Last season, Chevrolet claimed 19 points-paying wins in the NASCAR Cup Series on the way to its 41st Manufacturer's Championship, while Team Chevy drivers made up half the Championship Four field contending for the title in the year-end event at Phoenix Raceway.

In 2023, the Bowtie could reach even greater heights. This year, a two-time Cup champion returns to the Chevrolet camp, while a seven-time champ has joined at the helm of one of NASCAR's most storied organizations.

Richard Childress Racing and Kyle Busch

The Chevrolet news began last September when Richard Childress Racing and two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch announced that Busch would move to RCR to pilot the No. 8 Camaro ZL1 for 2023 and beyond.

Busch began his Cup career driving a Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports and scored his first four wins with the team. However, he hasn't been part of Team Chevy since the 2007 season.

Obtaining the 37-year-old future Hall of Famer was a major victory for Chevrolet and the Childress organization, which fielded cars for the legendary Dale Earnhardt throughout much of his career. Busch and his black-hat persona are a perfect choice to carry on that lineage.

"RCR has an impressive history in NASCAR and I'm honored that Richard is putting his trust in me to come in and continue to build on that legacy," Busch said. "Growing up in a family of passionate racers myself, I feel like the culture that the Childress family has built within their organization will be an ideal fit for me. As I begin the next chapter of my career, I'm looking forward to driving for RCR and working with everyone there to add more wins and championships to both of our resumes."

Busch's teammate will be longtime RCR driver and 2018 Daytona 500 winner Austin Dillon. Last season, Dillon scored one of Childress' four victories on the year in a must-win scenario during the regular-season conclusion at Daytona to propel his No. 3 team into the NASCAR Playoffs.

LEGACY MOTOR CLUB and Jimmie Johnson

As the 2022 season drew to a close at Phoenix, another mega announcement for Team Chevy came from seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson. That weekend, Johnson revealed he was joining the ownership group of the Chevy-backed team Petty GMS, alongside fellow seven-time champion Richard Petty and businessman Maury Gallagher.

Johnson has won 83 Cup races in his career, all with Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports, and he captured an unprecedented five titles in a row from 2006-2010. After retiring from full-time NASCAR competition in 2020, Johnson raced in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for two seasons. 

His return to stock car racing isn't just on the ownership side, however, as he is set to race in a handful of events in the No. 84 Camaro ZL1 this year, starting with the Daytona 500.

He'll do so under the LEGACY MOTOR CLUB banner, with the Petty GMS team rebranding in early January.

"After brainstorming about the new name of our team, Maury and I recognized the opportunity to do something special and different," Johnson said. "We felt it was important to have a name (LEGACY) that honored the past and acknowledged the future. The term ‘Motor Club' is a nod to car clubs of the past. LEGACY M.C. will be an inclusive club for the automobile racing enthusiast. I am excited to be a part of a story so rich in heritage and look forward to creating a new legacy in this sport outside of the race car."

Noah Gragson and Erik Jones will serve as LEGACY M.C.'s full-time drivers in the iconic No. 42 and No. 43, respectively. The fan-favorite Gragson will contend for Rookie of the Year honors after a massively successful stint driving a Camaro SS for JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Jones looks to expand upon a solid season that saw him win the crown-jewel Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway for the second time in his still-young career.

For Team Ambassador Richard Petty, having his two longtime family numbers on track is important even if the team name has changed.

"As we were all talking about creating a new name for the team, we looked at Jimmie, myself, and Dale Inman – that's 22 championships – so there couldn't be a better name to fit our race team than LEGACY," he said. "The "Motor Club" is a perfect fit because we want our fans to pull for the whole team."

"When I see the No. 42 and 43 cars, no matter who the driver was, is currently, or could be in the future, I want our fans to remember the Petty history that comes with them, and that history will continue to be made with LEGACY M.C."

The Bowtie Brigade

Elsewhere in Team Chevy, much remains the status quo from last season. But with the success of the brand in the first year of the Next Gen Camaro ZL1 – designed to closely resemble its roadgoing counterpart – that's a good thing.

The stout Hendrick Motorsports organization led all Chevy teams last year, with 2020 champion Chase Elliott earning a series-high five race wins in the No. 9 Camaro ZL1; 2021 titlist Kyle Larson driving the No. 5 to three victories; William Byron winning twice in the No. 24; and Alex Bowman taking one triumph in his No. 48 machine. 

Elliott also advanced to the Championship Four at Phoenix, while Larson's No. 5 team contended for the Owner's title. All four drivers are set to return and look to add to Hendrick's staggering total of 291 Cup Series wins – the most of any team.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, upstart Trackhouse Racing was one of the headline stories of the 2022 campaign. The Justin Marks and Pitbull-led Chevy outfit picked up its first three Cup Series wins in just its second year of existence.

Its drivers, Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez, scored their first career wins as part of Trackhouse, with Chastain taking two triumphs in the No. 1 car and Suarez one in the No. 99. Suarez also became the first Mexican-born driver to win a Cup race with his victory at Sonoma Raceway.

Plus, Chastain turned in perhaps the highlight of the year with a flat-out, wall-riding move on the last lap of the penultimate race at Martinsville Speedway to advance to the Championship Four. The former watermelon farmer ultimately finished as runner-up in the championship fight.

The Trackhouse team also looks to run its "PROJECT91" No. 91 entry in a limited slate this year. The program is designed to let international drivers try their hand at NASCAR. I made its debut at Watkins Glen International last August with former Formula 1 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen.

Additionally, two Chevy teams have solidified their driver lineups for 2023.

At Kaulig Racing, AJ Allmendinger is set to drive the No. 16 car after racing in the Xfinity Series for the last handful of seasons. He'll compete alongside Justin Haley in the No. 31. Chandler Smith will make a handful of starts for the team in the No. 13 as well.

Meanwhile, at Spire Motorsports, Corey LaJoie returns to the seat of the No. 7 Camaro ZL1, while Ty Dillon has been tapped for full-time duty in the team's No. 77. 

Last year, both Kaulig and Spire used a rotation of drivers in the cars Allmendinger and Dillon will pilot for the full 2023 campaign.

At JTG Daugherty Racing, two-time Cup Series winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will return for his fourth year driving the No. 47. A new full-time team has been added to the Chevy camp as well, with the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports team making the switch to the Bowtie this year. It will be driven by co-owner B.J. McLeod and Josh Bilicki, likely along with others making spot starts.

In the part-time ranks, Austin Hill is set to drive the No. 62 Chevy for Beard Motorsports in six events, with The Money Team Racing's No. 50 set for a Daytona 500 attempt with Conor Daly and a handful of other races to be announced. Several other part-time efforts are also likely to appear at some point.

The Ladders

Chevrolet looks to have another strong season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, too. JR Motorsports put three of its drivers (Noah Gragson, Josh Berry and Justin Allgaier) in the Championship Four last season.

Along the way, Chevy picked up its series-leading 24th Manufacturer's Championship – known as the Bill France Performance Cup – marking the eighth title in 10 seasons for the Camaro SS. Chevrolet also scored its 500th Xfinity win in 2022, a season in which the brand won 24 of 33 races.

Furthermore, Chevrolet drivers will look to pilot the Silverado RST to more wins in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series after scoring five last year, while Chevy is set to have another strong presence in the ARCA Menards Series and in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series at local tracks across the country. Many of those grassroots weekend warriors utilize Chevrolet Performance components under the hood.

The NASCAR Cup Series season kicked off with the exhibition Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum the first weekend of February, with the 65th running of the prestigious Daytona 500 set for two weeks later on Sunday, February 19.

Chevrolet leads all manufacturers in the NASCAR Premier Series with 833 wins, but with an exciting mix of veterans and young upstarts on the Team Chevy roster this year, expect that number to grow soon.

Be sure to keep watching The BLOCK for coverage of NASCAR and all motorsports disciplines throughout the season.