With 67 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. Austin Dillon 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 for those who plan on entering all events, including teams with multiple drivers in one car, is shown below.
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
2021: Matt DiBenedetto (Wood Brothers Racing #21 Ford Mustang) - The Grass Valley, California native entered all 36 NCS races, scored three top-five and nine top-ten finishes, had an 18.2 average start, a 16.9 average finish and led 68 laps. He earned 775 points and closed out the season 18th in the NCS driver standings. His best finish was a 4th place in the May 2nd race at the Kansas Speedway.
2022: The Wood Brothers hired Harrison Burton to pilot the #21 Mustang in 2022. So far no word on Matt DiBenedetto’s plans but he announced he is open to a ride in any of the top three NASCAR series.
2021: Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing #3 Chevrolet Camaro) - The Lewisville, North Carolina native entered all 36 NCS races, scored one top-five (3rd place in the February 14th season opener at Daytona Int’l Speedway), eight top-tens, had a 15.5 average start, a 14.4 average finish and led 27 laps. Dillon earned 935 points and closed out the season 17th in the NCS driver standings. He also entered five Xfinity Series races for multiple teams. He averaged a 19.2 finish with a best of 6th at the Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit driving for Our Motorsports.
2022: Dillon will be back in the #3 Camaro and is contracted, at least, through 2022 with his grandfather’s team. Justin Alexander will continue as crew chief for the #3 team.
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
2021: Josh Williams (DGM Racing #92 Chevrolet Camaro) - The Port Charlotte, Florida native entered 32 of the 33 NXS races, scored one top-10 (10th place in the June 5th road course event at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course), had a 19.9 average start and a 20.7 average finish Williams earned 531 points and closed out the season 18th in the NXS driver standings. At the end of the season he announced he would not return to the #92 team in 2022.
2022: Williams has joined BJ McLeod’s organization and will pilot the #78 Toyota (or Chevrolet, team uses both brands) full-time for the new NXS season. Crew chief for the #78 this year will be Danny Johnson.
2021: Josh Berry (JR Motorsports #8 Chevrolet Camaro) - The Hendersonville, Tennessee native entered 22 of the 33 NXS races (18 with JRM, 4 with Jordan Anderson). He scored two wins. After a race-high 95 laps led he won the April 11th race at Martinsville and filling in for Michael Annett in JRM’s #1 car, he won the September 25th race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Berry also scored six top-five and 12 top-ten finishes, had a 19.4 average start, a 16.3 average finish and led 216 laps. He earned 540 points and closed out the season 17th in the NXS driver standings. Berry also entered 10 Truck races, averaged a 17.2 average finish with a best of 10th at Fort Worth. He finished 2nd in one start in the ARCA Menards Series. Berry piloted a JRM Late Model car in four starts, won two of those events. He also won several post season Late Model events during the off season including the Battle of the Stars Late Model crown and the Thanksgiving Classic at Southern National Motorsports Park.
2022: Berry’s Late Model schedule will be limited since JRM has named him the full-time driver of the #8 Camaro for the 2022 NXS season. Carson Kvapil will take over JRM’s #8 Late Model in 2022 for the full season. Jason Jarrett, son of Dale Jarrett, will spot for Berry’s Xfinity car.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NTS)
2021: Tanner Gray (David Gilliland Racing #15 Ford F-150) - The Artesia, New Mexico native entered all 22 NTS races. He scored one top-five (3rd place in the October 30th race at Martinsville Speedway), two top-tens, had a 22.3 average start, a 22.3 average finish and led nine laps. He earned 323 points and closed out the season ranked 18th in the NTS driver standings. DGR also fielded the #17 Ford for Gray in the ARCA Menards Series season opener at Daytona. He started 10th, led 12 laps and finished 7th.
2022: Gray is returning for another full-time schedule in the #15 F-150. He will have Jerry Baxter, a veteran Cup and Truck series crew chief, as a new leader for his 3rd season with DGR.
2021: Hailie Deegan (David Gilliland Racing #1 Ford F-150) - The Temecula, California native entered all 22 NTS races. She scored one top-ten (7th in the August 20th race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway), had an 18.0 average start and a 20.9 average finish. She earned 360 points and closed out season ranked 17th in the NTS driver standings. Deegan also won the Most Popular Driver in the NTS. She became the 2nd consecutive rookie to win the award after Zane Smith won it in 2020.
2022: Deegan will return full-time in the #1 Ford F-150. No other details have 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 |
| 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 |
| TBA Chevy | Justin Haley | Kaulig Racing | To Be Announced | 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 |
| 34 Ford | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Drew Blickensderfer | 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 |
