Menu
There’s one extra seat open in NASCAR Silly Season. In the wake of Spire Motorsports dropping Corey LaJoie after the 2024 season, the question becomes, who replaces him and when?
Spire Motorsports has one major advantage over other race teams. In short, the car they’re trying to fill currently exists.
As strange as it sounds, it’s true. Front Row Motorsports, 23XI Racing, and Trackhouse have all been reportedly active in Silly Season, but none of these teams have officially purchased one of the three SHR charters. It’s kind of hard to sign a driver when the car you want to fill isn’t officially in your hands yet.
Spire already owns the charter for the No. 7 car and all of the equipment. They don’t have to wait until a charter deal is done. They can now act to reach out to the same candidates looking for rides at these other teams.
As strange as it sounds, Spire might announce its next driver before any of these three teams. Spire is also a potentially more desirable ride than the possible open seats at Rick Ware Racing and Kaulig Racing, which could quicken Spire’s timeline. Then again, signing a driver is a complicated process, so it isn’t expected to be done immediately.
The who is perhaps the more pressing question than the when. Yesterday, we discussed many drivers who could end up here, from lower series prospects Sam Mayer, Rajah Caruth, Nick Sanchez, and Christian Eckes to a Cup Series veteran, Ryan Preece.
However, a couple of other names have piqued interest: Kyle Busch and Justin Haley.
Fans immediately looked to Busch as a potential replacement for LaJoie due to Busch’s struggles in 2024. A buyout of Busch’s contract would probably be necessary, but Spire has been known to spend. However, it’s tough to determine how much of an upgrade Spire would be for Busch, moving from a “Tier One” Chevrolet team to a non-“Tier One” team.
Bob Pockrass reports that it’s very unlikely Busch ends up with Spire. However, anything is possible.
One driver Pockrass tells fans to keep an eye on is Justin Haley. Haley scored Spire Motorsports lone Cup Series win at Daytona in the summer of 2019, a race that ended early due to a lightning strike and rain. It would be quite an interesting move for Haley.
However, he would have to leave Rick Ware Racing, a team he helped improve this year. He’s currently above two Spire drivers in points, so would Spire actually be an upgrade over RWR? Publically, Haley has remained committed to RWR, at least for now.
Spire could act quicker than other teams, but it still may be a while before they announce their next driver. Silly Season just got a whole lot sillier.
What do you think about all this? Let us know on Discord or X what your take is, and don’t forget you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and even YouTube.
