Ty Gibbs will replace two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch in the Joe Gibbs Racing Cup Toyotas for the 2023 season.
JGR made the announcement, which had been expected for weeks, Tuesday. Gibbs is the grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs.
The team said Ty Gibbs will drive No. 54 but that it intends to race No. 18, used by Busch, in “future years.” Gibbs has raced No. 54 in Xfinity events.
Crew chief Chris Gayle will move from Xfinity to Cup with Gibbs.
JGR and Busch had one of the longest and strongest partnerships in auto racing, but their link began to unravel late last year when Mars/M&Ms announced it would end its long sponsor relationship with the team after the 2022 season.
JGR could not put together a financial deal that would keep Busch, and he ultimately decided to move to Richard Childress Racing for the 2023 season, leaving one of the sport’s best rides with a vacancy.
Gibbs, at 20 years old one of stock car racing’s rising stars, won the Xfinity Series championship this season. He won seven times on the way to the title.
Gibbs also stirred controversy during the season, particularly on the final lap of the next-to-last race when he bumped JGR teammate Brandon Jones to win at Martinsville, knocking Jones from the Championship 4 for the season finale.
Early in the season, Gibbs was involved in incidents with Ryan Sieg, John Hunter Nemechek and Sam Mayer. Gibbs and Mayer crashed on the last lap at Martinsville in April and fought on pit road after the race.
Gibbs apologized for wrecking Jones at Martinsville and said he will race cleaner in the future.
Gibbs ran 15 Cup races in 2022 as a replacement for 23XI Racing’s Kurt Busch, who was injured in a crash at Pocono. Gibbs’ best finish was a 10th at Michigan.
