Like Christmas sales, the NASCAR Silly Season seems to come earlier each year. This year’s silliness includes a retiring driver, an entire shop shutting down, a new shop forming, teams adding cars, and lots of musical drivers. Oddly enough a vast majority of the movement involves the Xfinity and Cup Series teams with very few transactions involving the Craftsman Truck Series.
After over 20 years of racing, Joe Gibbs Racing’s driver of the number 19 car – Martin Truex Jr has announced that at the end of the season he will be retiring from full time racing. Truex has not stated whether he will return to the Cup Series to run any races in the coming season; but there is still plenty of racing for him as a driver in the playoffs and a chance to earn his second championship.
Currently driving the Stewart-Haas Racing number 14 car, Chase Briscoe will be moving over to JGR to take over the driving duties of the number 19 car next season.
As for Stewart-Haas Racing, it was announced earlier this year that owners Tony Stewart and Gene Haas will be dissolving the team at the end of the season. Drivers Chase Briscoe, Josh Berry, Noah Gragson, and Ryan Preece have all been searching for a new ride next season. As stated previously, Chase Briscoe will be driving for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Josh Berry has been tapped to replace Harrison Burton in the number 21 car at Wood Brothers. Incidentally, Burton earned the Wood Brother career win number 100 at a crash filled Daytona just edging out Kyle Busch. Burton believes that he will be driving in 2025 but has released no details as of yet.
Noah Gragson will be moving over to the newly expanded Front Row Motorsports.
Ryan Preece is the only driver from SHR not to know what his future holds for 2025.
Gene Haas has chosen to build a new team – Haas Factory Team – and will field a single Cup Series car and two Xfinity Series cars next season. Cole Custer will move up from the Xfinity Series to drive the number 41 car for the newly formed Haas Factory Team with Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer moving over to drive the two HFT Xfinity cars.
Front Row Motorsports has announced n expansion and will field three Cup Series teams next season. However, current driver of the number 34 Michael McDowell will not be among them.
Todd Gilliland will remain at Front Row and will be joined by Noah Gragson and as yet un-named driver.
Michael McDowell is departing Front Row Motorsports for Spire Motorsports who is also adding a new team next season to drive the number 71 car.
Currently driving for Spire, Corey LaJoie has announced that he will not be returning to Spire Motorsports next season and has not announced any new plans for the coming season.
One of the hundreds of people losing their jobs at Stewart-Haas, crew chief Rodney Childers will be moving to Spire Motorsports to serve as crew chief for the number seven car.
Filling some empty spots at JR Motorsports, Dale Jr is bringing back the number 88 car and has signed teenager Connor Zilisch to driver the car.
After two seasons of driving the number nine car for JRM, Brandon Jones is making a return to Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2025 season.
There are some big changes happening at Kaulig Racing beginning with AJ Allmendinger moving back up to the Cup Series next season. Craftsman Truck Series regulars Daniel Dye and Christian Eckes will be moving over to Kaulig to drive in the Xfinity Series next season.
And after a year of learning under his belt, Shane van Gisbergen is joining Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez in the Cup Series at Trackhouse Racing as the team adds a third car – the number 88 – in 2025.
Hailie Deegan who drove the number 15 car for AM Racing in the Xfinity Series parted ways with the team earlier in the summer. There has been no mention of her future plans in racing as of yet.
AM Racing has filled the car with substitute drivers for the remainder of the 2024 season; but has yet to name a new driver for the 2025 season.