The Most Important Driver Moves of 2025 NASCAR Silly Season

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What’s Happening?

NASCAR Silly Season is still ongoing. However, most of the major players have set their lineups for 2025. Looking back at all these moves, it’s easy to get lost in the volume of changes entering the next season. So, here are the most important 2025 NASCAR Silly Season to watch for next season.

Honorable Mention: Ryan Preece (and Kroger) to RFK

RFK Racing made a late-season bid to acquire a new car. The two-car team, with the addition of Kroger, expanded to a third car with former Stewart-Haas Racing driver Ryan Preece. This sponsorship made RFK one of the most sponsored cars on the NASCAR grid entering 2025, while the signing gives them one of the most veteran lineups.

This signing, as important as it is, is listed as an honorable mention, as how the veteran driver will perform with his new team is unknown. The rumor mill says that most feel Preece has yet to have a real shot to prove himself at the top level of NASCAR. Now, he finally has the chance to prove it.

Noah Gragson to Front Row Motorsports

Noah Gragson had a shockingly good 2024 with SHR. This effort followed a controversial exit from Legacy Motor Club last season and the announcement of SHR’s closure. Gragson is heading to yet another team in 2025, one that also had a turning point in 2025.

Front Row Motorsports hired Gragson to replace former Daytona 500 champion Michael McDowell. Now a tier-one Ford team, FRM has questions about its future, in part due to its lawsuit with NASCAR. However, in signing Gragson, it feels as if Bob Jenkin’s team finally signed a next-level driver. It will be up to Gragson, however, to be the driver most in the garage area always felt he could be.

Toyota and TRICON Retain Corey Heim

Despite not making starts with Joe Gibbs Racing, Corey Heim continued his dominance in the NASCAR Truck Series in 2025. Unfortunately, Heim did not walk away with the title. With his success in the series and seeming lack of support from Toyota, many fans theorized Heim could exit the team and head for greener pastures.

However, Toyota retained the driver for 2025. This return shows that Heim feels that he has a future with the manufacturer. Some have suggested that it would be with 23XI Racing as part of the next generation of Toyota drivers. The packed Toyota developmental system has failed to keep such a high-level prospect in the past, but they were not letting this driver get away.

Christian Eckes to Kaulig Racing

The only driver who seemed to have Heim’s number all season long was McAnally-Hilgemann Racing’s Christian Eckes. Eckes, a former Toyota prospect, was a great underdog story in 2023, but 2024 was something else, with Eckes bringing the No. 19 home in the top ten 22 times in 23 races.

This effort earned Eckes a ride with a top team in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Kaulig Racing, for 2025. This signing, however, may be more important for Kaulig, which has struggled to develop talent and win races in the Cup Series. Kaulig rebuilt entering 2025, and perhaps the Eckes signing will give the team a real shot at being a winner in the long term.

Carson Kvapil to JR Motorsports

Very rarely do you see a name like Dale Earnhardt Jr. stick their neck out for a young driver. However, second-generation driver Carson Kvapil earned a full-time ride with JRM for 2025 following excellent years with the team’s late model program and part-time starts in the Xfinity Series in 2024.

Kvapil is following the route of many old-school drivers, shifting to the high banks of Daytona from the short tracks of the southeast. While most expect Carson to perform well next season, the major question is his long-term future. Signing with JRM puts him on a national platform with a chance to make it to a top team such as Hendrick Motorsports in the long run.

Chase Briscoe to Joe Gibbs Racing

Similar to his former teammate Ryan Preece, Chase Briscoe is a major question entering 2025. The driver pinned to replace future Hall of Famer Martin Truex Jr is shifting gears from a failing team to the legendary halls of Joe Gibbs Racing. Briscoe failed to meet expectations in his four seasons in Cup with SHR, but this signing is due or die time for the driver.

If Briscoe finally lives up to the hype, he might be a champion one day, and it seems JGR has faith in him to do so. Even MTJ’s longtime sponsor, Bass Pro Shops, is staying with JGR, showing their faith in Briscoe. If he can bring this effort to JGR next season, Gibbs may have their next Hall of Famer.

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Kauy Ostlien

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