In NASCAR Cup Series competition the #23 car has started 966 races with 120 drivers and has 4 wins, 9 poles, 48 top 5s, and 121 top 10s.

Darrell Wallace Jr, also known as Bubba Wallace, drives the 23 car, beginning with 36 starts in 2021. Bubba scored his first career win at Talladega, a rain shortened event. His win was the first win for 23XI racing, owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan.   Additionally, it marked the second ever NASCAR Cup Series victory by a Black driver, and the first since Wendell Scott’s victory at Jacksonville in 1964.

Wallace started his second season in the #23 with a strong run in the Daytona 500, finishing runner-up to Austin Cindric by 0.036 seconds. He was in contention late in the race at Atlanta, but would finish 13th after being involved in a wreck on the last lap. On March 29, 2022, crew chief Bootie Barker was suspended for four races due to a tire and wheel loss during the 2022 Texas Grand Prix at COTA. Dave Rogers was announced as Wallace's crew chief for Richmond, Martinsville, Bristol, and Talladega. At Michigan, Wallace won his first career pole and finished second to Kevin Harvick.

Wallace’s 23XI teammate Kurt Busch was sidelined with concussion symptoms after a qualifying accident at Pocono in July. Ty Gibbs had been filling in for Kurt in the #45 car. Once it became clear that Kurt would potentially be unable to drive for the rest of the season, the decision was made to move Bubba to the #45 car for the remainder of the season. The #45 team had qualified for the Owner’s Championship playoffs with Kurt’s win at Kansas, so Bubba was given the chance to gain playoff experience and fight for the owner’s championship.

For the remainder of the year, Ty Gibbs would pilot the #23 car, now adorned in Monster Logos, with Kurt Busch’s name still on the windshield. Bubba Wallace would go on to score his second career win at the fall Kansas race in the #45.

On November 5, 2022, Ty Gibbs won the XFINITY Series Champion in Pheonix. In his moment of triumph, Ty was able to celebrate with his father and mentor, Coy Gibbs. When the garage area opened the following morning, word quickly spread that Coy Gibbs had passed away that night.

Ty, understandably, did not start the #23 car in the Cup race that day. Mere hours before the race, Daniel Hemric was found as a replacement. This is Hemric’s only start in car #23. Gibbs started 9 races in the #23 car in addition to 6 races in car #45 while subbing for Kurt Busch. Gibbs remained in the Cup Series in 2023, driving the #54 for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Bubba Wallace returned to his signature #23 for the 2023 season. Though he did not score any wins, he had his statistically best season in the Cup Series, scoring 5 top-5s and 10 top-10 finishes with an average finish of 15.89. His efforts earned him the 16th and final spot in The Playoffs, the only driver without a win to make the cutoff. After advancing to the round of 12, Wallace would be eliminated before the Round of 8. He would finish a career-high of 10th in the final points standings. Wallace has started 98 races in the #23, and he will return in 2024.

Jimmy Spencer  has 157 starts in #23 from 1995-1999. In 1995 Spencer reunited with Travis Carter, his former car owner who was now fielding the #23 Smokin’ Joe’s Ford. He finished in the top-ten four times in 1995 and in 1996, Spencer had two top-fives en route to a fifteenth-place finish in points. He fell to twentieth in 1997. In 1998, Winston/No Bull  became his team’s new primary sponsor and he was eleventh in points when he suffered injuries at the Brickyard 400, forcing him to sit out the next two races to recover and fall to fourteenth in points. After a 20th-place finish in 1999, Winston left the team, and Kmart became the team’s new sponsor with Spencer switching to the #26.

Doug Yates, no relation to Robert Yates, started #23 61 times from 1960-1962.

Hut Stricklin  drove the #23 for Travis Carter  in 1994, and later Bill Davis Racing from 2001-2002. Hut had a tough time  driving #23; in 52 starts he earned 1 top 10 in the number.

From 2002-2003 Kenny Wallace  drove the #23 Bill Davis Dodge in 46 races in 2002 & 2003.

Eddie Bierschwale  was a driver from San Antonio, Texas who drove the #23 car fielded by a team he and his brother owned. Eddie made 43 starts in #23 from 1988-1992 .

Alex Bowman drove the #23 for all 36 starts of the 2014 season, his rookie year. BK Racing fielded the #23 to tie in with the “23 flavors” mantra of sponsor Dr. Pepper. In 2015 Bowman left to drive the #7 for Tommy Baldwin Racing, and J.J. Yeley took overs the #23 machine. After 23 races Yeley moved to the #26 car for BK Racing, and Jeb Burton took over the #23 for the remaining 11 races. The switch was motivated by the fact that Jeb Burton had guaranteed sponsorship and the #23 car was high enough in the points standings to be guaranteed a qualifying spot.  David Ragan drove the #23 in 36 races during the 2016.  In 2017 the ride was mainly split between Gray Gaulding & Corey Lajoie with a handful of starts going to Alon Day, Ryan Sieg, and Joey Gase.

In 2017, BK Racing fielded car #23 in all 36 races with drivers Corey LaJoie (16 starts), Gray Gaulding (14 starts), Joey Gase (4 starts), Alon Day  (1 start), and Ryan Sieg (1 start).

In 2018, the team was involved in a court case involving team owner Ron Devine and Union Bank & Trust Company over outstanding loans. In August of that year, after being turned over to a trustee who oversaw the team’s operations, BK Racing was liquidated, with the assets going to Front Row Motorsports. However, BK Racing still fielded a car until the end of the 2018 season.The No. 23 team ran the 2018 season with Gaulding, Yeley, Gase, Day, Blake Jones, and Spencer Gallagher. At the 1000Bulbs.com 500 at Talladega, the team switched to the Ford Fusion for the race. The team reverted to Toyota at the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas. For their final race at the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead, the team once again reverted back to the Fusion with Yeley behind the wheel.

In 1986 Michael Waltrip drove the #23 KoolAid/Hawaiian Punch in Pontiac 33 races during his rookie season. Waltrip finished 2nd to Alan Kulwicki in the Rookie of the Year standings. Waltrip’s first Cup win wouldn’t come for another 15 years.

Frank Mundy drove the #23 Studebaker for 24 races in 1951 earning 2 of his 3 career wins.

Al Keller  started #23 a total of 15 times split between 1952 & 1954 including 1 of his 2 career wins in 1954. In late 1954, Keller turned his complete attention to the AAA & USAC Championship Car Series. He raced Champ Cars, Sprints, and Midgets over the next several seasons, and also competed in the Indianapolis 500 several times scoring a best finish of fifth in 1961. Sadly, later that year he perished in a fiery crash at the Arizona State Fairgrounds.

Other notable names in #23

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