NASCAR foolish season in 2025 was largely non-existent, with the one important transfer being Daniel Suarez becoming a member of Spire Motorsports and Trackhouse Racing changing him with Connor Zilisch. Issues are going to be a lot completely different this yr, with some huge names within the Cup Sequence on expiring offers.
Let’s dive into our early NASCAR foolish season predictions, with a couple of projections for the place a number of the prime free-agent drivers and up-and-comers will land subsequent season.
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Tyler Reddick: No. 45 Automobile for 23XI Racing
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Might Hendrick Motorsports try and make issues attention-grabbing with as a possible possibility for the No. 48 automobile? Perhaps, however that may require Hendrick outbidding 23XI Racing, and Michael Jordan isn’t permitting that to occur. Reddick has already delivered a 2024 regular-season title for 23XI, and he simply set the workforce’s single-season wins document earlier than the calendar even flipped to April. He’s in clean test territory, and given Jordan’s repute for desirous to win in any respect prices, there’s no manner anybody else drives the No. 45.
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Corey Heim: No. 35 Automobile for 23XI Racing
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Corey Heim proved in 2025 that he already belongs within the Cup Sequence full-time. Nonetheless, the younger driver has caught with the plan set out for him by 23XI Racing. That concerned historic dominance of the Truck Sequence final season, and he’s now splitting time between Truck, Cup, and the O’Reilly Auto Elements Sequence in 2026. Endurance will lastly be rewarded this offseason. Heim will take Riley Herbst’s place within the No. 35 automobile, giving 23XI Racing a three-man workforce of Reddick, Heim, and Bubba Wallace that provides them a shot at creating a brand new “Large Three” of groups in NASCAR.
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RIley Herbst: Legacy Motor Membership
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After a brutal first season within the Cup Sequence with 23XI Racing, has proven indicators of progress in 2026. He recorded an eighth-place end within the Daytona 500 and, in that very same race, proved he generally is a nice teammate by serving to Tyler Reddick get the win. He additionally completed twenty third at COTA and 18th at Phoenix, and he had an actual shot at a top-20 end at Darlington earlier than he received spun by Connor Zilisch within the last stage, with the harm to the automobile dropping him again within the discipline. Herbst is at the least exhibiting sufficient to get one other full-time experience subsequent season, and given the monetary sources he brings to the desk, he’s excellent for Legacy Motor Membership subsequent season because it brings in a 3rd automobile.
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Alex Bowman: Steps Away from Racing
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Medical points have been an unlucky theme of ‘s NASCAR profession. A concussion stored him out of 5 races in 2022, and the next yr, a damaged again sidelined him for 3 races. Sadly, he’s now set to overlook at the least 5 races in 2026 on account of vertigo points. It’s the very last thing he wanted to occur in a contract yr with Hendrick Motorsports, but it surely’s simply been one factor after one other for him within the final 5 years. We expect that Bowman winds up not having a Cup Sequence experience and takes the 2027 season off. Perhaps he finds a task working as a NASCAR analyst for Amazon Prime Video’s protection after which sees how he feels after that.
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Daniel Suarez: No. 7 Automobile for Spire Motorsports
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After how ugly issues ended at Trackhouse Racing, the 2026 marketing campaign with Spire Motorsports felt like a now-or-never state of affairs for ‘s Cup Sequence profession. Not solely is he performing effectively, however the driver of the No. 7 automobile is outracing each considered one of his former colleagues, together with Ross Chastain. Perhaps that claims extra about Spire versus Trackhouse, however what’s grow to be fairly clear this spring is that Suarez remains to be greater than succesful behind the wheel of a stable automobile and a supportive workforce within the Cup Sequence. He brings a good quantity of consistency to the desk, he’s well-liked, and he has backing from nice sponsors. That’s checking sufficient bins that we will’t see Spire shifting him out of the No. 7, even when it means Suarez probably having to take one other one-year deal after this season.
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Kyle Busch: No. 71 Automobile for Spire Motorsports
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As his winless streak within the Cup Sequence reaches triple digits, one factor is clear: most likely received’t be again with Richard Childress Racing in 2027. The longer term Corridor of Famer appears fed up with the automobile he’s been supplied by RCR, and the sensation from the workforce—at the least primarily based on what’s overheard on the radio—displays the same sentiment towards the motive force. Whereas we don’t foresee Busch taking Suarez’s spot within the No. 7 automobile, Spire might determine to swap out Michael McDowell for Busch. McDowell, who will probably be 42 years previous in December, would then should discover a smaller workforce to safe a full-time experience within the Cup Sequence subsequent season.
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Jesse Love: No. 8 Automobile for Richard Childress Racing
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Jesse Love, one of many prime prospects in NASCAR, is already a improvement driver for Richard Childress Racing and is getting a couple of alternatives to show himself within the Cup Sequence this season. Given current reporting that Legacy Motor Membership doesn’t need to be a short-term spot for an additional workforce’s up-and-comer to only develop for a yr earlier than leaving, we expect that RCR simply lets Love come aboard subsequent season. He’ll substitute Busch within the No. 8 automobile, giving the workforce a 22-year-old driver who might be extra amenable to steering throughout the race and with whom any early success can be seen as a optimistic step towards a good brighter future.
Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski: RFK Racing
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There’s an previous saying in sports activities which you can’t substitute the proprietor. So, even when he wasn’t coming off consecutive nice performances, it’s onerous to examine any situation the place co-owner Brad Keselowski offers up his personal seat within the No. 6 automobile for RFK Racing. As for Chris Buescher, whereas he doesn’t have an possession stake within the workforce, the No. 17 workforce has confirmed excellent for him, and this partnership is definitely working for each events. We consider the three-car workforce of Buescher, Keselowski, and Ryan Preece stays collectively at RFK subsequent yr.
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