Joe Graf Jr.

Joseph A. Graf Jr.^[1] (born July 12, 1998) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Joe Graf Jr.
Graf at a Wawa in 2023
Born	Joseph A. Graf Jr. (1998-07-12) July 12, 1998 (age 26) Mahwah, New Jersey, U.S.
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
130 races run over 6 years
Car no., team	No. 19 (Joe Gibbs Racing)
2023 position	23rd
Best finish	22nd (2020)
First race	2019 CircuitCity.com 250 (Iowa)
Last race	2024 Food City 300 (Bristol)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 5 0
ARCA Menards Series career
39 races run over 2 years
Best finish	5th (2019)
First race	2018 Music City 200 (Nashville)
Last race	2019 Kansas ARCA 150 (Kansas)
First win	2018 Primera Plastics 200 (Berlin)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 21 0
ARCA Menards Series East career
3 races run over 3 years
Best finish	44th (2019)
First race	2018 New Smyrna 175 (New Smyrna)
Last race	2020 General Tire 125 (Dover)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
Statistics current as of October 23, 2024.

Racing career

At the beginning of his career, Graf drove Bandolero cars at Elko Speedway.^[2] He later raced Modifieds at Stafford Speedway.^[3]

ARCA Menards Series

2018 ARCA car

Graf ran the whole season in 2018 save for the season-opening race at Daytona. The deal originally started out as a six-race schedule,^[4] but eventually expanded to 19 races. In his third race at Talladega, Graf raced on a foot he had recently broken and finished second to Zane Smith in the closest finish in series history.^[5] At Berlin Raceway in August, Graf spun Chandler Smith on the would-be final lap and then, after losing the lead to Zane Smith on the ensuing restart, pushed Smith up the track in turn four on the final lap to claim his first checkered flag in ARCA competition.^[6]

In 2023, Graf would test a car for Emerling-Gase Motorsports at Daytona.^[7]

Xfinity Series

In April 2019, Graf joined Richard Childress Racing's driver development program, which enabled him to run five NASCAR Xfinity Series races for the team starting with Michigan International Speedway's LTi Printing 250. He also became a marketing and communications intern for the team.^[8] After failing to qualify at Michigan, he made his series debut in Iowa Speedway's CircuitCity.com 250, where he finished 19th. Graf later said that he hopes to use the schedule as a lead-up to a full-time Xfinity schedule in 2020.^[9] At Richmond Raceway in September, Graf blew the tire of John Hunter Nemechek when Graf moved Nemechek, a driver competing in the NASCAR playoffs, on the last lap. In retaliation, Nemechek spun Graf's car, in turn, one after the checkered flag.^[10]

On January 16, 2020, SS-Green Light Racing announced Graf would race for the team full-time in the Xfinity Series that year, replacing Gray Gaulding in the team's No. 08 car.^[11] He finished 22nd in points with a best finish of 13th on three occasions.^[12]

Graf moved to the team's No. 07 in 2021.^[12] Prior to the start of the season, Graf hired Buffalo Bills player Antonio Williams as an advisor; the two had befriended each other through a mutual acquaintance.^[13] At the conclusion of the Martinsville race, a fight broke out on pit road between Graf and Gray Gaulding after Gaulding wrecked Graf on lap 177.^[14] He missed the Pit Boss 250 at Circuit of the Americas due to a strained left knee and was replaced by Ross Chastain; Graf had run the weekend's practice but ranked 40th due to the injury affecting his braking ability.^[15]

In 2022, Graf would return to SS-Green Light Racing in the No. 07 and the No. 08. After failing to qualify the No. 08 in the Production Alliance Group 300, he replaced Timmy Hill in RSS Racing's No. 38 and finished 15th.

Graf Jr. at Auto Club Speedway in 2023

In 2023, Graf ran a full-time schedule with two different teams: 27 races in the Nos. 28, 38 and No. 39 Ford Mustangs for RSS Racing and six races in the No. 19 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing. Graf would finish 7th in the season opener at Daytona in the No. 39. Graf would follow this up with an 11th place finish at Auto Club Speedway and 15th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the No. 19. Graf, while driving in the JGR No. 19 later in the season, finished 9th at Kansas and 10th at Homestead-Miami, respectively.

Personal life

Raised in Mahwah, New Jersey, Graf attended Don Bosco Preparatory High School and played high school sports for two years before choosing to focus on his driving.^[5]

Graf attends New York University.^[8]

He is not related to Klaus Graf who is also a racing driver.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Xfinity Series

NASCAR Xfinity Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	NXSC	Pts	Ref
2019	Richard Childress Racing	21	Chevy	DAY	ATL	LVS	PHO	CAL	TEX	BRI	RCH	TAL	DOV	CLT	POC	MCH DNQ	IOW 19	CHI	DAY 23	KEN	NHA	IOW	GLN	MOH						RCH 14	ROV	DOV	KAN	TEX	PHO	HOM	44th	55	[16]
	Kaulig Racing	10	Chevy																						BRI DNQ	ROA	DAR	IND	LVS
2020	SS-Green Light Racing	08	Chevy	DAY 36	LVS 20	CAL 31	PHO 31	DAR 19	CLT 19	BRI 13	ATL 26	HOM 16	HOM 13	TAL 34	POC 35	IRC 26	KEN 13	KEN 22	TEX 21	KAN 28	ROA 25	DRC 26	DOV 18	DOV 21	DAY 37	DAR 23	RCH 19	RCH 27	BRI 27	LVS 27	TAL 31	ROV 15	KAN 32	TEX 22	MAR 21	PHO 27	22nd	422	[17]
2021		07		DAY 11	DRC 20	HOM 27	LVS 18	PHO 25	ATL 29	MAR 38	TAL 33	DAR 37	DOV 29	COA	CLT DNQ	MOH 30	TEX 31		POC 32	ROA	ATL 25	NHA 24	GLN 30	IRC	MCH 38	DAY 35	DAR 19	RCH 31	BRI 17	LVS 40	TAL 10		TEX 26	KAN 28	MAR 15		28th	286	[18]
	SS-Green Light Racing with Rick Ware Racing	17																NSH 34														ROV 28				PHO 35
2022	SS-Green Light Racing	07	Ford	DAY 29		LVS 38	PHO 27	ATL 23		RCH 29	MAR 26	TAL 8	DOV 28	DAR 36	TEX 23	CLT 34	PIR 21	NSH 37		ATL 30	NHA 12	POC	IRC	MCH 23	GLN	DAY 37	DAR 33	KAN	BRI 23	TEX 18	TAL 22	ROV 27	LVS	HOM 24	MAR 27	PHO 36	27th	284	[19]
		08			CAL DNQ				COA 34
	RSS Racing	38	Ford		CAL 15
	B. J. McLeod Motorsports	5	Ford																ROA 36
2023	RSS Racing	39	Ford	DAY 7																																	23rd	395	[20]
	Joe Gibbs Racing	19	Toyota		CAL 11	LVS 15				RCH 37											NHA 29								KAN 9					HOM 10
	RSS Racing	38	Ford				PHO 31	ATL 25	COA 31		MAR 37	TAL 20	DOV 22	DAR 32	CLT 17	PIR 23	SON 31	NSH 21	CSC 33	ATL 21		POC 17	ROA 23	MCH 27	IRC 35	GLN 22	DAY 34	DAR 26		BRI 26	TEX 36	ROV 31	LVS 37		MAR 29
		28																																		PHO 31
2024	Joe Gibbs Racing	19	Toyota	DAY	ATL	LVS	PHO	COA	RCH	MAR	TEX	TAL	DOV	DAR	CLT	PIR	SON	IOW	NHA	NSH	CSC	POC	IND 17	MCH	DAY 12	DAR 11	ATL	GLN	BRI 19	KAN	TAL	ROV	LVS	HOM	MAR	PHO	38th	93	[21]

ARCA Menards Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Menards Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	AMSC	Pts	Ref
2018	Chad Bryant Racing	77	Ford	DAY	NSH 16	SLM 11	TAL 2	TOL 3	CLT 18	POC 7	MCH 5	MAD 12	GTW 8	CHI 13	IOW 5	ELK 3	POC 26	ISF 16	BLN 1	DSF 11	SLM 11	IRP 13	KAN 21	8th	4000	[22]
2019				DAY 21	FIF 11	SLM 9	TAL 10	NSH 6	TOL 17	CLT 12	POC 8		MAD 9	GTW 11	CHI 11	ELK 7	IOW 9		ISF 10	DSF 11	SLM 6	IRP 10	KAN 9	5th	4610	[23]
			Chevy									MCH 4						POC 10

ARCA Menards Series East

ARCA Menards Series East results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	AMSEC	Pts	Ref
2018	Calabrese Motorsports	43	Toyota	NSM 15	BRI	LGY	SBO	SBO	MEM	NJM	THO	NHA	IOW	GLN	GTW	NHA	DOV	51st	29	[24]
2019	Chad Bryant Racing	22	Ford	NSM	BRI	SBO	SBO	MEM	NHA	IOW	GLN	BRI 16	GTW	NHA	DOV			44th	28	[25]
2020	Visconti Motorsports	74	Ford	NSM	TOL	DOV 17	TOL	BRI	FIF									45th	27	[26]

^* Season still in progress

References

1. "Team Event Rosters – Texas Motor Speedway – Saturday, October 24, 2020" (PDF). NASCAR. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
2. Sansevere, Bob (June 7, 2019). "Minnesota driver Joe Graf Jr. balances classes at NYU, first start on NASCAR Xfinity Series". St. Paul Pioneer Press. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
3. Courchesne, Shawn (April 26, 2019). "Former Stafford SK Light Mod Regular Joe Graf Jr. Joins Richard Childress Racing In Unique Role". RaceDayCT. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
4. Radebaugh, Don (March 28, 2018). "Joe Graf Jr. making ARCA debut at Nashville with Chad Bryant Racing". ARCA Menards Series. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
5. Rowe, John (May 4, 2018). "Mahwah resident Joe Graf Jr. climbing auto racing ladder". The Record. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
6. Niehaus, Matt (August 25, 2018). "Joe Graf Jr. Steals ARCA Win At Berlin". Apex Off. Archived from the original on November 15, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
7. Christie, Toby (2023-01-10). "60 Drivers on Official Entry List For ARCA Pre-Race Practice at Daytona". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
8. Utter, Jim (April 26, 2019). "Joe Graf Jr. to make NASCAR Xfinity Series debut with RCR". Motorsport.com. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
9. Wolkin, Joseph (23 August 2019). "NYU Student Joe Graf Jr. Splits Time Between The Racetrack And The Classroom". Long Island Weekly. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
10. Catanzareti, Zach (September 20, 2019). "John Hunter Nemechek angry at Joe Graf Jr. following Richmond race". Kickin The Tires. Archived from the original on September 23, 2019. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
11. Utter, Jim (January 16, 2020). "Joe Graf Jr. moves fulltime to NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2020". Motorsport.com. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
12. Rutherford, Kevin (February 5, 2021). "Joe Graf Jr. Moving to No. 07 in Xfinity in 2021". Frontstretch. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
13. Utter, Jim (February 10, 2021). "NFL's Antonio Williams to invest in NASCAR driver Joe Graf Jr". Motorsport Network. Motorsport Network. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
14. "Gray Gaulding, Joe Graf Jr. Fight Following Xfinity Race at Martinsville". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. April 11, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
15. "Ross Chastain Subbing for Joe Graf Jr. in Xfinity Race at COTA". Jayski's Silly Season Site. May 22, 2021. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
16. "Joe Graf Jr. – 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
17. "Joe Graf Jr. – 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
18. "Joe Graf Jr. – 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
19. "Joe Graf Jr. – 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
20. "Joe Graf Jr. – 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
21. "Joe Graf Jr. – 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
22. "Joe Graf Jr. – 2018 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
23. "Driver Joe Graf, Jr. 2019 ARCA Menards Series results". Racing Reference. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
24. "Joe Graf Jr. – 2018 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
25. "Joe Graf Jr. – 2019 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
26. "Joe Graf Jr. – 2020 ARCA Menards Series East Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 22, 2020.

External links

• Official website
• Joe Graf Jr. driver statistics at Racing-Reference