Joe Gibbs Racing will downsize to three full-time Xfinity Series teams in 2022, as Dave Rogers said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Tuesday evening (Nov. 16).
Earlier in the day, 23XI Racing announced Rogers would join the organization as the performance director for the 2022 season. At Phoenix Raceway, Rogers won the 2021 Xfinity Series championship with Daniel Hemric.
“I’ve been talking with Coach (Joe Gibbs) about what would happen next?” Rogers said. “We knew that the JGR Xfinity Series program was going to be reduced from four teams to three teams, and that left an odd man out.
“He told me if anything opened up at 23XI that he would bless my desires to entertain those conversations. Something was posted that was really appealing to me. It seemed like a great opportunity for where I am in my career, and so I talked it over with him and he said he was OK if I applied, and that ball started rolling awhile ago.”
In October, JGR announced Brandon Jones would return for a fifth season to drive the No. 19 Toyota. All signs point to Ty Gibbs, winner of four Xfinity Series races in 2021, to move full time to Xfinity next year. The third car could be a potential all-star car.
ICYMI: Dave Rogers shared that @JoeGibbsRacing's decision to scale down its @NASCAR_Xfinity program played a role in him taking on his new role at @23XIRacing. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/pprQ3T8CRt
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) November 16, 2021