now, advanced to the Cup Series, but this strong team remains. JGR typically has one of their teams as a "driver rotation" team. Last season it was the No. 18, but that's now Sammy Smith's full-time effort, so the No. 54 could transition into a multi-driver rotation. JGR's rotation car last year accounted for two poles, nine Top-5 and 16 Top-10 finishes and featured drivers like Trevor Bayne, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Truex and Christopher Bell along with a few others. This car has a lot of potential, but is totally dependent on the driver lineup, which remains uncertain as of this writing.  
12. Daniel Hemric – No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet – Hemric returns for another season of racing at Kaulig and the No. 11 team. His first season with this squad was good but fell a bit short of expectations. Hemric was held out of victory lane and nabbed just 14 Top-10 finishes. He would wind up a respectable ninth-place in the final driver standings, but would have liked much more. Hemric will set out to make some gains in the upcoming season and he'll have the entire supporting cast in the Kaulig No. 11 team returning to help that effort, including crew chief  Jason Trinchere. The young driver has always been strong on the intermediate ovals, and since they make up the backbone of the schedule, there's hope for improvement.      
13. Ryan Truex – No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – Truex gets his first shot at full-time Xfinity Series racing since 2018. The exciting news is that he'll take over the No. 19 Toyota of Joe Gibbs Racing. Brandon Jones piloted this car to one win and 13 Top-10 finishes last season, including an eighth-place showing in the points. There's potential here and Truex knows it. The pressure will be on this journeyman driver to put up career-best numbers in 2023. Truex has never visited victory lane in this division of NASCAR and his best season finish is 12th-place in the driver standings (2018). Jason Ratcliff has been tabbed to guide Truex at crew chief, and the team has the capability for him to have a nice season. The pressure will all be on the 30-year-old New Jersey native to perform.
14. Sheldon Creed – No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet – Creed had a nice rookie season in the Xfinity Series last year. The 25-year-old driver grabbed four Top-5 and 13 Top-10 finishes with the No. 2 RCR team to finish the year 14th-place in the final driver standings. Creed would have a close call with victory lane at Darlington, finishing second-place, but that's about as close as the young driver would come to winning. Creed will be back for another season with Richard Childress Racing and by all accounts the team is returning mostly intact, including major primary sponsor, Whelen. Although this is just his second full season in the Xfinity Series, the young driver will be expected to take some steps in development. Finding victory lane will be tough once again, but Creed will need to increase his Top 10 totals if he hopes to keep this seat going forward.
15. Landon Cassill – No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet – Cassill's big promotion to Kaulig Racing last year netted career-best results for the veteran driver. While the 32-year-old veteran didn't break into victory lane, he'd grab five Top-5 and 12 Top-10 finishes before the season was over and finish 13th in the final driver standings. All are great accomplishments for Cassill given his history and racing resume. He's coming back to the No. 10 Kaulig team for a second season of action and another chance to post his first-career win. Cassill proved to be a top performer on the short tracks and intermediate ovals last season, and that's the good news. These tracks make up a vast majority of the schedule so he really just needs to work on his superspeedway and road course racing. Cassill should once again be a dependable and consistent performer in 2023.
16. Ryan Sieg – No. 39 RSS Racing Ford – Sieg's self-owned "little engine that could" team just continues to roll on. The 35-year-old driver posted a career-best mark of 13 Top-10 finishes last season and managed an impressive 11th-place finish in the final point standings of 2022. He managed all that while balancing the driver role with the ownership role. Sieg, crew chief Kevin Starland and the entire No. 39 Ford team will be back in the upcoming campaign. He'll once again look to race with the big, multi-car stables of the Xfinity Series and make some waves in the process. Winning still seems like a slim proposition for Sieg and this race team, but consistency and competitiveness have been rock solid the last four years. Superspeedway and intermediate oval racing seem to be this driver and team's real sweet spot, so that's something to keep in mind in weekly lineup leagues and DFS this season.
17. Jeremy Clements – No. 51 Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet – Clements returns to his self-owned race team again in 2023. The veteran driver knocked out a strong campaign last season, capturing his second-career victory (Daytona), five Top-10 finishes and a respectable 12th-place points effort. Clements brings back the No. 51 Chevrolet and team for another go at making the Xfinity Series playoffs. Now 38 years-old and with over 400 starts of experience in this division of NASCAR, Clements is one of the more seasoned drivers in the series. Equipment held him back for a lot of years, but that's improved fairly dramatically in the last five or six seasons. While he's not expected to race among the elite in this division of NASCAR, Clements does race competitively and consistently as an outgunned single-car team.     
18. Parker Kligerman – No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet – Kligerman makes a full-time return to the Xfinity Series in 2023 for the first time since 2013. This veteran driver has spent the last three seasons racing part-time in the Craftsman Truck Series and enjoying some decent success in that part-time competition. Kligerman grabbed a surprising win (Mid-Ohio) and eight Top-10 finishes in just 12 starts in the No. 75 truck of Henderson Motorsports. He made just three Xfinity Series starts last season, but the lone start he made with Big Machine Racing would net an impressive sixth-place finish at Talladega. Call it a successful "tryout" or "audition", but the performance was enough to earn Kligerman a shot at full-time driving for the team in 2023. Kligerman has close to 200-career starts in NASCAR's top three divisions, and that experience makes him a valuable driver for this team and a good sleeper pick in many fantasy racing leagues.
19. Kaz Grala – No. 26 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota – For the first time in his career, Grala will go full-time racing in the Xfinity Series in the upcoming season. The 24-year-old talent competed in a 10-start schedule last season and earned just one Top-10 and two Top-20 finishes racing for multiple teams. It wasn't an ideal situation, and that will be remedied in 2023 with a full schedule in this solid race team at SHR. Grala now has 44-career starts in this division of NASCAR and a surprising 10 Top-10 finishes despite the lack of consistent seat time and varying teams. Big ovals and road courses seem to be Grala's strength and that's a fact to keep in mind when considering this driver and team for weekly lineup leagues or daily fantasy racing. Sam Hunt Racing was able to nab five Top-10 finishes last year employing a multi-driver approach. We believe they'll be even better with the consistency of Grala behind the wheel every week.   
20. Anthony Alfredo – No. 78 B.J. McLeod Motorsports Chevrolet – Alfredo moves from Our Motorsports to B.J. McLeod Motorsports in 2023. He's been signed to drive the No. 78 entry which was piloted by Josh Williams and a number of other drivers last season. The conglomerate wasn't very effective or performance-filled, so it's hoped that Alfredo's steady presence behind the wheel will significantly boost this team's performance. Alfredo collected four Top-10 finishes last season and ended the campaign a respectable 15th-place for Our Motorsports, so there's good potential with this journeyman driver. He'll be paired with veteran crew chief Pat Tryson and the two should have little trouble making headway early in the 2023 season.   
21. Brett Moffitt – No. 25 AM Racing Ford – Over the past three seasons, Moffitt has been making the transition from the Craftsman Truck Series to racing mostly in the Xfinity Series. He's bounced around at different teams, and the lack of continuity has hurt his overall performance. Moffitt is a multi-time winner and past champion in the truck series, so talent is unquestionable. However, it's been tough for him to make the transition with a high level of performance to the Xfinity Series. He'll be starting with another new race team this year as AM Racing is looking to expand and have tabbed Moffitt to be their anchor in the driver's seat. With just five Top-10 finishes all of last season in the Xfinity Series, Moffitt is looking to hit the reset button this year. However, it will be a tall task getting traction anytime soon with a new race team.
22. Jeb Burton – No. 27 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet – Burton had a bit of a perplexing season with Our Motorsports last year. He failed to crack the Top 10 in a single race and he collected eight DNF's in what was a struggled filled campaign. Burton will look to hit the reset button in 2023 and with a new race team. The veteran driver comes over to Jordan Anderson Racing as the outfit looks to expand into a second team in the Xfinity Series this season. Burton has a rock-solid sponsorship lineup and hopes that the change of scenery spurs him back to some form of more competitive racing. He'll likely never achieve the same level of performance he had at Kaulig Racing in 2021 (1 win and 16 Top 10's), however, Burton should be able to make some gains getting out of what was a stagnant situation last year.
23. Unknown Driver – No. 23 Our Motorsports Chevrolet – As of this writing, Our Motorsports has yet to name a driver for the 2023 season. However, this team is expected to remain a full-time effort in the coming year. Anthony Alfredo piloted this Chevrolet last season to four Top 10's and 13 Top-15's in a competitive effort, finishing 14th-place in the final driver standings. With this team and crew chief Pat Tryson comes ability and potential, but the question mark at this point remains the driver. This team could very easily slide up in the rankings if a capable and talented pilot is found.  
24. Parker Retzlaff – No. 31 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet – Youngster Retzlaff will take over the No. 31 Chevrolet and replace Myatt Snider at Jordan Anderson Racing. Snider struggled to just four Top 10's in this car last season, so the option to move him out in favor of Retzlaff was made by the team. The 19-year-old talent made just nine starts last year between two different teams with one Top-10 and three Top-15 finishes to his credit.  It was a good intro to this division of NASCAR and good setup to his first full-time action and rookie season. Retzlaff has been on a pretty steady climb up the NASCAR development ladder, despite not having stellar lower league stats and accomplishments. Still, being paired with this very capable race team makes the young talent an intriguing driver to watch in 2023.
25. Garrett Smithley – No. 99 B.J. McLeod Motorsports Chevrolet – Smithley has mostly raced part-time the past three seasons, bouncing between the Cup Series and Xfinity Series in competition. BJMM has signed the veteran driver to race the No. 99 Chevrolet full-time in the upcoming season. This team was a part-time operation last year for the team, but will be moving to full-time under the direction of Lee Leslie at crew chief. Smithley has 145 career-starts in this division of NASCAR as well as 76 total Cup Series starts. He's a very seasoned driver at 30-years-old. Smithley will look to challenge the Top 20 in the driver standings by year's end and hopefully post a few Top-10 finishes along the way.
26. Connor Mosack – No. 24 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota – Sam Hunt Racing is expanding to two teams in the upcoming season and they have tabbed Mosack to handle the driving duties of the No. 24 entry. The youngster made just two starts all of last season and earned a best finish of 15th-place at Watkins Glen. Mosack cut his teeth in the CARS Late Model Stock tour and has continued grooming his skills in the various ARCA/Menards Series. He's now ready to take on his first full season of racing in the Xfinity Series in pursuit of the Rookie of the Year honors. Mosack with Kris Bowen at crew chief and look to get this team established. There are a lot of lessons to be learned in what is sure to be an up-and-down campaign, but Mosack's strengths seem to be intermediate and larger oval racing.
27. Alex Labbe – No. 36 DGM Racing Chevrolet – At the time of this writing, it hasn't been confirmed that Labbe is returning to the No. 36 Chevrolet of DGM Racing, but it's most likely a certainty. The veteran Canadian driver has been with this team for the past three seasons and has posted respectable results with the outfit. Labbe collected three Top-10 and 16 Top-20 finishes en route to a respectable 19th-place points finish for the second consecutive season. Team owner/crew chief Mario Gosselin will likely continue call the shots for Labbe as they look to continue making gains in this division of NASCAR. The 30-year-old driver's consistency has improved incrementally in the last three campaigns, and we'll see if that trend continues in 2023. 
28. Bayley Currey – No. 4 JD Motorsports Chevrolet – Currey has earned another shot at the No. 4 Chevrolet of JDM. His rookie season of last year netted one Top-10 and five Top-15 finishes. It all worked out to a respectable 20th-place finish in the final point standings. It wasn't overly impressive, but it was competitive racing that saw Currey finish on the lead lap more often than not and limit his DNF's to just five for the season. It was a good start for this young driver with this established multi-car team. Currey will look to keep on building his experience and skill in 2023 with the help of Wayne Carroll at crew chief. The two will look to build on what they started in Currey's rookie campaign last year. At 26-years-old, he's more mature than most young drivers with 100-career Xfinity Series starts, so growth should come.                             
29. Josh Williams – No. 92 DGM Racing Chevrolet – The veteran had a struggled filled 2022 season with multiple race teams. Williams started out last season with the No. 78 entry of B.J. McLeod Motorsports, but lack of performance and several DNQ's would put that team in the hole early last season. Williams would eventually move into a DGM entry in the latter third of the season and show some signs of life. He would earn one Top-15 and five Top-25 finishes in those final 10 events of last year. The outlook improved and DGM has decided to retain Williams to pilot the No. 92 Chevrolet for 2023. In a previous stint with this team in 2020, Williams earned six Top-10 finishes and wound up a respectable 15th-place in the driver points that season, so there's an abundance of optimism heading into the upcoming season.
30. Jeffrey Earnhardt – No. 44 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet – Alpha Prime Racing is looking to grow and to find more consistency in 2023, so they've signed veteran Earnhardt to pilot their No. 44 entry in the upcoming campaign. This car employed multiple drivers to mixed results in 2022. They earned one Top-10 and 14 Top-20 finishes vs. 9 DNF's last year with a driver rotation that got dizzying at times. Earnhardt will hope to stabilize this team and even out their performance over the 33-race schedule. He earned one Top-5 and two Top-10 finishes last season in only a 13-start slate, so Earnhardt will be excited to return to full-time action. Alpha Prime is growing and will suffer some growing pains as a result, but Earnhardt gives them a good shot at stability behind the wheel.
31. J.J. Yeley – No. 66 Motorsports Business Management Ford/Toyota/Chevrolet – Yeley has not been confirmed at the time of this writing, but is expected to return to the No. 66 car of MBM in 2023. The veteran driver earned two Top-10 and nine Top-20 finishes in a 30-start schedule last season. Yeley would end up a respectable 24th-place in the final driver standings as a result of this competitive level of racing. Assuming this team tabs Yeley to be pilot again in the upcoming season, it's likely George Church will return at crew chief and continue building on what he and Yeley accomplished last season. The duo brings some modestly good potential to superspeedway and road course events. Those were the tracks they had the most success on in 2022.
32. Josh Bilicki/Multiple Drivers – No. 91 DGM Racing Chevrolet – It took some time for this team to get some traction last season, but it did finally. It was a heavy dose of Mason Massey behind the wheel with a bit of Preston Pardus thrown in for good measure. The duo collected two Top-10 and seven Top-20 finishes. Bilicki has agreed to run select races with the team in the upcoming campaign and that adds some value. However, at the point of this writing the rest of the driver lineup has not been announced. Massey and Pardus could return or the team could opt for other pilots in 2023. The multiple question marks have us tentatively ranking the team 32nd going into the new season.
33. Brennan Poole – No. 6 JD Motorsports Chevrolet – Veteran Poole takes over the team's No. 6 Chevrolet from the outgoing Ryan Vargas. The latter struggled to just one Top-10 and six Top-20 finishes last season with this race team. Poole will partner with crew chief Kase Kallenbach and look to take this team to greater heights in 2023. Poole would make just 10 starts last season in a part-time effort, but the final three starts would come with this race team as they rounded out the year. He hasn't raced full-time in this division of NASCAR since 2017, but Poole has shown ability in the past. The veteran driver has grabbed eight Top-5 and 36 Top-10 finishes in just 93-career Xfinity Series starts. While this team can't likely carry Poole to those heights, they can be much more competitive than they've been recently.        
34. Ryan Ellis – No. 43 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet – Alpha Prime is expanding to three cars in 2023 and they've signed Ellis to drive their No. 43 entry. Ellis competed part-time for this team last season, making 11 starts and earning five Top-20 finishes and a 22.9 average finish for the campaign. He gets the promotion to a near full-time slate of 24 or more starts in the No. 43 Chevrolet in 2023. Sponsorship has lined up behind the effort and will put Ellis in as many races as they can in the upcoming season. Intermediate ovals appear to be this driver and team's strength, so Ellis holds some fantasy racing value on those style tracks.
35. Kyle Larson/Other Drivers – No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet – This car would be among the elite tier if they ran a full Xfinity Series schedule. However, the No. 17 Chevrolet is only planned for a handful of events in 2023 with Larson mostly driving those races. Larson, William Byron and Alex Bowman combined to make four starts in this car last year and to good effect. The trio grabbed two pole positions, led 71 combined laps and grabbed three Top-5 finishes, including two runner-up efforts. They'll likely compete in a similar four-race slate this season with a heavy emphasis on road course racing. Any time this team takes to the track, they'll be a major threat to win, so keep an eye out for the entry lists and don't hesitate to deploy them in weekly lineup and DFS leagues.
36. Matt Mills/Other Drivers – No. 5 B.J. McLeod Motorsports Chevrolet – Mills and a supporting cast of multiple drivers made this small race team pretty competitive last season. The effort would lead to two Top-10 and six Top-20 finishes. While Mills would only make 14 of the starts for the team, they'd earn some good returns with the very capable supporting pilots of the No. 5 Chevrolet. Scheduling plans have not been announced as of this writing for the BJMM team. If Mills splits this car again with a similar driver lineup we should expect to see comparable results. The 26-year-old driver is still learning the ropes, but should continue to improve over time.
37. Blaine Perkins – No. 07 SS Green Light Racing Chevrolet – Youngster Perkins replaces Joe Graf Jr. in the seat of the No. 07 Chevrolet in the upcoming season. Amazingly, this team won last season with Cole Custer behind the wheel in a spot start at Fontana, otherwise it was a struggle-filled season with Graf driving. The team will look to hit the reset button with Perkins in 2023. The young driver has been pretty successful in the lower divisions of NASCAR and has actually made 13 Xfinity Series starts over the last two seasons. This No. 07 team showed good potential with guest drivers Custer and Hailie Deegan last year, so it's hoped that a capable young driver will carry them to better performance in the upcoming season.
38. Jesse Iwuji/Kyle Weatherman – No. 34 Jesse Iwuji Motorsports Chevrolet – Iwuji split his Chevrolet with Weatherman last season. It looks like the same arrangement could be in store for 2023. Weatherman had the most success, making 18 starts and grabbing one Top-10 and 10 Top-20 finishes. Iwuji isn't quite as experienced and polished as Weatherman, so the level of performance dropped in his 11 starts, although he did produce a surprising 11th-place finish in the summer Daytona race. Iwuji would like to eventually expand into two race teams, but that's not likely to happen in 2023. Instead, he'll just focus on better racing and getting the No. 34 entry more competitive.     
39. Joey Gase/Shane Lee/Patrick Emerling – No. 35 Emerling-Gase Motorsports Ford/Toyota – This driving conglomerate will return for the upcoming season. They raced the full schedule in 2022, but found being competitive a bit too far out of reach. Still, Gase and his co-pilots was able to remain running at the end of races and limited their DNF's to just five. They only were able to produce eight Top-20 finishes for the full campaign. The plans are for the team to expand into two cars in 2023, although at the time of this writing it's not very clear how that will affect the driver rotation for this particular car. The lack of consistency behind the wheel and the obvious lack of resources are the biggest challenges for the No. 35 team.
40. Sage Karam/Stefan Parsons/Leland Honeyman – No. 45 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet – Alpha Prime Racing is going to field three cars this season and this one will be their driver rotation team. Parsons will likely get the most starts with Karam getting a good dose of the road course action. Honeyman is a young talent and will only get a handful of select starts. The was a driver rotation team last season and only nabbed one Top-10 and four Top-15 finishes. Frank Kerr could be potentially returning to the crew chief position to head up things again. Due to the inconsistency behind the wheel, this will likely be the least-performing of the three Alpha Prime cars.