Joe Graf Jr. joins JGR for select NASCAR Xfinity races
Joe Graf Jr. will compete in five NASCAR Xfinity Series races for Joe Gibbs Racing as part of his 2023 fulltime schedule.
Joe Gibbs Racing announced Tuesday that Graf, 24, will run five races throughout the 2023 Xfinity season in its No. 19 Toyota.
His first race with Gibbs will be the Feb. 25 race at Auto Club Speedway followed the next week at Las Vegas. The remaining races are April 1 at Richmond, Va., July 15 at New Hampshire and Sept. 9 at Kansas.
Graf will compete in the remaining 28 races with RSS Racing, driving one of its two fulltime entries along with Ryan Sieg.
“Running five races with JGR is a fantastic opportunity for myself and for my marketing partners,” added Graf Jr., “I think I can learn a lot from JGR and showcase my skills I’ve been growing in the series in the past three years.
“The 2023 season is shaping up to be a great one and I’m pumped to get started with the No. 19 group.”
This will be Graf’s fourth season in Xfinity competition. He posted a career-best finish of eighth last April at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. He also has one win and 21 top-10 finishes in 39 ARCA Menards Series starts.
“Joe is committed to success, which is something we are looking for in all of our drivers,” said Steve DeSouza, JGR’s executive vice president of NXS and development.
“We are anticipating a solid season from the No. 19 team and Joe’s addition to the driver lineup will help that team be competitive for the owner’s championship this season.”
Jason Ratcliff will be crew chief for the No. 19 team throughout the 2023 Xfinity owner’s championship campaign. Ryan Truex was previously announced as a driver of the No. 19 for six races.
The remaining drivers and races they will compete in will be announced at a later date.
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