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In NASCAR Silly Season, the focus is on driver movement from team to team; however, for there to be movement, there has to be an open seat available for those drivers. Some seats are held with an iron grip, and new drivers probably aren’t coming anytime soon. These are the most secure seats of the NASCAR Silly Season.
Kyle Larson, William Byron, and Chase Elliott are all fully funded and are race-win threats every week. Rick Hendrick is fiercely loyal to his top drivers, with examples including Hall of Famers Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson racing their entire full-time Cup Series career with HMS. Larson, Byron, and Elliott will stick around as long as the trio of Larson, Byron, and Elliott continue to win races.
While Alex Bowman is not included on this list, he shouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon if he continues to win races and be a consistent threat. His most recent performances have helped his case, and he has good support from Ally.
Team Penske has two Cup Series Champions on its roster: Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney. Blaney was a Team Penske development driver, and Logano has been with the team with Shell Pennzoil since 2013. These two drivers are sticking around for a while.
Austin Cindric certainly helped himself with his win at Gateway, but he still sits 19th in points currently. He may need to improve his performance to solidify his spot with the team long-term.
Ty Gibbs and Christopher Bell are two young drivers with great talent and deep connections to JGR. Both came up the ranks with JGR, and Ty Gibbs is team owner Joe Gibbs’ grandson. Neither guy is going anywhere anytime soon.
Martin Truex Jr. is set to retire at the end of the season, with Chase Briscoe joining. Denny Hamlin has raced for JGR his entire career but currently owns 23XI Racing. If he wants to race for that team at some point, his days at JGR could be numbered.
Brad Keselowski is the other full-time owner-driver in the Cup Series, co-owning RFK Racing. As long as Keselowski wants to race, he has a ride with RFK. He’s also started to turn the corner performance-wise, winning his first race with the team at Darlington.
Chris Buescher is also pretty secure. He’s probably not going anywhere anytime soon, but if any of the biggest teams come calling, maybe Buescher will make a surprise move. However, that is incredibly unlikely.
The “Watermelon Man” himself, Ross Chastain, continues to be the top driver at Trackhouse. While this year has been tough for Chastain, he’s won multiple races each of the last two seasons. He’s probably not going anywhere.
Daniel Suarez seems likely to return in 2025 but has not performed as well as Chastain over the last couple of seasons. With a crowded development driver lineup at Trackhouse, could Suarez be on the way out sooner rather than later?
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. joined JTG-Daugherty Racing in 2020 and signed a multi-year contract extension with the team earlier this year. Candice Lee Spencer of Catchfence reported that the contract is three years long, extending Stenhouse’s deal through 2027.
The 2023 Daytona 500 winner has been fiercely loyal to the team for a long time now. If the deal is indeed through 2027, he will be 40 years old by the time his contract is up. Will Stenhouse be ready to hang up the helmet by that time?
Austin Dillon is Richard Childress’ grandson, so this seat will likely be secure for a while. He most recently told Danielle Trotta of Sirius XM NASCAR Radio that he has two years left on his current contract. Beyond that, we’ll see.
Either way, Dillon will probably stay with RCR through the end of his career. He’s won four races with the team, and the organization will undoubtedly undergo some changes in the coming months.
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