2023 NASCAR Touring Series

The **2023 NASCAR eBay Motors Touring Series** is the ongoing 26th season of the NASCAR Touring Series, a national touring-level stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR. It began on February 11, 2023 with the Race to Stop Suicide 200 at New Smyrna Speedway, and will conclude on September 15th with the Food City Championship 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

## News and updates

###  Teams

* On June 18, 2022, Brittney Zamora Racing announced they would scale down to a part-time entry in 2023. The decision to run the No. 52 part-time was made by owner/driver Brittney Zamora in order to put more focus and emphasis on late model racing
* On June 21, 2022, Joe Gibbs Racing announced they would scale down to three full-time teams in 2023, fielding the No. 18, No. 19 and No. 20 cars. The No. 11 car, which was piloted by former champion James Butler, shut down at the end of the season.
* On June 30, 2022, Venturini Motorsports announced they would continue to field two full-time cars in 2023. The Bill Russell was announced as the full-time driver of the No. 15 while the No. 55 will be piloted by a rotating cast of drivers to be announced at a later date.
* On September 24, 2022, Petty GMS Racing announced they would downsize from four full-time cars to three in 2023, with the No. 23 car being shutdown after Steve Barnes' retirement.
* On October 18, 2022, 23XI Racing announced their intentions to compete in the 2023 NASCAR Touring Series season. They have acquired the assets of the former Petty GMS Racing No. 23 and will run the No. 23 full-time with a driver to be announced at a later date.
* On November 4, 2022, Kyle Busch Motorsports announced they would continue to field two full-time cars in 2023. Ryan Henderson was announced as the full-time driver of the No. 51 while the No. 54 will be piloted by a rotating cast of drivers to be announced at a later date.
* On December 30, 2022, Red Bull Junior Team announced that they would expand to three cars for 2023 with the newly-created No. 84 being a part-time entry.

### Drivers

* On May 14, 2022, Drew Dollar was fired from Venturini Motorsports following comments made by team owner Billy Venturini at the ARCA race in Kansas. He subsequently signed on for five races at Kyle Busch Motorsports.
* On May 18, 2022, Riley Evans signed a two-year contract to drive the No. 71 Ford Mustang for Miller Family Racing, replacing Gary Wilson who will retire at the end of 2022.
	+ On November 15, 2022, Miller Family Racing announced Evans would instead drive the team's flagship No. 17 in 2023.
* On May 19, 2022, Joe Gibbs Racing announced that Corey Haim would not return to the No. 18 car in 2023, instead graduating to the ARCA Menards Series.
	+ On June 21, JGR announced that former champion James Butler would move from the No. 11 to the No. 18 for the 2023 season.
* On May 30, 2022, JR Motorsports announced they would not be resigning Ryan Henderson for 2023 with developmental driver Nicole Diaz moving from the No. 7 to the No. 8 car as his replacement.
* On June 15, 2022, Six Star Motorsports announced that Hailee Deegan would move from the No. 4 part-time to the No. 04 on a full-time basis for 2023 only, replacing Riley Evans who moves to Miller Family Racing.
	+ This decision was later reversed on September 9, with Hailee Deegan revealing she would once again contest a partial schedule. This was later confirmed by the team on November 28, with the announcement that Jake Drew would move from the ARCA Menards Series West to the Six Star No. 04 full-time in 2023.
* On July 1, 2022, Red Bull Junior Team announced they had resigned Robert Cooper to a two-year extension, keeping him as driver of the No. 95 through the 2024 season.
* On July 4, 2022, Jonathan Powell announced he had reached an agreement with Joe Gibbs Racing to remain the driver of the No. 19 for the 2023 season. The one-year extension includes an option for the 2024 season.
* On July 15, 2022, Raven Ray signed a two-year extension with BlackStorm Motorsports, keeping her as driver of the No. 3 Honda Accord for 2024 and 2025.
* On October 5, 2022, Dillon McKinley Racing announced that Drew Dollar, who drove the No. 54 car for Kyle Busch Motorsports part-time in 2022, would drive the team's No. 10 car sharing it with team owner Dillon McKinley.
* On November 4, 2022, Kyle Busch Motorsports announced that Ryan Henderson, who drove the No. 8 car for JR Motorsports in 2022, would drive the team's No. 51 car in 2023.
* On November 6, 2022, 23XI Racing announced that Richard Mason, who drove the No. 55 car for Venturini Motorsports part-time in 2022, would drive the team's No. 23 car full-time in 2023.
* On November 9, 2022, Kyle Busch Motorsports announced that Craig Rogers, who drove the No. 54 car part-time for the team in 2022, would return for 12 races in 2023, sharing the ride with team owner Kyle Busch as well as ARCA Menards Series West driver Bridget Burgess.
* On November 15, 2022, Miller Family Racing announced that team co-owner Chris Miller, Jr. would move from the flagship No. 17 full-time to the No. 71 part-time for 2023.
* On December 6, 2022, Petty GMS Racing announced that ARCA Menards Series West driver Austin Herzog would make his NASCAR Touring Series debut sharing the No. 24 car with Jack Wood.
* On December 30, 2022, Red Bull Junior Team announced that Champ Car driver Atsushi Nishimura would make his NASCAR Touring Series debut in 2023, piloting the No. 84 car part-time on road courses only.

###  New sponsorship and sponsorship changes

* On July 6, 2022, Miller Family Racing announced a multi-year partnership with Coca-Cola as a primary sponsor of both the No. 17 and No. 71 for select races in 2023.
* On July 15, 2022, when BlackStorm Motorsports announced they had resigned Raven Ray to a two-year extension, it was also announced Taco Bell would be the primary sponsor of both the No. 3 and the No. 28 in 2023. The next day, the team announced Hot Topic would serve as a primary sponsor on the No. 3 for ten races in 2023.
* On October 5, 2022, Dillon McKinley Racing announced that Lynx Capital and Dollar Concrete would sponsor Drew Dollar for seven races each in 2023.
* On November 9, 2022 Ramsay-Manley Racing announced that Texas-based fast food chain Whataburger would serve as a primary sponsor on the No. 91 car for five races, the four Florida events and the race at Phoenix Raceway.

### Confirmed returning sponsorship

* On May 18, 2022, when Riley Evans was announced as the new driver of the No. 71 Ford Mustang for Six Star Motorsports, it was also announced that his primary sponsor Credit One Bank would be moving with him from Six Star Motorsports to Miller Family Racing.

## Rule and regulation changes

NASCAR announced in June 2022 that car counts would once again be capped in 2023 after three seasons of larger fields due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For 2023, tracks less than 1.0 miles in length will be limited to 25 cars with the top 20 in points being guaranteed a starting position. All tracks 1.0 mile in length and longer will be limited to 32 cars with the top 25 in points being guaranteed a starting position.

## Schedule

The 2023 schedule was released on September 21, 2022, one week after the national NASCAR series schedules were released. It once again features 28 points-paying events plus one exhibition race. The schedule was later amended on January 3, 2023, removing the round at Greenville-Pickens Speedway amidst reports of the track's impending sale and redevelopment. A replacement race will be named at a later date. On January 7, it was announced that a street race at the Miami International Autodrome on May 5 will replace the April 22 event at Greenville-Pickens.

Returning in 2023 will be the General Tire Dash for Cash, the schedule of which was revealed on January 7, 2023. The five events will be held at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (March 3), Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course (April 8), Portland International Raceway (June 2), Exhibition Place Street Course (July 14) and the Milwaukee Mile (August 26).

###  Calendar changes

* The **NASCAR Dirt Tri-Track Showdown** and **Little Caesars Grand Prix Challenge** will not return in 2023.
	+ Despite this, three street courses are once again featured on the calendar. The Toronto NASCAR GP returns as the NASCAR GP Toronto, while the St. Petersburg NASCAR GP relocates to Miami as the NASCAR GP Miami, and the Detroit NASCAR GP relocates to Chicago as the Windy City 110.
* The Magic of Disney 100 moves from the opening round to the third round to accommodate New Smyrna Speedway.
* The Jeep Beach Championship 175 moves from the season finale to the opening race. It will be renamed the Race to Stop Suicide 200.
* The St. Petersburg NASCAR GP will not return in 2023.
* The Menards 200 at the Bullring has changed its name to the South Point 250 at the Bullring.
* The Arizona Lottery 100 has changed its name to the Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 100.
* The General Tire 150 at Sonoma Raceway moves from the spring to the summer.
* The WhosYourDriver.org 250 at South Boston Speedway makes its debut.
* The Pensacola 200 moves from the ARCA Menards Series to the NASCAR Touring Series.
* The Harrison's Workwear 200 will not return in 2023.
	+ The Wilkes County Tourism 150 will replace this race.
* The Independence Day Showdown 200 will not return in 2023.
	+ The Windy City 110 replaces this race.