Michael Annett announced his decision to retire from full-time NASCAR competition following the 2021 racing season.
The 35-year-old Annett from Des Moines, Iowa, currently competes as driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Across NASCAR’s top three national touring series (Camping World Truck Series, Xfinity Series and Cup Series), Annett is also in his 13th season as a full-time competitor, having made 431 career starts.
“I’m just so grateful for the opportunities I’ve had,” Annett said. “Being able to drive racecars for a living is honestly a dream come true for me. It’s been a privilege to work with some great teams and alongside some of the most talented folks in the garage. None of this would have been possible without the support of my partners, and I am happy to call them life-long friends. It’s those relationships and friendships that are the most rewarding.”
Annett made his inaugural presence in NASCAR in 2008, where he competed in eight Truck Series events for Bill Davis Racing and one Xfinity event for Germain Racing. Since competing as a full-time competitor for Germain Racing in the 2009 Xfinity season, Annett has accumulated a single victory in his career, which occurred at Daytona International Speedway in February 2019. He has also racked up a pole, 19 top-five results, 93 top-10 results, nearly 200 laps led, an average-finishing result of 15.8 and three Playoff appearances through 316 Xfinity career starts, all while competing for teams that include Germain Racing, Rusty Wallace Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports and JR Motorsports. His best result in the Xfinity standings is fifth place, which occurred in 2012.
Making nine career starts in the Truck Series, Annett achieved one top-five result and two top-10 results. During a three-year span in the Cup Series with HScott Motorsports (2014-16), he recorded five top-20 results and 13 laps led.
Annett, who is in his fifth season with JR Motorsports in the Xfinity circuit, is ranked in 17th place in the standings and has achieved a single top-five result along with eight top-10 results through 21 of 29 starts. He has not competed in NASCAR since September at Richmond Raceway as he recovers from a leg injury that he first sustained and caused him to not participate in the Xfinity event at Atlanta Motor Speedway in July. Since Atlanta, Annett has not competed in seven of the previous 11 events while Josh Berry and Chase Elliott took turns piloting Annett’s No. 1 JRM Chevrolet. Berry managed to secure a victory with the No. 1 team at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in late September.
With the 2021 season marking Annett’s final full-time season as a NASCAR competitor, his return to on-track competition is yet to be determined as Berry is scheduled to fill in the No. 1 JRM Chevrolet for the upcoming Xfinity Series event at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, which will occur on Saturday, October 9, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.
