2 Days to Daytona: Silly Season

What a dud of a Super Bowl. Shame really. Anyway, onto bigger and better things! Finally, it is race week for the NASCAR 2025 season. Starting this week through the Championship Weekend, there will be NASCAR action in each of the next 38 weekends. Kicking off with Daytona Speedweek, the anticipation can finally turn into on-track excitement. 2 days from now, Cup Series practice and qualifying will occur. Although The Clash was a preview, all of the new driver/team arrangements will be shown off this week. Faces in new places from 2024 to 2025. Since the 2025 season is about to kick off in 2 Days to Daytona, what better time than now to preview the upcoming silly season for 2026?

For this silly season preview, only the Cup Series rides will be examined. NASCAR’s lower series tend to be a bit chaotic and drags through to the start of the following year. Similar to last year, this will not be a prediction article about who goes to which open rides. Instead, this article will examine which drivers are under pressure to maintain their current status.

Austin Cindric – Team Penske #2

Days to Daytona: Silly Season - Cindric — Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Despite another season where he made the Round of 12 in the playoffs, Austin Cindric sits on the fringe of hot seat territory. He has 2 wins to his name, but little else to secure his spot in the iconic 2. Granted, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney take the burden of pressure to perform for the Team Penske moniker. However, Cindric’s mediocre first 3 seasons certainly leaves much to be desired. There were murmurs that Cindric’s ride was in jeopardy last year, but his Gateway win seemed to derail those. Cindric is likely safe, barring a complete collapse. Unless a prized driver becomes, available it seems improbable that someone else drives the #2 next season.

Austin Dillon – Richard Childress Racing #3

After another dreadful season, Austin Dillon finds himself featured in this article again. Dillon’s past 2 seasons cannot continue into 2025 and keep him seat safe. With that said, if Austin Dillon is not driving the #3 car, it is doubtful he will continue to be a fulltime Cup Series driver. Dillon is clearly being prepared to eventually move to an executive role at RCR. One day, he might run the entire organization. If 2025 goes the same way as 2023-24, that transition might happen quickly.

Justin Haley – Spire Motorsports #7

Justin Haley will be in his best Cup Series opportunity of his career. Spire Motorsports look to have made quality investments in their team. For the 7 car specifically, bringing in Rodney Childers should be a huge gain. After dragging a Rick Ware Racing car to somewhat legitimacy last year, Haley has every shot at winning a race or making the playoffs. If he does experience that success, it would be expected to see him drive somewhere else in 2026.

Kyle Busch – Richard Childress Racing #8

Days to Daytona: Silly Season - Busch — Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Before the season starts, all silly season eyes are fixated on Kyle Busch. Rumors of his RCR departure were floating last year, especially once the #7 car became available. The discontent between driver and organization seems clear. Busch wants to be in race-winning equipment and his current situation seems to leave more questions than answers. A slow start to 2025 could lead to frustration boiling over into off-track media. Although the assumption is that Busch will want to leave, where will he go that is an improvement over RCR? Doubtful that any top team will bring him in at this point in his career. Would a move to Spire, Kaulig Racing, or another team on that level give Busch what he wants? Unless there is ownership attached to a deal, that does not seem to be the case.

Ty Dillon – Kaulig Racing #10

Ty Dillon with Kaulig Racing seems to be a one-year thing. Dillon brought in sponsors that allowed him to run in Kaulig’s second car. Based on his Cup career and last season with Rackley W.A.R, there is nothing to indicate that Dillon will exceed low expectations. If he returns to Kaulig, it would be due to financial incentives rather than on-track greatness.

Denny Hamlin – Joe Gibbs Racing #11

There might be more friction occurring at Joe Gibbs Racing with Denny Hamlin than currently thought. The bizarre handling of Chris Gabehart’s promotion definitely left many scratching their head. Usually, a veteran driver would have some say in that, especially in the replacement for the crew chief. Instead, JGR caught Hamlin off-guard with the move. Meanwhile, Hamlin is lacking an anchor sponsor currently after the departure of Mavis Tires and Fedex. His hauler currently sits mostly blank as it is about to head out for Daytona. Between the crew chief swap and sponsorship issues, this is starting to feel reminiscent of Kyle Busch’s last season with JGR.

Bubba Wallace – 23XI Racing #23

The first of two founding drivers of their respective organizations, the hot seat for Bubba Wallace is there while not at the same time. Statistically, 2024 was Wallace’s best season to date. He set careers highs in almost every category. However, Wallace failed to win a race, make the playoffs, and generally lags significantly behind his teammate. Wallace’s equipment is good enough to win multiple races in any given season. That is why Wallace is facing a hot seat in 2025. Outside of his own performance, Riley Herbst’s 2025 will also play a part in how much pressure there is for Wallace to succeed.

John Hunter Nemechek – Legacy Motor Club #42

Corey Heim is right there, waiting to be given a Cup Series ride. When reviewing the Toyota landscape, there are not many potential opens seat for 2026. John Hunter Nemechek seems to be the most expendable. It would be a cruel twist of destiny’s knife; having Nemechek lose a ride in worse equipment than his former Cup team. On the flip side, a strong 2025 out of Nemechek could also see him leave Legacy Motor Club. If there is an unexpected departure from 23XI or JGR, a strong running Nemechek would surely be at the top of the list to take over.

Alex Bowman – Hendrick Motorsports #48

Days to Daytona: Silly Season - Bowman — Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Prior to his Chicago win, the questions of Alex Bowman’s Hendrick future were starting to be raised. Granted, his Chicago win did not necessarily slow down all of those talks. However, the street course win paired with a strong performance in the playoffs has cooled the rumor mill. However, Bowman still is the most expendable Hendrick Motorsports driver. If Bowman continues to lag behind his 3 teammates, Hendrick might decide to cut Bowman loose to bring in a younger Spire driver.

Ryan Preece – RFK Racing #60

2025 will be a “prove it” season for Ryan Preece. He has been presented a fantastic opportunity with RFK Racing. Undeniably, this is the best equipment and situation that Preece finds himself in. RFK Racing has proven to be playoff caliber cars over the past 2 seasons. It would be unacceptable if Preece lags in the mid-20s while Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski knock out Top-10s regularly. It boils down to this: if Preece performs, then there is no hot seat. Yet, if 2025 resembles his 2 Stewart-Haas Racing seasons, then it will be a short RFK Racing career for Preece.

Carson Hocevar – Spire Motorsports #77

See Justin Haley and copy that down here. Carson Hocevar will be the top driver in the silly season sweepstakes. An impressive Rookie of the Year campaign leads to Hocevar being Cup’s top commodity. Easily, a top tier team could boot deadweight from their driver lineup to have Hocevar grow.

Daniel Suarez – Trackhouse Racing #99

Out of all the drivers mentioned, Daniel Suarez feels to be the safest bet that he will not return to his current team. Although Kyle Busch is close, the Suarez rumors date back to last Daytona 500. Even with the new contract, Suarez is only guaranteed the 2025 season. Trackhouse has a stacked driver’s lineup with no fourth car to add. If Connor Zilisch proves to be Cup ready, Trackhouse will look to give him a Cup ride for 2026. Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen certainly do not seem likely to go anywhere. In that case, it would be the obvious (and correct) to swap Daniel Suarez for Connor Zilisch.