2022 NASCAR Touring Series

The **2022 NASCAR Little Caesars Touring Series** is the 25th season of the NASCAR Touring Series, a national touring-level stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR. It began on February 12 at Walt Disney World Speedway with the Magic of Disney 100, and will conclude on September 24 with the Jeep Beach Championship 100 at New Smyrna Speedway.

2022 marks the first season with the ICR NextGen composite body racecars.

## Teams and drivers

### Partial schedule entries

\*Drew Dollar was contracted to run eight races in the No. 15 for Venturini Motorsports. After comments made by team owner Billy Venturini at the ARCA race in Kansas, Dollar was let go from the team. He subsequently signed on for five races at Kyle Busch Motorsports.

### Team changes

* BlackStorm Motorsports renumbered the No. 5 to the No. 3 at the request of JR Motorsports; BlackStorm switched manufacturers to [1]Honda after being with Chevrolet since 2018.
* On August 18, 2021 Dillion McKinney Racing announced it had purchased the entirety of Diamond Motorsports' racing operations effective at the end of the 2021 season.
* On June 17, 2021, Truck Series team GMS Racing announced they would debut in the Touring Series in 2022 with the No. 24 Chevrolet.
* JR Motorsports renumbered the No. 3 to the No. 5 at the request of BlackStorm Motorsports.
* Lightning Storm Motorsports sold their entire race operations to Red Bull GmbH effective at the end of the 2021 season. Red Bull Junior Team will field the No. 83 (former 59) and No. 95 Hondas, ending LSM's relationship with Toyota.
* ARCA Super Late Model team Polygon Motorsports will debut in the Touring Series in 2022 with the Nos. 76 and 79 Hondas.
* Ramsay Racing announced they've welcomed Mike Manley as a partner, renaming the team to Ramsay-Manley Racing and will expand to a two-car team, debuting the No. 91 Dodge.
* Team Penske Racing switched manufacturers to Dodge after being with Ford since 2013.
* ARCA Menards Series team Venturini Motorsports will debut in the Touring Series in 2022 with the Nos. 15 and 55 Toyotas.
* Whitestar Racing announced they had sold a controlling interest in the team to NASCAR Cup Series team Richard Petty Motorsports (who has held a minority stake since the 2018 season) that will see the team rebranded as Whitestar-Petty Racing.
	+ On December 1, GMS Racing purchased a majority interest in Richard Petty Motorsports for US$19 million. The deal included the previously announced acquistion of Whitestar by RPM and will result in the team operating as Petty GMS Motorsports.
* On August 25, 2021 Freedom Motorsports announced the closure of their race shop and will withdraw from NASCR competition at the end of the 2021 season.
* Brittney Zamora announced she will field her own entry in 2022 as Brittney Zamora Racing with Ford.
* On March 13, 2022, Kasey Kahne Racing announced they would field a single Dodge Charger for team owner Kasey Kahne. He will drive the No. 49 Fuel Me Dodge at the three dirt races, the Thompson throwback race and the second West coast swing.

### Driver changes

* Garrett Barnes run a limited 5-race schedule for Six Star Motorsports, piloting the No. 4 Subway Ford.
* Steve Barnes replaced Marie Washington in the Whitestar-Petty Racing No. 33 Chevrolet. Barnes previously drove for Lightning Storm Motorsports.
* Marie Washington will replace Kyle Walker in BlackStorm Motorsports No. 25 Subaru.
* Raven Ray promoted from development driver to full-time competitor at BlackStorm Motorsports; moves from the No. 82 to the No. 3 (former No. 5).
* Rebecca Smith promoted from development driver to full-time competitor at Six Star Motorsports.
* Katherine Thompson promoted from development driver to full-time competitor at Joe Gibbs Racing; moves from the No. 54 to the No. 20.
* Russell Ward moves from the No. 43 to the No. 34 while staying at Whitestar-Petty Racing,
* Richard Mason moves from the Whitestar-Petty Racing No. 34 Chevrolet to the Venturini Motorsports No. 15 Toyota. He will run a partial schedule.
* ARCA driver Thad Moffitt will make his NASCAR Touring Series debut in 2022 driving the famed No. 43 for Whitestar-Petty Racing.
* ARCA Super Late Model driver Frank Perry will make his NASCAR Touring Series debut in 2022 driving the No. 76 Honda for Polygon Motorsports.
* ARCA Super Late Model driver Anthony Rodriguez will make his NASCAR Touring Series debut in 2022 driving the No. 79 Honda for Polygon Motorsports.
* ARCA Super Late Model driver Bruce Smith will make his NASCAR Touring Series debut in 2022 driving the No. 91 Dodge for Ramsay-Manley Racing.
* Drew Dollar will run part-time for Venturini Motorsports, piloting the No. 15 Sinclair Oil sponsored Toyota.
	+ Dollar was let go from the team on May 14, 2022 following comments made by team owner Billy Venturini at the ARCA race in Kansas. He signed a new contract with Kyle Busch Motorsports on May 17, 2022 to run five races in the No. 54 JBL sponsored Toyota.
* Craig Rogers will run part-time for Joe Gibbs Racing, piloting the No. 54 Toyota.
* Gracie Trotter will run part-time for Venturini Motorsports, piloting the No. 15 Toyota.
* Sean Turner will run part-time for Venturini Motorsports, piloting the No. 55 Toyota.
* Bill Russell will run part-time for Venturini Motorsports, piloting the No. 15 Toyota.
* James Bruncati will run a limited 5 race schedule for Team Penske Racing, piloting the No. 21 Verizon 5G sponsored Dodge.
* Alicia Oehler run a limited 5 race schedule for BlackStorm Motorsports, piloting the No. 05 Dutch Bros. Coffee sponsored Subaru.
* Mandy Chick will run a limited 4 race schedule for Venturini Motorsports, piloting the No. 55 Toyota.
* Leilani Münter will run a limited 4 race schedule for Venturini Motorsports, piloting the No. 55 Toyota.
* NASCAR Touring Series champion William Dauterive will return to run the three dirt races for Dauterive Racing, piloting the No. 46 Hutter Racing Engines sponsored Dodge.
* NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch will make his NASCAR Touring Series debut in 2022, making four special appearances (Walt Disney, LVMS Bullring, Bristol Dirt, Nashville) in the No. 54 M&M's sponsored Toyota.
* NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott will make his NASCAR Touring Series debut in 2022, piloting the No. 7 Phoenix Construction sponsored Chevrolet at the season opener at Walt Disney.
* NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson will make his NASCAR Touring Series debut in 2022, piloting the No. 24 Kyle Larson Foundation sponsored Chevrolet at the season opener at Walt Disney.
* Former NASCAR Cup Series driver Kasey Kahne will make his NASCAR Touring Series debut in 2022, piloting the No. 49 Fuel Me sponsored Dodge at the Bristol Dirt Race.

## Rule and regulation changes

* The new ICR NextGen composite body race car will make its debut in 2022.
* After 24 seasons, Goodyear will leave the series with General Tire becoming the main tire supplier for all races except the dirt races, where Hoosier will provide the tire.

## Schedule

A preliminary schedule for the 2022 season revealing major events was released on September 20, 2021. The full 2022 schedule was released on December 5, 2021 and features numerous new tracks, expands the calendar by four races and removed the NASCAR playoffs format which had been in place since the 2017 season.

 **Bold** | General Tire Dash 4 Cash

### Calendar changes

* **General Tire Dash for Cash:** Top-Five in points are eligible for the dash. If one of the dashers wins the race, they receive a $10,000 bonus. If no dasher wins the race, the bonus rolls over to the next event, but not the next season. Any unclaimed bonus money at the end of the season will be donated to various charitable organizations.
* **NASCAR Dirt Tri-Track Showdown:** If one driver manages to win Bristol Dirt, Knoxville and Eldora they receive a $15,000 bonus. A $7,500 bonus is awarded to any driver that wins two of the three events.
* **Little Caesars Grand Prix Challenge:** If one driver manages to win Tampa Bay, Houston and Toronto they receive a $15,000 bonus. A $7,500 bonus is awarded to any driver that wins two of the three events.