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Wednesday, December 14, 2016

2017 NASCAR Driver List and Changes

Driver List for 2017 and the Offseason Moves


By Richard Tix

The NASCAR Silly Season is sometimes a tough one to follow. So here on Behind the Wall we have your back. Below is a list of drivers for 2017 and all the moves that went into it. This list will continue to be updated as more information comes in during the offseason so be sure to check back in. Also at the bottom is a list of 2017 Teams and who holds charters (per team and number).


2017 Driver List


No. 1 Jamie McMurray
  • Will be back with CGR in 2017
No. 2 Brad Keselowski
  • Will be back with Team Penske in 2017
No. 3 Austin Dillon
  • Will be back with RCR in 2017
No. 4 Kevin Harvick
  • Will be back with SHR in 2017. SHR is moving from Chevy to Ford in 2017.
No. 5 Kasey Kahne
  • Will be back with HMS in 2017
No. 6 Trevor Bayne
  • Will be back with RFR in 2017
    • RFR is condensing to two cars in 2017
No. 7 No Full Time Driver Announced (Regan Smith in 2016)
  • Elliott Sadler will run the 2017 Daytona 500. No word on driver for rest of season or if TBR will run in 2017. TBR sold it's charter to Leavine Family Racing's No. 95. TBR most likely will not run the No. 7 in 2017, or it will only run as an open team on a limited basis.
No. 10 Danica Patrick
  • Will be back with SHR in 2017. SHR is moving from Chevy to Ford in 2017.
No. 11 Denny Hamlin
  • Will be back with JGR in 2017
No. 13 Ty Dillon (Casey Mears in 2016)
  • Ty will run full time and for ROY and Germain will have an alliance with RCR. No word yet on Casey Mears plans in 2017.
No. 14 Clint Bowyer (Tony Stewart in 2016)
  • Bowyer moves from the No. 15 of HScott to the No. 14 of SHR. SHR is moving from Chevy to Ford in 2017.
No 15 Driver not Announced (HScott Leaving the Sport)
  • No. 15 charter was sold to Premium Motorsports. Premium will use the No 15 as it's charter car and also run the No. 55 (non Charter). This could be a spot for M. Waltrip to run the Daytona 500 and other drivers fill in non superspeedways.
No. 16 RFR Dropping it's Third Car (Greg Biffle in 2016)
  • Greg Biffle and RFR part ways in 2017. RFR leased it's third charter to JTG as well as it's signed driver, Chris Buescher. No word yet if they will go back to three cars in 2018 or sell the charter.
No. 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr
  • Will be back with RFR in 2017
No. 18 Kyle Busch
  • Will be back with JGR in 2017
No. 19 Daniel Suarez (Carl Edwards in 2016)
  • Carl Edwards shockingly announced he was stepping away in 2016. No future plans announced be seems like he wont run in 2017. JGR announced Daniel Suarez will make the jump from Xfinity and run full time for ROY.
No. 20 Matt Kenseth
  • Will be back with JGR in 2017
No. 21 Ryan Blaney
  • Will be back with the Wood Brothers in 2017. Wood Bro's still have an alliance with Team Penske. Leasing a charter from the No. 32 Go Fas team for 2017.
No. 22 Joey Logano
  • Will be back with Team Penske in 2017
No. 23 Gray Gaulding/Joey Gase (David Ragan in 2016)
  • David Ragan and BK Racing will part ways in 2017. Joey Gase announced on twitter he would be in the BK Racing No. 23 for the Daytona 500. No word on how many races he may run for BK in 2017 (So far three races were announced). Gray Gaulding was announced as the driver in the No. 23 for the rest of the season (1/24/17). BK Still owns a charter for the No. 23 car.
No. 24 Chase Elliott
  • Will be back with HMS in 2017
No. 27 Paul Menard
  • Will be back with RCR in 2017
No. 30 No Driver Announced (Josh Wise in 2016)
  • Rumored to run a full season in 2017, no word on if they will get a charter. Gray Gaulding announced he would be running for ROY in 2017, rumored to be in the No. 30. Update: Circle Sports (No. 33) and TMG are merging in 2017. No announcement on if No. 30 will run in 2017 for sure. Gaulding is running with BK Racing in the No. 23.
No. 31 Ryan Newman
  • Will be back with RCR in 2017
No. 32 Matt DiBenedetto (Bobby Labonte/Jeffery Earnhardt/Joey Gase/Etc in 2016)
  • Had a charter in 2016 and has said they plan to run in 2017. Matt DiBenedetto was announced as the full time driver for all 36 races in 2017 (Updated: 12-16-16). Charter for 2017 will be leased from RPM (No. 44). The No. 32 charter is being leased to the No. 21 Wood Brothers car.
No. 33 Jeffery Earnhardt (Ty Dillon/Reed Sorenson/Etc part time in 2016)
  • No. 33 still has charter (leased to the No. 95 in 2016). Must now use it or lose it in 2017. Rumored Casey Mears could land here. No. 33 (Circle Sports) and No. 30 announced they would merge and run the No. 33 full time. Still no driver announced. Update 1/24/17: Rumor has it Jeffery Earnhardt will run the No. 33. No. 33 said to be full time. Update 1/30/17: Jeffery Earnhardt was confirmed to be driving the No. 33 in 2017
No. 34 Landon Cassill (Chris Buescher in 2016)
  • Buescher left for JTG and a second car. Landon Cassill will move from the FRM No. 38 to the No. 34 for 2017. 
No. 35 No Driver Announced (David Gilliland in 2016 for the four restrictor plate races)
  • FRM does not have a charter for the No. 35 and only ran it part time in 2016. No word on if they plan to do that again, but with no driver announced for the No. 34 it seems doubtful past the Daytona 500.
No. 37 Chris Buescher (No. 37 was not used in 2016)
  • This is a second JTG car. Charter and driver were leased from RFR in 2017while RFR cuts down to two cars. Buescher is still under contract with RFR as well, but will run a year with JTG. 
No. 38 David Ragan (Landon Cassill in 2016)
  • Cassill will return to FRM in 2017 but move from the No. 38 to the No. 34. The No. 38 will be driven by David Ragan who returns to FRM.
No. 41 Kurt Busch
  • Will be back with SHR in 2017. SHR is moving from Chevy to Ford in 2017.
No. 42 Kyle Larson
  • Will be back with CGR in 2017.
No. 43 Aric Almirola
  • Will be back with RPM in 2017
No. 44 No Driver Announced (Brian Scott in 2016)
  • Brian Scott announced he was retiring following 2016 (family time). Update: 12-16-16: The No. 44 charter is being leased to the No. 32 team in 2017. RPM will run only one car in 2017, the No. 43.
No. 46 HScott Leaving the Sport (Michael Annett in 2016)
  • No. 46 charter was leased from Premium Motorsports in 2016. Premium took it back for 2017, sold it to the No. 77 of FRR and bought the No. 15 charter from HScott. The No. 15 charter was worth more to Premium because it finished higher in 2016. The No. 15 and No. 46 will not run in 2017 (at least not as a HSM car).
No. 47 A.J. Allmendinger
  • Will be back with JTG in 2017
No. 48 Jimmie Johnson
  • Will be back with HMS in 2017
No. 51 Timmy Hill, Stanton Barrett, Cody Ware, and Kevin O'Connell

  • Rick Ware Racing announced they will attempt a full schedule with a mix of drivers in 2017. Timmy Hill will attempt to run the Daytona 500. Cars acquired from TBR.

No. 55 No Driver Announced
  • This is one of two Premium Motorsports numbers from 2016 (No. 98 the other). Premium sold its leased charter from 2016 to FRR No. 77. They then bought the No. 15 charter from HSM who now is leaving the sport. Premium has not announced what number (55, 98, or another) it will use or who will drive in 2017. Rumored the No. 55 will be the car Michael Waltrip runs in the Daytona 500 (possibly other superspeedways). Update 1/24/17: Reed Sorenson will attempt the Daytona 500 in the No. 55.
No. 72 Cole White

  • Tri-Star will compete at the Cup level in 2017 and will run a full schedule with Cole Whitt. They leased a charter from FRM which bought the No. 83 BK Racing charter. 

No. 75 Brendan Gaughan (Did not run in 2016)
  • Gaughan will attempt the Daytona 500. Sounds like a one race deal for he and this team.
No. 77 Erik Jones (No. 77 was not used in 2016)
  • Erik will run full time and for ROY under a second FRR Toyota. FRR bought a charter from Premium Motorsports which Premium leased to the No. 46 in 2016. FRR still has an alliance with JGR. It has been said this is a one year deal for Jones and no further plans have been anounce with he and JGR.
No. 78 Martin Truex Jr
  • Will be back with FRR in 2017
No. 83 Corey Lajoie (part time) (Matt DiBenedetto in 2016)
  • Matt DiBenedetto and BK racing are parting ways in 2017. No word on BK Racing's status as they now have two open cars in the No. 23 and No. 83. They still own two charters. Update 1/24/17: Corey Lajoie has signed on to drive part time. Gray Gaulding will also fill in when Joey Gase is in the No. 23. No word on who else will fill in the remaining races. Update: 2/3/17: BK Racing sold this charter to FRM who leased it to the No. 72. BK still planning to attempt some races with the No. 83 in 2017.
No. 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr (Earnhardt/Jeff Gordon/Alex Bowman in 2016)
  • Will return to HMS in 2017. Alex Bowman will run The Clash at Daytona, but Earnhardt has been cleared to drive in 2017 (concussion). 
No. 93 No Driver Announced (Ryan Ellis/Dylan Lupton/Matt DiBenedetto in 2016)
  • No word on if BK Racing will again run this number part time in 2017. BK only has two charters (No. 23 and No. 83).
No. 95 Michael McDowell (McDowell and Ty Dillon in 2016)
  • Will return to Leavine Family Racing in 2017. The No. 95 leased a charter from the No. 33 in 2016, but a team can only lease for one year every five years. LFR bought the No. 7 charter from TBR to run the No. 95 full time in 2017. 
No, 96 DJ Kennington
  • Announced he will attempt the Daytona 500 with Gaunt Bros Racing. Also announced they will attempt all four plate races in 2017.
No. 98 No Driver Announced (Cole Whitt/Ryan Ellis/Reed Sorenson/Timmy Hill in 2016)
  • This is one of two Premium Motorsports numbers from 2016 (No. 55 the other). Premium sold its leased charter from 2016 to FRR No. 77. They then bought the No. 15 charter from HSM who is leaving the sport. Premium has not announced what number (55, 98, or another) it will use or who will drive in 2017. Update 1/24/17: Sounds like Premium is scrapping the No. 98 and using the No. 15 as it carries more points in 2017. Also running the No. 55 when they can (no charter for that one).


2017 Charters
  • JGR - 11, 18, 19, 20
  • HMS - 5, 24, 48, 88
  • SHR - 4, 10, 14, 41
  • RCR - 3, 27, 31
  • RFR - 6, 17
  • Penske - 2, 22
  • CGR - 1, 42
  • FRR - 77, 78 (77 bought from Premium)
  • FRM - 34, 38, plus bought the No. 83 Charter from BK. Then leased to No. 72)
  • JTG - 37, 47 (37 leased from 16)
  • RPM - 43
  • BKR - 23 
  • LFR - 95 (bought from 7)
  • Germain - 13
  • Wood Brothers - 21 (leased from 32)
  • TriStar - 72 (leased from FRM who bought the No. 83 charter)
  • Premium - 15 (Bought from 15. Decided to use the No. 15)
  • Circle Sport - 33 (Merged with 30 TMG)
  • Go Fast - 32 (leased from 44)

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