Pretty soon, all of the puzzle pieces of this year’s NASCAR Cup Series Silly Season will be put together.
With just 11 races left in the 2024 season, if a driver or team doesn’t already have their plans set for next year, I imagine they’re starting to at least look around the room to locate the panic button.
A whole lot has changed since my last Silly Season update back in May, so let’s take a look at what teams are looking to fill a seat and where we could see last-minute shifts. To be clear, I’m just hitting on chartered cars in the NASCAR Cup Series or could-be chartered cars, if there even are charters next year.
Open Seats
No. 7 – Spire Motorsports
It was announced during the Olympic break that Corey LaJoie will not drive for Spire Motorsports in 2025, opening a seat to a car with an A-level crew chief in Rodney Childers.
The hottest rumor right now is Justin Haley will leave Rick Ware Racing to fill the seat. Both The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi and FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass have linked Haley to the car. Frontstretch has also had a source close to the situation say that’s what will happen.
The only problem is Haley signed a multi-year deal with RWR and this year is the first year of that contract. That means both sides need to negotiate a buyout. But contracts in professional sports are broken more often than pinky promises, so that doesn’t mean he couldn’t go to Spire next year.
Haley has a previous connection to Spire, with 35 of his first 36 Cup starts taking place with the team. One of those was his and the team’s only win, coming at Daytona International Speedway in 2019. Now that both are more Cup ready, a reunion would make sense.
Another person to watch for this ride is Alex Bowman. Yes, that Alex Bowman, still under contract for top-tier Hendrick Motorsports through 2026. For the record, that’s what all sides officially say, from vice chairman Jeff Gordon to Bowman himself.
Yet even after his surprise summer victory at the Chicago street course, clinching a playoff spot, the chatter surrounding Bowman’s future just…
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