NASCAR News July 15, 2021: Silly Season Gets Sillier

To start things off, Kyle Larson has agreed with Hendrick Motorsports on an extension that will keep him in the #5 Chevrolet through 2023. As part of that deal, he is fully sponsored for 35 races with Hendrickcars.com as well as the other three being with Valvoline. The reason for keeping HendrickCars, according to Bob Pockrass, is that his automotive website has seen increases in overall traffic (up 27%), vehicle sales lead (up 18%), digital retail leads (up 37%) & trade evaluations (up 61%) since starting to sponsor Kyle Larson. 

Larson has won five races so far in 2021 and is on track to having the best season so far of his career. Larson is coming off having been suspended for most of 2020 after using a racial slur. All four Hendrick drivers are at least signed through 2022, but the team is also working on extensions for Elliott and Byron too. According to Bob Pockrass, the team wanted to get Larson’s announcement out soon to inform other companies hoping to sponsor Larson.

2022 could shape up to be one of the wildest silly seasons in recent memory as we are seeing new teams come into the sport as well as possible new faces. Kurt Busch helped his stock on the market after his impressive Atlanta win this past weekend and has reported on Corey Lajoie’s Stacking Pennies Podcast that he doesn’t have a deal signed yet. 

“The Trackhouse thing changed the way the Ganassi structure was being discussed. And then yeah… 23XI is out there as well.” Busch said. 

The 2004 Champion has talked to Trackhouse, 23XI, Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota, and with the Jeff Gordon announcement of him leaving the FOX Sports booth, Busch has not left out the idea of possibly going to broadcasting as well. Busch has previously tested the NextGen car and expressed interest in driving it in the past. 

Keeping in touch with the 2022 Silly Season, JTG Daughtry does not plan on selling a charter and it is TBD on whether they will have one or two cars next season. Some rumors have begun floating around of Kevin Harvick potentially buying/buying into the team, but nothing else much is known about this rumor. Bob Pockrass did answer a question on Twitter on July 15th that JTG was not looking to sell. The other rumor that has been heard is a potential move to Toyota, a manufacturer they were previously with from the late 2000s to 2013.

Over in the Ford camp, Brad Keselowski will be leaving Team Penske at the end of the season to Roush-Fenway Racing in a driver/co-owner role with the team. So the question is who would fill in the seat of the 2012 Cup Champion. The question was answered this morning as defending Xfinity Champion Austin Cindric will pilot the #2 Ford next season and in a huge surprise, Harrison Burton, who was a Toyota development driver in the Xfinity Series for Joe Gibbs Racing, will take over the famed #21 ride for the Wood Brothers, now making Matt Dibenedetto a free agent and scrambling to find a new ride for 2022. It has also been confirmed that Motorcraft and Quick Lane will remain in the 21 for Burton. Dex Imaging currently sponsors him in the Xfinity Series. Discount Tire will also be staying with Team Penske to sponsor both Cindric and Blaney. According to Bob Pockrass, Roger Penske said Brad said he had the opportunity to have ownership in a team and that wasn’t available at Penske. Penske said Brad will bring a lot of value to Roush.

With all of the news coming out, so much is set to change in 2022 and I have a feeling we are far from over too. Let’s take a rundown of what we know so far:

• Brad Keselowski will move to the #6, assumingly, at Roush Fenway Racing and will become a co-owner.
• Kaulig Racing is taking their cup team to full-time status for 2022 and has acquired two charters. Justin Haley will be their full-time driver with AJ Allmendinger driving a second car part-time. 
• GMS Racing has announced they will go Cup racing in 2022 with detailed plans TBA. 
• Trackhouse Racing has bought Chip Ganassi’s NASCAR team and will have two cars next season. Daniel Suarez will return to the 99 with a second driver TBA. 
• Kyle Larson has extended his contract with Hendrick Motorsports through 2023. 

Now we have to run down possible changes we could see and who goes where next season. Names like Kurt Busch, Ross Chastain, and Matt Dibenedetto are now top free agents for next season. Other names could become open like Aric Almirola, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ryan Newman, Ryan Preece, among others. Here is a rundown of what rides are open/could be open and what could be a landing spot for some of these drivers:

• Kaulig Racing– We know Justin Haley is going to be one of the drivers. The team will have a second full-time car but it is uncertain whether it’ll be another driver or if the ride will be split among drivers. AJ Allmendinger is expected to run part-time in cup, uncertain if it will be that second car, or a third car that is part-time. Ross Chastain could wind up here, since he recently drove for them in the Xfinity Series in 2019 and 2020.

• 23XI Racing– There have been a lot of discussions on the possible expansion of Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan’s operation for 2022. Many names have been thrown out there, one in particular being Kurt Busch. Kurt could wind up in that ride and would bring great veteran presence to the new team. He also has Monster Energy as a big sponsor, which could conflict with 23XI having sponsorships with Dr. Pepper. Harrison Burton could’ve been a possibility, but will instead be at the Wood Brothers next season. If it’s not Busch, maybe you look at a guy like John Hunter Nemechek who has been going on a tear in the truck series, or Brandon Jones, who helps bring in the extra funding. Matt DiBenedetto could be someone to consider as well.

• Trackhouse Racing– Justin Marks and Pitbull wanted to be a two car operation and it took a great deal to buy Chip Ganassi Racing for next season. Now the question remains if it’ll be Chastain or Kurt Busch in the ride, or perhaps someone else that could take the ride. If 23XI doesn’t work out, I can see Kurt Busch landing at Trackhouse again for the same reasons as I noted with 23XI. A former champion with a veteran presence to help build this new team for the next year or two. A driver outside of Busch and Chastain that could make a good fit at this team would also be Matt DiBenedetto. He will have a lot of options on the table with the rides open for next season and I could see Trackhouse also being a good fit for him.

• GMS Racing– GMS Racing announced their plans to race in the Cup Series in 2022. It has not been announced what the intentions will be to either run full-time or part-time. The team could run part-time as an open team as we don’t know much information yet. IF the team goes full-time, you could bring in a guy like Ryan Newman, who like Kurt Busch, has veteran presence that is needed for a new team. GMS Racing currently operates a truck series program, has previously ran an Xfinity Series team, as well as having intentions to run in the Cup Series in recent years.

• Jr Motorsports?– This one is up in the air, as Dale Earnhardt Jr and Kelley Earnhardt Miller have stated they are still interested in running a Cup Series team in the near future. Dale Jr has said that a couple obstacles in the way are securing a charter, as well as securing sponsorship. So, if JRM goes Cup racing in 2022, who would be the driver? One guy to consider currently races for Jr and that is Justin Allgaier. He brings in a lot of experience and Brandt sponsorship as well. I think he could make a good fit for a new team. Again, you could throw in a current free agent like Matt DiBenedetto or Kurt Busch. Josh Berry could be someone to consider as well, though I see him more likely in a full-time Xfinity ride for Jr Motorsports. My leading candidate for this ride, if it happens, is Allgaier.

• JTG Daughtry Racing– There has been a lot of discussions as to what is going on at JTG Daughtry Racing and whether their current drivers will be back or not for 2022. Ryan Preece is under a bit more of a concern due to his #37 ride being an open team for this season, meaning it doesn’t have a charter, and the team isn’t recieving the funding as a chartered ride would. Preece could look to go elsewhere, Stenhouse may or may not be on the move. They have said it is TBD whether they will run one or two cars next season as well. As of right now, it all really comes down to what domino falls next for silly season. There has been rumbling rumors about Kevin Harvick buying/buying into the team, but nothing else has come from it.

• Stewart Haas Racing– The only reason I bring this team up is the #10 ride, currently occupied by Aric Almirola. Almirola I think still keeps the ride if Smithfield continues to back it, if not, then maybe we see a shake up like a Matt DiBenedetto or Ricky Stenhouse Jr wind up in the ride. The team has struggled in 2021 and Almirola has caught some bad luck. As of right now, I would say Almirola stays put unless something changes.

Anything can happen and who knows, another domino could fall shortly after this article is posted. 2022 is going look a lot different in NASCAR, maybe as different as we’ve ever seen it.