Ty Gibbs vs. Noah Gragson: The Cup chapter is next – NBC Sports

Ty Gibbs and Noah Gragson ended the 2022 season as something less than best pals.
Across much of last year’s Xfinity Series season, they wrestled and wrecked in search of the championship, and all of the issues bubbled over in the final weekend as they approached the title race at Phoenix Raceway. It was almost as close as two combatants could make it — Gibbs won the race (and the title) by .397 of a second over second-place Gragson, who was charging for the front but ran out of laps.
Their rivalry took a rest for the offseason, but soon they’ll be on the same playing field — although a larger, more important one — again, seeking wins and the Rookie of the Year title in the Cup Series. Gibbs will be driving for his family-owned team, Joe Gibbs Racing, and Gragson moves to Cup with Legacy Motor Club, formerly Petty GMS.
Both drivers were aggressive — sometimes overly so, said some of their competitors — last season, and there is little reason to think their methods of operation will change at the next level. Lack of experience might be their speed limit, but expect them to poke their noses in tight spaces and, perhaps, into each other.
“I don’t like him,” Gragson said of Gibbs approaching last year’s final Xfinity race. “I want to beat him straight up. It pisses him off a lot more.”
In addition to racing at the top level of the Xfinity Series last year, Gragson and Gibbs got some unexpected Cup experience in similar circumstances. Gibbs filled in for Kurt Busch at 23XI Racing after Busch was injured at Pocono Raceway, and Gragson substituted for the injured Alex Bowman at Hendrick Motorsports late in the year. Gragson also drove some Cup races for Kaulig Racing and Beard Motorsports.
Illustrating how tight their competition could be in their first full season in Cup, Gragson and Gibbs recorded very similar statistics in both Cup and Xfinity last year. Gibbs won seven Xfinity races, Gragson eight. Gragson had 26 top 10s, Gibbs 23. In Cup, Gragson had one top five and one top 10, with an average finish of 23.1. Gibbs had one top 10 and an average finish of 22.9.
Although neither pushed their top-flight cars to wins in Cup, that experience is likely to pay big dividends as the 2023 season starts.
“Getting that extra experience, kind of having a preconceived thought of what I should expect for this year — it’s nice having that experience going into this year, not just getting thrown in cold turkey and saying, ‘Go race.’ ” Gragson told NBC Sports.
“The shifting is a lot different now. We have five-speed sequential. At Atlanta, I ran around there for four laps and the whole dash was lit up red. I couldn’t figure out why. I’m like, ‘Oh, shoot, there’s five gears in this thing.’ I’d run around there in fourth gear the whole time and shifted to fifth. So, little things like that that you start to learn about the car and the differences of being so familiar with the Xfinity car and now getting thrown into a different situation — it’s nice to have a little bit of experience.”
Gibbs had a top finish of 10th (at Michigan Speedway) in the 23XI Racing Toyotas.
“I think it was very beneficial to have those Cup races,” he told NBC Sports. “A lot of work, but I learned a lot during those times.”
 
 
It won’t be long before cars are on track for the Feb. 5 Busch Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Before the action takes place there, check out the driver uniforms for the 2023 Cup season.
Listed below are the drivers, based on their car numbers. Driver uniform pictures are not yet available for AJ Allmendinger, Noah Gragson, Erik Jones, Ty Gibbs and Ty Dillon. The rest of the drivers with chartered teams are displayed here.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Veteran crew chief Todd Gordon has been named as Jimmie Johnson’s crew chief as the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion returns to the circuit on a part-time basis.
Gordon, who has been involved in radio work since his retirement at the end of the 2021 season, will lead the No. 84 team at Legacy Motor Club beginning with the season-opening Daytona 500.
Legacy also announced a contract extension with crew chief Dave Elenz, who will continue to work with driver Erik Jones and the No. 43 team. Noah Gragson drives the team’s other full-time entry.
Gordon, 53, scored 21 Cup wins and the 2018 Cup championship with driver Joey Logano at Team Penske. In 2020 and 2021, his final two seasons as a crew chief, he won four races with driver Ryan Blaney.
Gordon has totaled 25 race wins across his Cup career.
“I’m really looking forward to working with another champion that still has the desire to compete and win at the highest level,” Gordon said in a statement released by the team. “In my conversations with Jimmie, I found we both miss the competition but don’t want the grind of a full-time schedule, so this is a great opportunity for us to still race and help Legacy Motor Club build on the success they saw in 2022.”
Johnson said Gordon will give the team a big boost.
“I’m thrilled to have Todd come on board as my crew chief,” he said. “I’ve really enjoyed getting to know him over the last few weeks. I have known and respected him as a competitor for many years and have always appreciated his professionalism, work ethic and results. His wisdom and experience will be beneficial to Legacy Motor Club as a whole.”
Johnson will drive the Next Gen car for the first time Tuesday on the first day of a two-day NASCAR test at Phoenix Raceway.
The new season will be the second for the pairing of Jones and Elenz. In their first year, they won the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway and scored three top-five and 13 top-10 finishes.
 
Tyler Reddick is scheduled to drive a limited NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule this season for Sam Hunt Racing.
Reddick, who will race full-time for Cup team 23XI Racing, will make his first start for SHR at Auto Club Speedway in February. The rest of his schedule has not been announced.
NASCAR rules limit Reddick to five Xfinity races because this will be his fourth season running full-time in the Cup Series. Similarly, Reddick cannot compete in the final eight races of the Xfinity season.
“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to run some races in the Xfinity Series with Sam Hunt Racing,” Reddick said in a statement released by the team. “This is a big year for their team as they move to full-time racing with two cars, and I’m excited to be a part of helping them grow. This is also another great chance to get in a few more races with Team Toyota. As I’ve been preparing for my first season with 23XI Racing in the Cup Series, I’ve been really impressed at the resources provided by Toyota, so I know we’ll show up to the track with a chance to win.”
Reddick owns two Xfinity championships and has won 10 times in the series.
Kaz Grala and Connor Mosack also will drive Xfinity Toyotas for SHR this year.
 
The start of the 2023 racing season is getting closer.
The NASCAR Cup season begins with the Feb. 5 Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum exhibition race before the heading to Daytona for the Feb. 19 Daytona 500.
Here are the Cup, Xfinity and Truck schedules (playoff races in bold), along with the ARCA, ARCA East and ARCA West schedules for the 2023 season (NASCAR races in bold are playoff races):
 
 
March 25    Five Flags Speedway              Pensacola, Fla. 
April 28      Dover Motor Speedway           Dover, Del. 
May 13      Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway    Nashville, Tenn. 
May 20      Flat Rock Speedway              Flat Rock, Mich. 
July 15      Iowa Speedway                  Newton, Iowa 
Aug. 11     Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park  Brownsburg, Ind. 
Aug. 27     The Milwaukee Mile              West Allis, Wisc. 
Sept. 14    Bristol Motor Speedway           Bristol, Tenn. 
 
March 10    Phoenix Raceway                Avondale, Ariz. 
April 1     Irwindale Speedway               Irwindale, Calif. 
April 22    Kern County Raceway Park          Bakersfield, Calif. 
June 2      Portland International Raceway      Portland, Ore. 
June 9      Sonoma Raceway                Sonoma, Calif. 
July 1      Irwindale Speedway               Irwindale, Calif. 
July 29     Shasta Speedway                 Anderson, Calif. 
Aug. 19     Evergreen Speedway             Evergreen, Wash. 
Sept. 30    All-American Speedway            Roseville, Calif. 
Oct. 13     The Bullring at LVMS              Las Vegas, Nev. 
Oct. 21     Madera Speedway                Madera, Calif. 
Nov. 3      Phoenix Raceway                 Avondale, Ariz. 
Each ARCA Menards Series East and West stand-alone race will be streamed live on FloRacing and televised on a delayed basis on USA Network. Race start times, as well as broadcast details for combination races with the ARCA Menards Series will be announced at a later date. 
 

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