Best active NASCAR drivers at every age

The 1992 Hooters 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway remains one of the most memorable, cherished races in NASCAR history.

A pair of 37-year-olds each vying for the championship split the big trophies handed out that day — Bill Elliott for the race win, and counterpart Alan Kulwicki finishing second in the race but narrowly claiming the season championship over ‘Awesome Bill.’

Another pair, on opposite ends of the spectrum, saw perhaps the most legendary career the sport’s ever seen wrap up as another one of brilliance was just beginning. A 50-plus-year-old Richard Petty, with 200 Cup Series wins, stepped out of the famed No. 43 after that race. Jeff Gordon, meanwhile, hopped into that No. 24 car he made famous over the next two decades for the first time as a fresh-faced 21-year-old talent for owner Rick Hendrick, himself just 43 at the time.

There perhaps may be no more pivotal race in NASCAR lore, fully displaying the unique atmosphere of the sport of stock car racing where teenagers can compete against drivers theoretically old enough to be their grandfathers — and on equal footing.

Age? Well, in the case of auto racing, it turns out that sometimes it is just a number, but it got us thinking … if we had to pick the absolute best active, full-time drivers for the 2023 season for every age across all national series, who would they be?

Here are our 2023 selections for the best active drivers from 17 to 47.

Note: For simplicity, every age is as of Jan. 1, 2023.

17: Taylor Gray, No. 17 TRICON Garage Toyota (Trucks): Gray enters the fold for the newly re-branded team formerly known as David Gilliland Racing — both an organization on the rise and the kind of young talent to build around. Our youngest driver on this list already has about half a season’s worth of series starts — and some impressive short-track runs among them — before he’s even old enough to vote. The 2022 ARCA Menards East runner-up should be an instant contender this year in his first full-time national series campaign.

18: Sammy Smith, No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (NXS): The two-time ARCA East champ and winner of six ARCA Menards Series races inherits a full-time stake in his 2022 ride — one of the premier entries in the Xfinity Series — and could make an immediate impact. He’ll look to build off a strong showing in his initial series starts that included an impressive third-place run at Watkins Glen International.

19: Sam Mayer, No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet (NXS): He’ll still be a teenager come summer, but Mayer will have essentially two full seasons of Xfinity Series competition under his belt at that point, and we’ve already seen a tremendous level of talent from him in both his current jaunt and the Craftsman Truck Series. Though he was held winless in 2022, the 2020 ARCA East champ — who won five races and notched a runner-up in six races that year — nearly averaged a top 10 in 33 NXS starts en route to a playoff appearance and seventh-place series finish among stiff competition in ’22.
Honorable mention: Carson Hocevar, No. 42 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet (Trucks)

20: Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (Cup): The reigning Xfinity Series champion enters the Cup Series fold full time in 2023 after unexpectedly being called upon to make 15 spot starts for an injured Kurt Busch and 23XI Racing at just age 19 last year. Gibbs netted just one top 10 in that span. Still, the experience there will prove immeasurable. Otherwise, he would have replaced a particular two-time Cup Series champion with no prior Cup starts. His impromptu Sunday work clearly didn’t affect his Saturdays on the Xfinity side, either, as Gibbs’ seven wins were just one shy of the series lead — but he was the one holding the championship trophy when all was said and done.
Honorable mentions: Rajah Caruth, No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet (Trucks); Chandler Smith, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet (NXS)

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21: Nick Sanchez, No. 2 Rev Racing Chevrolet (Trucks): Sanchez got his feet wet in the Xfinity Series in 2022 with eight starts highlighted by a seventh-place run at Martinsville, but his racing skills were really on display in the ARCA Menards Series where he rode to three wins and the championship. He now benefits from working with some of the most prolific names in the series through an alliance Rev has with Kyle Busch Motorsports and longtime KBM crew chief Danny Stockman — along with the former No. 18 crew — set to call the shots for his rookie season.

22: Harrison Burton, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford (Cup): Given his quick rise through the ranks to drive for one of NASCAR’s most prestigious organizations, it’s easy to forget Burton is still a fresh 22-year-old that has shown signs of strength at a variety of tracks since debuting in the Truck Series at just 15 years old in 2016. The pedigree is obviously there, and his development is poised to continue. After all, it doesn’t exactly hurt to have a 21-time Cup winner that you call ‘Dad’ to get advice from.
Honorable mention: Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford (Cup)

23: Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford (Trucks): The 23-year-old honorable mention here has a tremendously bright future of his own — and a Cup win already — but Smith has been the man to beat in the Truck Series each of the past three years. He was beaten the first of those two, finishing runner-up in the standings in 2020 and ’21 before sealing the deal on his first title this past season in his best year yet. Smith appears to be on a meteoric rise and only getting better, a trend that will likely be accelerated by a handful of planned Cup starts in ’23 alongside his title defense.
Honorable mention: Justin Haley, No. 31 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet (Cup)

24: Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford (Cup): The choice between Cindric and Gragson here was agonizing, given Gragson is coming off eight wins and a near title as he moves up to Cup to race for Petty GMS. Cindric, however, did capture an Xfinity title (2020) and appeared headed toward a repeat in ’21 before Daniel Hemric scored the upset at Phoenix. He was close to making the Round of 8 last year in his rookie Cup season. Then there’s that whole other thing about, you know, winning the Daytona 500 … in his eighth career start. That said, Gragson ran half the Cup season last year and could be a dark horse playoff contender this year himself. A true toss-up.
Honorable mention: Noah Gragson, No. 42 Petty GMS Chevrolet (Cup)

25: William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (Cup): I’m sure there were some reservations when Rick Hendrick announced a 19-year-old iRacing phenom would be not only moving up to the Cup Series, but taking over the No. 24 made famous by Jeff Gordon. But there’s a reason Hendrick is the most decorated car owner in history — and boy, has Byron made him only look like more of a genius. There’s no doubt his 2018 rookie season — just four top 10s — was challenging, but the growth has been quick and obvious since, culminating in an electric 2022 that nearly saw him in the Championship 4 and stretches where he looked like he’d be the man to beat at Phoenix. At just 25, Byron legitimately could have 20-plus years of contending for championships ahead of him. It’s a big claim, but it’s not out of the question that in two decades, Gordon isn’t the Hendrick driver with the most titles behind the wheel of the No. 24.

26: Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota (Cup): Reddick could retire tomorrow, and at 26, he still would’ve had one of the more interesting careers out there, with more storylines to it than you’d believe. One thing, however, has been evident and remained true throughout the team changes, lame-duck championships, Zoom meeting surprises and interestingly timed announcements — dude’s just fast. Reddick has won big at all three national series stops and will now complete the manufacturer trifecta as well, moving over to 23XI Racing to drive a Toyota … for a team co-owned by Michael Jordan. Seriously, storybook stuff. And when Reddick’s final chapter is written well down the line, expect there to be some more zany anecdotes along the way. And probably a few championships. 
Honorable mention: Erik Jones, No. 43 Petty GMS Chevrolet (Cup)

27: Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (Cup): NASCAR’s Most Popular driver most certainly inherited a lot of that fandom from his father Bill, a previous longtime holder of the award in his racing days. Boy, has he backed it up with his performance on the track, though. Fans knew from his first-ever national series win — a wild romp north of the border at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park — that there was something different here, and Elliott has only continued to dominate as he climbed the ladder and was a bona fide Cup champion by age 24. It’s hard to see how he’s not going to be a perennial Championship 4 contender for the next two decades; he’s on a streak of three in a row as it is and still getting better.

28: Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (Cup): We’ve known for a while how good Bell is behind the wheel and how talented he is on all kinds of tracks — dirt, pavement or otherwise. After a winless rookie Cup season and an improved but not exceptional sophomore campaign, Bell reminded everyone in a big way in 2022 that he’s the same driver who nabbed 21 wins in a three-year span in Xfinity and Truck competition from 2017-19 and forced JGR’s hand to part ways with a younger and homegrown Erik Jones to make room for him. No other driver at the moment can claim to be more clutch behind the wheel than Bell after the Oklahoma native went back-to-back in must-win elimination races, winning both in spectacular fashion with everything on the line to make his first Championship 4.
Honorable mention: Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford (Cup)