UPDATE: On Tuesday, SciAps officially announced that CJ McLaughlin would contest 18 NASCAR Xfinity Series events for Emerling-Gase Motorsports. McLaughlin, who confirmed the news to TobyChristie.com on Monday, will pilot the No. 35 at Daytona.
Following his season debut at Daytona, the Framingham, Massachusetts-native will compete exclusively in the No. 53 entry, starting with the second race of the season at Auto Club Speedway.
McLaughlin will also compete at Las Vegas (March 4), Phoenix (March 11), Atlanta (March 18), Talladega (April 22), Dover (April 29), Charlotte (May 27), Nashville (June 24), Loudon (July 15), Michigan (August 5), Daytona (August 25), Bristol (September 15), Texas (September 23), Las Vegas (October 14), Homestead (October 21), Martinsville (October 28), and Phoenix (November 4).
C.J. McLaughlin, who has spent the last four seasons as a perennial part-time competitor in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for various teams, will return to the second-tier series in 2023, piloting an entry for Emerling-Gase Motorsports.
McLaughlin, who will participate in an organizational test for the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway, tells TobyChristie.com that he is preparing for a schedule of up to 18 events for Emerling-Gase Motorsports.
SciAps, a long-time partner of McLaughlin’s efforts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, will return to sponsor his entry at Emerling-Gase Motorsports.
The Framingham, Massachusetts driver joins the second-year organization as they expand their presence in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, fielding two entries, the No. 35 and No. 53, full-time in the series for the upcoming season. McLaughlin didn’t specify which entry he’d be driving.
Similar to his previous campaigns in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, McLaughlin says that his schedule will primarily consist of ovals, but mentions that he could potentially contest a road course event, or two, should they not be spoken for.
Last season, McLaughlin attempted to compete in a career-high 15 NASCAR Xfinity Series events, while bouncing between the No. 28 and No. 38 Ford Mustang entries for RSS Racing.
In those starts, the 30-year-old scored a pair of top-15 finishes – a 10th-place effort at Texas Motor Speedway, and a 13th at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Prior to last season, McLaughlin had only scored a single top-20 result.
With the move to Emerling-Gase Motorsports for 2023, McLaughlin will serve as a newcomer to the organization and is currently set to be joined by team co-owners Joey Gase and Patrick Emerling, as well as Brad Perez, who will compete in at least four events for the team in 2023.
