Garrett Smithley will add 21 to his original number for the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season. After initially planning to race the #78 for B.J. McLeod Motorsports, he announced Saturday that he will instead drive their #99.
“Number swap for 2023! 99 has been a cool number for me, so I’m definitely excited to bring it back full time in @XfinityRacing,” tweeted Smithley.
Smithley joined BJMM in early November, marking his first full Xfinity season since 2019, his fourth such campaign for JD Motorsports en route to a nineteenth-place points finish. He recorded four top tens and a best standing of eighteenth during his stint with JDM.
After focusing on the Cup Series from 2020 onwards, he joined BJMM for the Kansas race in September as a replacement for Matt Mills in the #5. He ran two more races in the #78 at Texas and Las Vegas.
The #99 has been used by BJMM since 2016. It was a full-time car from 2019 through 2021, finishing twenty-ninth in the 2019 owner points. Stefan Parsons was to run the full 2022 season in the car but downsized and departed after ten races. Nick Sanchez and Mills made an entry each in it at Charlotte and Nashville, respectively. Smithley will be the #99’s first permanent driver, marking the first time the number was used by a single driver for much of the Xfinity calendar since James Buescher finished fourteenth in points in 2014 with RAB Racing.
