Bayley Currey wrapped up the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series season with JD Motorsports, and he is back for more. On Monday, JDM announced Currey has rejoined the team for 2022, with number and sponsorship TBA.
Currey spent 2020 and much of 2021 with Mike Harmon Racing, and scored his first career top ten at Phoenix in the spring when he finished seventh (also the highest finish in MHR history). Despite initially committing to the full 2021 season for the team, his schedule was gradually eased back as the playoffs approached due to a lack of funding. He ran his final race for MHR at Bristol in September, and had been signed up for JDM’s #15 the week prior at Richmond after the departure of Colby Howard.
With the exception of the Charlotte Roval where the team entrusted Kris Wright with the car as a road course ringer, Currey ran seven of the final eight oval races in JDM’s #15. He notched three top twenties (which he had not achieved since his Phoenix top ten) with thirteenth at Las Vegas, seventeenth at Texas, and sixteenth at Kansas.
“I’m very excited and thankful to be back with JD Motorsports with Gary Keller in 2022,” Currey stated. “Mr. (Johnny) Davis took a chance on me and gave me an opportunity late in the season last year. The relationship progressed and eventually turned into a full-time ride this year. Throughout the offseason, we have been putting in a ton of work to get our fleet of cars ready to compete for 2022.”
Currey’s 2021 slate also included a Cup Series start at Atlanta in July for Rick Ware Racing, where he placed thirty-second, and five Camping World Truck Series races for Niece Motorsports with a best run of twelfth at Kansas.
JDM fielded four full-time cars in 2021: the #15 for Howard until his exit, the #0 for mainly Jeffrey Earnhardt, and the #4 and #6 with Landon Cassill and Ryan Vargas respectively. Despite the fleet, the team struggled as none of their entries scored a top ten for the first time since 2009, with Cassill holding the highest finish of twelfth on three occasions. Earnhardt announced in November that he would not return to the team, while Cassill has joined Kaulig Racing for 2022.