Owner Points Transfers Reveal New Teams for 2018 Season

The 2018 Season is just around the corner and with the new season approaching, new teams will begin showing their face as the season rolls on. This year it seems there's a lot more brewing. On Friday, NASCAR revealed the owner points transfers for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR XFINITY Series, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. This list reveals where owner points will be used this season and in some cases is some drivers ticket to racing in the show.

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series


In the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, change is key for Hendrick Motorsports. The No. 5 that Kasey Kahne piloted in 2017 becomes William Byron's No. 24 car. The rookie won the 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series championship and makes the move to the Cup series. Chase Elliott changes numbers in 2018 from the No. 24 to the No. 9. The change comes after Elliott spent two seasons behind the No. 24 without a victory.

 Other Changes in the MENCS

  • The No. 75 will turn into the No. 62 in 2018. Brendan Gaughan is expected to compete in all four plate races at Daytona & Talladega. 
  • The No. 43 charter heads over to the No. 51 of Rick Ware Racing. That ride will have Justin Marks in the car at Daytona but the rest of the season is unknown. Ray Black Jr. was supposed to be in it but the deal reportedly fell apart. 
  • The No. 32 charter moves over to the No. 43 car for 2018. That ride will have Darrell Wallace Jr. running his first full-time season in the MENCS.
  • There will be a partnership deal between Joe Falk and Go Fas Racing which gives Go Fas Racing a charter for the No. 32 and Matt DiBenedetto.  
  • The No. 27 charter heads to StarCom Racing's No. 00. Jeffrey Earnhardt will pilot the entry a majority of the season. The No. 27 team ceased operations leaving only two cars at Richard Childress Racing. 
  • The No. 37 charter moves to the No. 12. Ryan Blaney moves to Team Penske after driving for Wood Brothers Racing the last few seasons. Last year, Blaney earned his first career victory at Pocono and will look to add some in 2018.
  • The No. 77 team was shut down after one season and its charter moves to the No. 37 team and Chris Buescher. This deal basically kills any ties that Buescher may have had with Roush Fenway Racing. 
  • The No. 38 charter heads over to TriStar Motorsports while the TriStar Motorsports charter heads to the No. 38 team and Front Row Motorsports. David Ragan will pilot that car alongside new teammate Michael McDowell. 
  • Ricky Benton Racing will enter the No. 92 entry in the 60th Annual Daytona 500. David Gilliland will pilot that entry and will also pilot one of Kyle Busch Motorsports trucks at Daytona. It is unknown if Ricky Benton Racing will run any of the other races next season.
  • Gaunt Brothers Racing will also enter a car in the 60th Daytona 500. NASCAR Pinty's Series driver D.J. Kennington will pilot the No. 96 entry. It is unknown on if they will enter any other races in 2018. The Daytona 500 was the only event the team raced in 2017.
  • StarCom Racing will apparently run another car in 2018 with the No. 99. Also, Phoenix Air Racing will roll out an entry in 2018 with the No. 66. These two cars should be expected later in the season unless MBM Motorsports No. 66 is considered the Phoenix Air Racing. 

NASCAR XFINITY Series

Things are really going to look different in 2018 for the XFINITY Series. Some drivers make the step up to the series from trucks including Christopher Bell, Kaz Grala, John Hunter Nemechek, Spencer Boyd, Austin Cindric, and Chase Briscoe. The title race will heat up as the season continues, here are the changes facing the XFINITY Series.

NASCAR XFINITY Series Changes 

  • The No. 07 is shelved to make room for the new No. 76. That car will be piloted by Spencer Boyd in his rookie season.
  • RCR moves their owner points over King Autosport and Mario Gosselin. 2017 NASCAR Pinty's Series champion Alex Labbe will pilot the No. 36 entry.
  • MBM Motorsports will roll out the No. 66 entry and the No. 40 entry. The No. 66 will have a list of different drivers behind the wheel while Knoxville, TN native Chad Finchum will drive the No. 40 full-time and compete for Rookie of the Year. 
  • RCR moves their No. 62 owner points over to Go Green Racing No. 35 entry. Joey Gase will pilot that entry in 2017 with support from Sparks Energy. 
  • BJ McLeod Motorsports shuffles their owner points layout. 8 to the 78, 99 to the 8, and 78 to the 99. At Daytona, Caesar Bacarella will pilot the No. 8, Ryan Ellis will pilot the No. 78, and Ray Black Jr. will pilot the No. 99.
  • JGL Racing will roll out the No. 24 for Kaz Grala. Dylan Lupton will pilot the No. 28 for the organization that moves to Ford. They will also field the No. 26 on a part-time basis in 2018.
  • JP Motorsports will field two entries in 2018. The No. 55 will be piloted by Stephen Leicht, that car will have owner points from TriStar Motorsports in 2018. TriStar Motorsports is also listed as the owner of the points which could mean the points could be shared over the season with TriStar plans unsure. JP Motorsports will also field the No. 45 with Josh Bilicki in 2018, that car doesn't have past owner points. 
  • Roush Fenway Racing will field the No. 6 entry apparently. It is unknown on who will pilot that entry in 2018. 
  • Kaulig Racing will roll out the second entry in select races in 2018, Matt Kaulig confirmed to The Motorsports News Source on Friday. They will roll out the No. 10 in a schedule of races that'll be announced at a later date.  
  • Cody Lane will attempt to make his XFINITY Series debut at Phoenix in March. Lane has failed to make his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut. He has made five starts in the ARCA Racing Series with the best finish of 14th at Winchester in 2013. He will pilot the No. 27 Chevrolet Camaro. 
  • Martins Motorsports will attempt some XFINITY Series races in 2018 after announcing they wouldn't compete in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The team will enter the No. 44. 
  • NextGen Motorsports plans to enter the No. 54 in a couple races in 2018. The team raced with Josh Berry at Kansas last season but was unable to qualify with Matt Mills at Homestead. Reportedly the organization plans to have  Landon Huffman, Marcos Gomes, Enrique Baca behind the wheel of the car.
  • Copp Motorsports is also listed on this list which means this team could be preparing to head to the XFINITY Series from the Truck Series. 

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is going through tons of changes including the new spec engines making their debut in the series. Numerous teams have revealed they will run the spec engines in 2018 with the exception of Kyle Busch Motorsports. ThorSport Racing heads to Ford which came rather late in the off-season. 

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Changes

  • The No. 19 owner points from Brad Keselowski Racing, that ceased operations following the 2017 season, will move to GMS Racing's new No. 2 entry with Cody Coughlin who moves from ThorSport Racing. 
  • Young's Motorsports will field the No. 20 entry for Austin Hill in 2018 full-time. The points will move from Hill's team to Young's Motorsports. 
  • Ben Rhodes will pilot the No. 41 instead of the No. 27 in 2018. 
  • Brad Keselowski Racing's No. 29 points head to Jordan Anderson Racing which will see Jordan Anderson run full-time in the No. 3 entry. 
  • The No. 33 that Kaz Grala ran will become the No. 25 piloted by Dalton Sargeant. Sargeant will run for Rookie of the Year after competing in the ARCA Racing Series full-time in 2017. 
  • All Out Motorsports makes their debut at Daytona with Korbin Forrister behind the wheel. The team plans on running at least 10 races this season and a full season in 2019. 
  • Long Motorsports makes their return to the NCWTS after running a few races in 2018 with Ted Minor. The organization will roll out the No. 14 entry. 
  • Reaume Brothers Racing will roll out two new entries with the No. 33 & 34. Information about this team is very sparse. 
  • Niece Motorsports adds the No. 38 entry for 2018 that'll possibly have Max McLaughlin in at least four races. 
  • E2 Northeast Motorsports rolls out a new team with the No. 06 entered. They are teaming with Copp Motorsports at Daytona with Scott Stenzel behind the wheel. 
  • David Gilliland Racing makes the move to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series where it'll field two trucks. The No. 17 & 54 will both be Toyota's for the 2018 season. The team moved into Red Horse Racing's shop in North Carolina and will roll out NASCAR K&N Pro Series, ARCA Racing Series, Super Late Models, and NASCAR Trucks for 2018. 
Photo Credit - Robert Laberge/Getty Images

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