"brad keselowski kissing bricks" by Zach Catanzareti Photo is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
There are plenty of question marks as we make our way through the 2021 NASCAR season regarding what the field could look like when the teams make their way to Daytona to kick off next season. With Silly Season in full effect, I look at what I think the driver roster will look like when the dust settles, starting with one of the new teams this season.
23: Bubba Wallace
97: Kurt Busch
This seems to be the most common conclusion one comes to when looking at the team heading into next season. While it’s important to note that the organization has yet to announce that they have secured a second charter, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before they get a deal done.
Wallace is locked in for next year. Why Kurt Busch for the second car? Because this is a team that could really use a veteran driver to pair with Wallace to truly get an idea where the team is at. Busch is one of the best drivers in the sport, even after all these years, and he wants to continue racing. The team will have competition for his services, however, as Trackhouse is also rumored to be looking into hiring him to pair with Daniel Suárez for the 2022 season. I predict that he’ll drive the No. 97 as a throwback to his early years in NASCAR.
34: Michael McDowell
38: Anthony Alfredo
There’s a lot up in the air for Front Row Motorsports as we edge closer to 2022. McDowell’s contract is up with the team at the end of the year, but the 2021 Daytona 500 Champion has said that he wants to stay with the team. He’s likely to return. Then there is the case of Alfredo. It’s important to note that he’s a rookie. He also isn’t in the greatest equipment, but he also has not got the job done so far this season.
He’s 30th in the points and has failed to earn even half of the points McDowell has at this point in the season. Furthermore, when you compare his season to what John Hunter Nemechek did in the same ride last season, you start to wonder if he’ll be back in the seat in 2022. For now, we’ll keep him pegged to return in 2022, if only because there’s no obvious contenders to replace him.
96: Ty Dillon
The team has operated on a part-time basis this season, mostly with Ty Dillon as the driver. However, this is a team that has been full-time in the past and could possibly go that direction once again if they get a driver who brings in the necessary funding. At this point in time, I don’t see that happening, but I can see them returning in 2022 with Ty Dillon behind the wheel on a limited schedule.
26: Justin Allgaier
There are a lot of questions for GMS after they shocked the NASCAR world and announced that they would compete in the Cup Series in 2022. For starters, there have been no announcements made as far as who will drive for them, whether they will be full-time or part-time, if they are trying to purchase a charter or even what the car number will be. For the sake of this exercise, I’ll predict that they’ll run part-time without a charter and the car number will be No. 26. It’s the only number with a GMS connection that a team isn’t using.
As far as driver, that’s much trickier to predict. There aren’t any obvious drivers that could be linked to this ride. It’s hard to think that any of the team’s five NASCAR Camping World Truck Series drivers could potentially fill the seat, although Zane Smith has competed in the Xfinity Series in the past so he’s at least somewhat plausible. I doubt any veteran drivers are lining up for this seat. When you look at the list of past GMS drivers, Nemechek seems like a viable choice, except he’s locked in with Toyota now. At the end of the day, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Allgaier fills the seat. Of course, this is under the assumption that JR Motorsports doesn’t jump to the cup level, in which I’d give Allgaier the edge for that seat.
5: Kyle Larson
9: Chase Elliott
24: William Byron
48: Alex Bowman
This one doesn’t require that much explanation. All four drivers for the current Top Dog in NASCAR are having excellent seasons and they’re all locked in through at least 2022.
11: Denny Hamlin
18: Kyle Busch
19: Martin Truex Jr.
20: Christopher Bell
This team is all set for 2022. Their Big Three, Hamlin, Busch and Truex, are signed through next season. Bell’s contract is unknown, but there’s no reason to believe he’s going anywhere anytime soon.
37: Ryan Preece
47: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
The questions for JTG Daugherty all center around the No. 37. Stenhouse seems likely to return, but there’s a legitimate question as to whether they’ll still be a two-car team in 2022. This year, the No. 37 has operated without a charter, and they’ve also had lots of issues regarding finding full-time sponsorship. There’s still no guarantee they run all 36 races this season if Preece doesn’t make the playoffs, which he wouldn’t as of right now.
Preece has shown on numerous occasions this season that he is a very talented driver and deserves to be in NASCAR, but it may not matter at the end of the day. For now, I’ll predict that the team sticks around in 2022 with Preece as a driver, once again without a charter. But, of all these predictions, this is one of those that I’m least confident in.
16: Justin Haley
61: AJ Allmendinger, Kaz Grala
Haley was confirmed as the full-time driver of the team’s first entry, which will likely be the No. 16 car as it has been the past couple of seasons. The team also purchased a second charter and announced that Allmendinger would run a partial schedule, likely at road courses and maybe even superspeedways. That could mean that he could be running a part-time third car or that the second car will have multiple drivers, which seems like a more likely scenario to me at the moment.
With that being said, I’d be shocked if Grala isn’t the other driver. He’s been the other driver of the No. 16 this season along with Allmendinger. As far as what the number of the second car will be, I’d guess they’re going to flip the 16 around and go with the No. 61. Other teams already have the No. 10 and No. 11 in use.
78: BJ McLeod + other drivers
There’s not much to discuss here, as McLeod, who’s part owner of the team, is likely to run most of the races again next season. Just like this season, it’s likely he’ll step out of the car when another driver brings their own sponsorship.
66: Timmy Hill
The plans of the team for next season remain unknown, especially given that they have struggled with lack of sponsorship this season, but at this point, I’d expect them to be back with Hill behind the wheel in a part-time capacity next season.
3: Austin Dillon
8: Tyler Reddick
For starters, Dillon is going nowhere, so let’s get that out of the way first. Now, when talking about Reddick’s future, there’s a lot more questions than there are answers at this point. It’s a given that RCR would love for Reddick to return, as he has been excellent this season, especially as of late. The second-year driver has been rumored to be headed elsewhere however, and if he’s available he’d likely be the top option for many teams.
He could potentially be an option to drive for Penske if the rumors are true about Keselowski, but as you’ll see later, I have someone else pegged for that spot for now. However, it seems most likely at this point that he winds up back at RCR and continues to be a form a solid duo with Dillon, allowing RCR to continue to take steps forward as an organization in 2022.
43: Erik Jones
RPM holds a team option on Jones next season. They have had discussions of Jones returning but nothing is set in stone yet. It is unlikely that Jones will be offered any top rides this offseason. Therefore, the likely outcome is that both sides come together and decide to run it back next season.
51: Cody Ware
52: James Davidson
53: Josh Bilicki, Joey Gase, Garrett Smithley, JJ Yeley
It seems likely that no matter what happens with Rick Ware Racing in 2022, that this collection of drivers will all be driving for the team. This season, Bilicki is driving full-time for the team, while Cody Ware has only been out of the car on a couple of occasions. Davidson is the driver of the No. 15 for most races, while Gase, Smithley, and Yeley rotate between the No. 15 and the No. 53.
However, Ware has said next season that the team is likely to run only three full-time teams, as opposed to the four they have this season. Therefore, I predict that Cody Ware returns full-time in the No. 51, while Davidson, who has looked to be able to run more races, will slot into the No. 52, potentially full-time. I believe if the team cuts down to three cars, they’ll ditch the No. 15 and keep the No. 53 as the rotation car, with the same drivers in the fold.
6: Brad Keselowski
17: Chris Buescher
Buescher is expected to remain with the team after this season, even though his contract expires at the conclusion of this season. With that aside, now comes the fun part. The biggest rumor throughout this entire NASCAR season has been that Keselowski would leave Team Penske and move over to Roush to not only drive for the team but take on an ownership role within the team. At this point, it has yet to be confirmed. It seems that the more time that passes without either side shutting it down, the more likely it is to happen.
At this point, I would be shocked if it didn’t happen. I think he’ll replace Ryan Newman and drive the No. 6 car, and try to help a premier team in NASCAR restore its past glory. In doing so, he’d form the best driver lineup that Roush has had in a long time between him and Buescher. Both drivers will compete for a playoff spot in 2022.
7: Corey LaJoie
LaJoie has done well for Spire this season, despite a very rough start to the season that has him in 29th place in the standings. He consistently has outrun his equipment and outperformed Haley in the second Spire car, which bodes well for him moving forward. He is confirmed to be back with Spire for the 2022 season as they look to continue to improve as a team.
The real question for the team is whether they run a second car next season after selling two of their three charters to Kaulig. They’ve run two full-time teams this season, but without a second charter, I don’t see that happening again next season.
00: Quinn Houff
There’s no reason to believe StarCom moves on from Houff, who has avoided being in the headlines for on-track incidents this season, something he was unable to do the year prior. Despite improvement in that area, the team still sits 38th in owner points, last of all charter teams. It’s not out of the question that the team looks for a veteran driver to avoid losing their charter within the next couple of years.
4: Kevin Harvick
10: Aric Almirola
14: Chase Briscoe
41: Cole Custer
This lineup won’t change in 2022 despite the fact that there has been a lot of speculation about a potential shake-up to their driver lineup given the immense struggles the team has faced this season. Harvick has made it clear he plans on returning next season and the team is unlikely to replace Briscoe and Custer, despite their struggles.
Now, there is at least a reasonable possibility that the team moves on from Almirola given the fact that he is 27th in points and has had a miserable season in all facets. However, Almirola still has the backing of Smithfield, and until he loses that, it seems unlikely that he’ll be going anywhere anytime soon.
2: Austin Cindric
12: Ryan Blaney
22: Joey Logano
Blaney and Logano are going nowhere. However, I fully expect the Keselowski to Roush rumors to be true as I mentioned above. With Penske looking for a new driver, it seems the most likely move is for Cindric to move to the No. 2. The plan was that he would spend 2022 with Wood Brothers Racing but Cindric has certainly earned a seat with the main team, given his absolute dominance of the Xfinity Series over the past season and a half.
Now, there is a possibility that Penske decides to go after someone like Reddick for this seat, and if they do it’s likely they would be able to take him from RCR. For now, I don’t see that happening.
42: Ross Chastain
99: Daniel Suárez
Trackhouse shocked the NASCAR world to end the month of June when they announced that they had bought Chip Ganassi Racing. This allowed them, among other things, to expand their operation to a two-car team in 2022 in just their second season in NASCAR. They’ve already announced that Suárez is returning next season, so the real question is who joins him as a teammate.
From the sounds of things, it seems that Kurt Busch and Chastain, the two drivers currently driving for Ganassi, are the frontrunners for the second Trackhouse seat. I ultimately believe that Busch will end up at 23XI Racing, so that leads me to believe Chastain will take this seat, one that he has shown he deserves given his improvement as of late in his first full-time season in competitive equipment. At this point, the number of the second car is unknown but if Chastain lands the ride, I’ll say that it stays the No. 42 for now.
21: Matt DiBenedetto
At the start of the season, the team announced that Austin Cindric would take over this ride for 2022. However, with the rumors that Keselowski will depart and head over to Roush, it leaves a seat vacant. As seen above, I believe that Cindric will instead join the main team, thus leaving this seat open after this season after all.
DiBenedetto no doubt has struggled this season compared to last year, when he made the playoffs for the first time in his career. However, given the other options that could be on the table, I’d count on DiBenedetto to end up piloting this car for at least one more season in 2022.
There are a few names that stick out to me in terms of drivers who could have more of a role in this NASCAR Silly Season than expected.
Ryan Newman is the obvious one, as Keselowski is likely to replace him in the No. 6 car, assuming Roush doesn’t decide to expand to three cars. Unfortunately for Newman, he’ll be 44-years-old before next season starts and his performance has fallen off as well, as he sits 26th in the standings. He’s at the very least been in NASCAR for a longtime and could help mentor a young driver, but I just don’t see a spot for him among any of these teams in 2022.
Another one of those drivers is Noah Gragson, who could look to try and make a move up to the Cup Series for 2022, but given his struggles this season, I think he’ll remain in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2022. The same can be said of Harrison Burton. The fact that he remains winless this season is a sign that maybe we should hit the brakes on the notion of Burton to the Cup Series for right now.
The big name that could be a factor in the offseason carousel is John Hunter Nemechek, who has already won five races this season in his return to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Last year, Nemechek was a rookie in the Cup Series, and performed well given the equipment he was in. He chose to move back down the ladder for a shot in competitive equipment and to show that he could win races. He’s done that and more and should be considered an option for any ride that opens in either the Cup Series or the Xfinity Series.
Significance of the Award The NBA MVP is the most prestigious individual award in American…
Durant's Desired Destinations The NBA offseason has been dominated by the news of Kevin Durant…
As multiple sports continue to expand their leagues in the US, more and more cities…
Deebo Samuel has requested a trade from San Francisco. The San Francisco 49ers star wideout…
The NBA Playoffs are finally here and this is what to take in after game…
Playoff Jimmy is back. After a solid game one in Miami, Jimmy Butler answered it…