The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series saw 36 chartered teams (those who own a charter guaranteeing them entry into every championship race) and several open entries compete throughout the season.
Teams and drivers Chartered teams Manufacturer Team Driver Crew chief Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports 5 Kyle Larson Cliff Daniels Kevin Meendering 9 Chase Elliott Alan Gustafson Tom Gray Josh Berry Jordan Taylor Corey LaJoie Corey LaJoie is running the full season split between the No. 7 Spire Motorsports car and the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports car. 24 William Byron Rudy Fugle Brian Campe 48 Alex Bowman Blake Harris Greg Ives Josh Berry JTG Daugherty Racing 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Mike Kelley Kaulig Racing 16 A. J. Allmendinger Matt Swiderski 31 Justin Haley Trent Owens Eddie Pardue Legacy Motor Club 42 Noah Gragson (R) Luke Lambert Grant Enfinger Josh Berry Mike Rockenfeller Carson Hocevar John Hunter Nemechek 43 Erik Jones Dave Elenz Joey Cohen Danny Efland Live Fast Motorsports 78 B. J. McLeod George Ingram Josh Bilicki Anthony Alfredo Sheldon Creed Richard Childress Racing 3 Austin Dillon Keith Rodden Justin Alexander 8 Kyle Busch Randall Burnett Spire Motorsports 7 Corey LaJoie Ryan Sparks Carson Hocevar 77 Ty Dillon Kevin Bellicourt Kevin Manion Peter Sospenzo Trackhouse Racing 1 Ross Chastain Phil Surgen 99 Daniel Suárez Travis Mack Ford Front Row Motorsports 34 Michael McDowell Travis Peterson 38 Todd Gilliland Todd Gilliland is running the full season split between the No. 38 and 36 Front Row Motorsports cars and the No. 15 and 51 Rick Ware Racing cars. Ryan Bergenty Zane Smith RFK Racing 6 Brad Keselowski Matt McCall 17 Chris Buescher Scott Graves Rick Ware Racing 15 Riley Herbst Billy Plourde Jerry Kelley J. J. Yeley Todd Gilliland Jenson Button Brennan Poole Gray Gaulding Andy Lally Ryan Newman 51 Cody Ware Jerry Kelley Billy Plourde Matt Crafton Zane Smith J. J. Yeley Ryan Newman Todd Gilliland Andy Lally Cole Custer Stewart–Haas Racing 4 Kevin Harvick Rodney Childers Stephen Doran 10 Aric Almirola Drew Blickensderfer 14 Chase Briscoe Johnny Klausmeier Mike Bugarewicz Richard Boswell 41 Ryan Preece Chad Johnston Team Penske 2 Austin Cindric Jeremy Bullins Brian Wilson 12 Ryan Blaney Jonathan Hassler 22 Joey Logano Paul Wolfe Wood Brothers Racing 21 Harrison Burton Brian Wilson Jeremy Bullins Toyota 23XI Racing 23 Bubba Wallace Bootie Barker 45 Tyler Reddick Billy Scott Dave Rogers Joe Gibbs Racing 11 Denny Hamlin Chris Gabehart 19 Martin Truex Jr. James Small 20 Christopher Bell Adam Stevens 54 Ty Gibbs (R) Chris Gayle
Non-chartered teams Limited schedule Manufacturer Team Driver Crew chief Races Chevrolet Beard Motorsports 62 Austin Hill Darren Shaw Kaulig Racing 13 Chandler Smith Eddie Pardue Jonathan Davenport Legacy Motor Club 84 Jimmie Johnson Todd Gordon Richard Childress Racing 33 Brodie Kostecki Justin Alexander The Money Team Racing 50 Conor Daly Tony Eury Jr. Trackhouse Racing 91 Kimi Räikkönen Darian Grubb Shane van Gisbergen Ford Front Row Motorsports 36 Zane Smith Chris Lawson Todd Gilliland Riley Herbst Tony Manzer Toyota 23XI Racing 67 Travis Pastrana Eric Phillips Kamui Kobayashi
Notes
Changes Teams On August 25, 2022, Front Row Motorsports announced that Zane Smith will drive a part-time third car for the team in select races including the Daytona 500. On August 28, Carson Hocevar was announced as the driver of the No. 42 at the Darlington summer race. On November 4, 2022, seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson purchased an ownership stake in Petty GMS Motorsports, which later rebranded to Legacy Motor Club. He will run select races in 2023, including an attempt to make the 2023 Daytona 500. On January 18, 2023, Kaulig announced that Chandler Smith will attempt to make his Cup Series debut in the 2023 Daytona 500, driving the No. 13 car. He will also run four additional races, which includes the NASCAR All-Star Race. On January 17, 2023, it was announced that Travis Pastrana would drive the No. 67 car for 23XI Racing with sponsorship from Black Rifle Coffee Company. Eric Phillips will be the crew chief. On February 11, 2023, Bob Pockrass from Fox Sports reported that Finish Line Motorsports Marketing, a marketing agency in business since 1997, would start a race team that would enter the No. 80 Ford driven by J. J. Yeley in the 2023 Daytona 500. However, the team did not enter the race. On February 18, 2023, it was reported that MBM Motorsports would not run any Cup Series races in 2023, although team owner Carl Long stated that they do have cars prepared pending sponsorship. The team's last Cup appearance was in 2022, when the No. 55 driven by J. J. Yeley finished 25th at Talladega.
Drivers On July 15, 2022, Petty GMS Motorsports (now Legacy Motor Club) announced that Ty Dillon would not return to the No. 42 in 2023. On August 10, 2022, Noah Gragson was announced to replace Dillon, having signed a two-year contract with LMC. On June 8, 2023, LMC announced that Gragson would not run the race at Sonoma due to experiencing concussion-like symptoms after his crash in the previous week's race at Gateway. Grant Enfinger, who drives for LMC co-owner Maury Gallagher's GMS Racing team in the Truck Series, filled in for Gragson in the No. 42 car and made his Cup Series debut. It was Enfinger's first Cup Series attempt since 2011, when he failed to qualify for the season-finale at Homestead driving for Sinica Motorsports in the team's only attempt. On August 5, 2023, LMC announced that Gragson was suspended after he liked an offensive image on social media related to the murder of George Floyd in 2020, one day before the scheduled Cup Series race at Michigan, with NASCAR suspending him indefinitely as well. Legacy Motor Club announced later that day that Josh Berry would fill in for Gragson at Michigan. Mike Rockenfeller was announced as the driver of the No. 42 at Indianapolis and Watkins Glen. On August 10, 2023, Gragson requested to be released from his contract with LMC so he can focus on the reinstatement process. Carson Hocevar was announced as the driver of the No. 42 at Darlington, Kansas, and the Bristol night race. On September 12, NASCAR lifted Gragson's suspension after he completed diversity and inclusion training; he has yet to announce his plans following his reinstatement. On October 4, Hocevar was signed to drive the No. 42 for the final four races. On October 15, it was announced that John Hunter Nemechek would drive the No. 42 at Homestead. After suffering a concussion in qualifying for the 2022 race at Pocono, Kurt Busch announced on October 15, 2022, that he would not run full-time in 2023. Tyler Reddick, who was set to join the team in 2024, will move over from Richard Childress Racing a year earlier and replace Busch in the No. 45. After his move to 23XI for 2024 was announced, Reddick was going to return to RCR for one more year but was bought out of his last year of his contract in order to replace Busch in the No. 45 in 2023. (Busch has a multi-year deal with 23XI and will stay with the team in an advisory role and could drive part-time for the team once he gets cleared to race again). On August 26, 2023, Busch formally announced his retirement from Cup Series racing. On August 26, 2022, although Aric Almirola announced he would retire from driving full-time after the 2022 season, he announced that he has signed a multi-year deal with Stewart–Haas Racing, delaying his retirement. After months of rumors and speculation over his 2023 plans and contract negotiations with Joe Gibbs Racing, Kyle Busch announced that he would leave JGR and join Richard Childress Racing beginning in 2023 in a multi-year deal. Busch will replace Tyler Reddick, who was originally announced to drive a third RCR car in 2023 before leaving for 23XI Racing in 2024, but after Kurt Busch's decision to not run full-time after his concussion, Reddick's contract was bought out by 23XI Racing, allowing him to go to 23XI a year early. On November 15, 2022, it was announced that Ty Gibbs would replace Busch and the car would be renumbered to the No. 54, the number Gibbs used in the Xfinity Series. Gibbs' Xfinity Series crew chief, Chris Gayle, will also move up to the Cup Series, replacing Ben Beshore. On October 3, 2022, Beard Motorsports owner Linda Beard told Dustin Albino from Jayski's Silly Season Site that the team will enter the 2023 Daytona 500. Noah Gragson will not return to this car in 2023 as he will drive the Petty GMS No. 42 car full-time. On October 28, 2022, the team announced that Austin Hill, who drives full-time for Richard Childress Racing in the Xfinity Series, would drive the car in seven races (both Daytona and both Talladega races, Atlanta, Michigan and the Charlotte Roval in 2023). On October 3, 2022, Jordan Bianchi from The Athletic reported that A.J. Allmendinger, who has driven this car part-time as well as Kaulig's No. 16 Xfinity Series car full-time, would drive the No. 16 Cup Series car full-time in 2023. It would be his first full season in the Cup Series since 2018. On October 5, 2022, Allmendinger was officially announced as the full-time driver of the No. 16. Matt Swiderski will return as crew chief. On November 16, 2022, Stewart–Haas Racing announced that Ryan Preece will replace Cole Custer in the No. 41 in 2023 while Custer will move back to the Xfinity Series. On December 12, 2022, Josh Bilicki was announced to drive the No. 78 on a part-time schedule. On January 31, 2023, Rick Ware Racing announced that Riley Herbst had signed to drive the No. 15 at the 2023 Daytona 500. On February 7, 2023, Front Row Motorsports announced that Zane Smith will attempt to make the 2023 Daytona 500 in the No. 36. In addition, Smith will drive the No. 38 at Phoenix, Talladega, Charlotte, Sonoma, Texas, and the Charlotte Roval, sharing the ride with Todd Gilliland. On March 3, 2023, Chase Elliott suffered a leg injury while snowboarding in Colorado. JR Motorsports Xfinity Series driver Josh Berry would substitute for him in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 car in the race at Las Vegas two days later. On March 7, 2023, Hendrick announced that Berry would continue to fill in for Elliott in the No. 9 for five of the next six races. The only one of those six where he will not be in the car is the race at COTA, where IMSA driver Jordan Taylor will make his NASCAR debut filling in for Elliott. Taylor was teammates with Hendrick Motorsports Vice Chairman Jeff Gordon in the 2017 24 Hours of Daytona which they won. On May 30, 2023, NASCAR suspended Elliott for one race after deliberately wrecking Denny Hamlin at Charlotte. Corey LaJoie was announced to be driving the No. 9 at Gateway, with Craftsman Truck Series regular Carson Hocevar making his series debut in the No. 7 for Spire Motorsports, taking LaJoie's regular place. On March 8, 2023, Trackhouse Racing announced that 2007 Formula One World Champion Kimi Räikkönen would return to the No. 91 at COTA. Räikkönen previously drove the No. 91 at Watkins Glen in 2022. He also scored his final F1 victory at COTA in 2018. On May 18, three-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen was announced to drive the No. 91 at the Chicago street race. On March 9, 2023, Kaulig Racing announced that dirt track racing driver Jonathan Davenport would drive their No. 13 car at the Bristol dirt race. He will attempt to make his Cup Series debut and first NASCAR start since failing to qualify for the Truck Series spring race at Martinsville in 2013. On March 9, 2023, it was announced that 2009 Formula One World Champion Jenson Button would drive the Rick Ware Racing No. 15 in a collaboration with Stewart–Haas Racing at Circuit of the Americas, the Chicago Street Course, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.