With Noah Moving Up, Who Goes to The 9?

By Tom Luttermoser         Image via JR Motorsports Twitter

Noah Gragson, Richard Petty and Maury Gallagher made the rumors and speculations official yesterday at the PettyGMS race shop Wednesday that Noah would be taking over the legendary 42 Chevrolet after Ty Dillon announced he would be leaving the ride at the end of 2022. So that leaves 1 burning question... Who takes over the iconic #9 Camaro at JR Motorsports?

The car has 3 Titles under it's belt with Elliott, Byron and Reddick & 18 Race wins including Gragson. So, as I asked.. Who takes that coveted JRM ride?

Easiest answer would obviously be something JRM has done in the past and that is simply share the ride with multiple drivers. As for full time replacements it hasn't even been 24 hours and I've seen an abundance of names flying around. Here though, are my top picks for the Junior Motorsports #9 Chevrolet in no particular order.

1.) Carson Hocevar, Carson has come so razor close several times to snagging his first career victory in the truck series racing for Niece Motorsports. The 19 year old from Portage, MI not too far from where I used to live when I was a little younger than he seems to be running at a fantastic pace locking himself into the Playoffs for the second time in a row scoring 6 Top-5s and 9 Top-10s so far in 2022. This coming even after breaking his right tibia and ankle in a hard hit at Gateway 6 races ago. 

2.) However unlikely, comes Cole Custer. He is having a less than lackluster 2022 season being the lowest ranked driver with a "good ride" at SHR. Cole sits 25th in points with only 2 Top-10s on the season matching what he did all of last season. Custer has several starts for JRM back in 2016 in the Xfinity series and a step back could potentially help the young driver get back on his feet.

3.) Ty Dillon, Ty leaving PettyGMS is what helped lead to all of this. Ty has a respectable Xfinity career finishing 3rd in the standings and a single victory at Indi. He also has 92 Top-10s and 33 Top-5s. His Grandfather's affiliation with Chevrolet could help him and JRM could use a solid veteran driver. 

4.) Chandler Smith. With Sammy Smith seeming like the lock in for the 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Xfinity Supra in 2023, that leaves Chandler with a Chance to snag the Ty Gibbs ride if he moves to Cup in 23. However, if he does not move on... Chandler might be out. Toyota seems to love Chandler and it would be tough, but JRM has the pull to be able to poach Smith from the Toyota pipeline. 

5.) Drew Dollar. Drew brings sponsorship... In modern NASCAR, sponsorship gooood. Drew has run a few races for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Trucks and ARCA plus a few races for Joe Gibbs Racing in Xfinity on the Super Speedways. With only 1 Top-10 in 10 starts in the National Series, he doesn't have much ground to stand on, but money talks.

6.) No One. With JRM's determination to compete in the Cup Series, JRM could cut a 4th car all together as funding could be used to try to get their hands on one of those $20 million + charters for the Cup Series. If not funding then at lease the effort or a garage stall in the JRM shop devoted to a part-time entry into the NEXT-Gen era. 

 Now of course there are other names that can be added of course. Some honorable mentions are;

Riley Herbst,
Brett Moffitt,
(I wish) Parker Klingerman,
 Zane Smith,