Michigan has been home to many drivers in each of NASCAR’s National Series over the years. These drivers have accounted for dozens of race wins and even championships. Michigan is also my home state, which is why I’m writing this one.
Here are the current full-time and part-time drivers in the NASCAR Cup, Xfinity, Craftsman Truck, and ARCA Series in 2024.
Armani Williams
Armani Williams is a 23-year-old part-time NASCAR Canada Series (formerly the Pinty’s Series), ARCA, and Craftsman Truck Series driver from Gross Point, Michigan, just north of Detroit. He got his start in motorsports, racing go-carts and Bandoleros. He has made 2 starts in the ARCA Menards Series, where he finished P. 10 at Michigan in 2020, as well as 4 starts in the ARCA East and West Series. He made 6 starts in the Canada Series in 2017 & 2018. He has also made 7 starts in the Craftsman Truck Series.
Brad Smith
Brad Smith of Shelby Township, Michigan, has been a staple in the ARCA Menards Series since 1988. He competes full-time in the series for his own race team, Brad Smith Motorsports, in his famous red No. 48 entry. The 55-year-old series vet was formerly an engineer for General Motors until 2019 and has made more than 400 starts in the Series.
Brad Keselowski
The 40-year-old Rochester Hill, Michigan native is the most successful NASCAR driver to have ever hailed from the mitten state. Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Co-Owner Brad Keselowski is not only the 2010 Xfinity Series Champion with 39 Series wins but also the 2013 Cup Series champion with 35 victories and a single Craftsman Truck win to his name for a combined 75 wins, putting him 12 all-time.
Carson Hocevar
Hailing from Portage, Michigan, Carson got his start at 7-years-old racing quarter midgets, where he won 79 features and 15 Championships before moving up to late models. Hocevar netted 13 top 10s in 17 starts in ARCA before moving to the Craftsman Truck Series, where he won 4 times in 2023. His Xfinity Series career was fairly short, with 5 starts in 2023, where he scored 2 top 10s. On top of that, Carson would make his Cup Series debut, filling in for Corey LaJoie in the 7, where he impressed. He would then make the majority of the fill-in starts for the suspended Noah Gragson in the 42. In 2024, he made his full-time Cup debut for Spire Motorsports in their 77 Camaro.
He is also known for some of his crazy hat choices.
Erik Jones
Outside of Brad Keselowski, the 27-year-old Byron, Michigan native Erik Jones is the only driver on this list with a NASCAR Cup Series victory. Jones, in fact, has three of them. Jones started racing quarter-midgets at the age of 7 before moving to stock cars by the age of 13. Jones scored his first Cup win at Daytona in 2018 and followed that up with two Southern 500 wins at Darlington, all while driving two of the most iconic numbers in the sport, the 20 and the 43.
Scott Melton
The eldest driver on this list also has the least experience. Scott Melton is a 62-year-old Rockford, Michigan native who got his start in the ARCA Series in 2018 at Berlin Raceway in West Michigan, where he would go on to finish P. 15. His racing venture is often sponsored by his personal business, Melton-McFadden Insurance Agency. Scott made his 30th career start at Daytona earlier this year.
The drivers on this list account for 38 Cup Series wins, 1 Cup Series Championship, 12 Craftsman Truck Series wins, 1 Craftsman Truck Series Championship, 48 Xfinity Series wins, 1 Xfinity Series Championship & 1 ARCA Menards Series win.
Header Image: Patrick Vallely
