NASCAR
Who’s Going Where so far in NASCAR Silly Season 2026?
In what can be characterized as a quieter NASCAR silly season, a lot of driver and team change has still happened. All three National Series will have at least a few faces in new places for the 2026 racing season. As the calendar shifts to the last month of 2025, here’s a recap look back at all driver moves already confirmed ahead of the new year. Who do you think stands out from this pack of drivers in new opportunities?
Cup Series
- Daniel Suarez takes over the Spire Motorsports No. 7 Chevrolet. The 2016 Xfinity Series champion spent the past five years at Trackhouse Racing, where he won twice. 2025 saw Suarez earn seven top-10s including two second-place finishes.
Daniel Suarez’s new look No. 7 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet for the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season. Seen at Spire Motorsports on Tuesday, November 25, 2025. Photo Credit: Peter Stratta/TSJSports
- Suarez’s vacancy at Trackhouse will be filled by rookie Connor Zilisch. The 19-year-old Charlotte native takes over the rebranded No. 88 Chevrolet, and will compete for Rookie of the Year. Zilisch won 10 Xfinity races in 2025 en route to a championship runner-up effort. Through three Cup starts with Trackhouse in 2025, Zilisch saw a best result of 11th in July’s Atlanta race. Randall Burnett will crew chief the rookie effort, moving over from Richard Childress Racing.
O’Reilly Auto Parts Series
- Ryan Ellis is the new full-time driver of Youngs Motorsports’ No. 02 Chevrolet. Ellis brings along with him sponsorship from Tablo TV. May’s Charlotte race saw Ellis earn his first career top-10, finishing eighth. Ellis and DGM Racing were 28th in 2025 Xfinity Series points.
- Josh Bilicki now calls the SS Greenlight Racing No. 07 Chevrolet home. Bilicki was also at DGM Racing for most of the past three seasons. This timespan saw him earn three top-10s.
- Hendrick Motorsports will be full-time on Saturdays again, with rookie Corey Day in the No. 17 Chevrolet. The California dirt racing phenom ran 11 Xfinity races in 2025, earning a top-five and two top-10s. In Trucks, Day saw a best finish of second at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
- Another teenage rookie will call Joe Gibbs Racing home for most of 2025: Brent Crews. The Toyota development driver turns 18 years old in March, and will make his O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut at COTA. He will be in the No. 19 Toyota Supra for 29 races total, being too young for a few races to start the year. His limited NASCAR experience has been highlighted by a runner-up result in the Charlotte Roval Truck race, and three top-10s in 10 starts.
- 2025 Playoff driver Harrison Burton moves onward from AM Racing to Sam Hunt Racing. The past Toyota prospect calls this manufacturer home once again, taking control of a newly full-time No. 24 Supra. Despite not finding victory lane in 2025, Burton did see two top-fives and 10 top-10s.
- Rajah Caruth graduates from the Trucks to a full-time O’Reilly Auto Parts Series campaign. He will be in the JR Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet for most of 2026. His remaining outstanding schedule will be run with Jordan Anderson Racing. Caruth did make a few 2025 starts with this underdog team, and will be in the No. 32 Chevrolet for 10 races next year. Caruth has earned a Truck win in each of the last two seasons with Spire Motorsports, with a best championship result of sixth.
- Josh Williams makes a homecoming with DGM Racing, taking back over the No. 92 Chevrolet. The past year-and-a-half saw Williams compete with Kaulig Racing, where he had six top-10s.
- Parker Retzlaff takes over the Viking Motorsports No. 99 Chevrolet, now aligned with Richard Childress Racing. This team had a best 2025 result of fifth with Matt DiBenedetto at Talladega. Retzlaff saw three top-10s en route to 22nd in points last year, including a runner-up result from Rockingham Speedway.
Craftsman Truck Series
- Kaulig Racing will lead RAM’s reentry into the Craftsman Truck Series with a fleet of five teams. Anchoring this effort is NASCAR veteran Justin Haley, who makes a return to both Kaulig and the Trucks. Haley ran for Kaulig in both Xfinity and Cup for five seasons, winning four times and finishing 22nd in Cup points one year. 2025 saw Haley in the Spire Motorsports No. 7, where he earned two top-10s. Haley most recently ran Trucks in 2018, where he won three times en route to being third in points. While many unknowns still surround RAM as a manufacturer and their performance, Haley hopes to be a successful presence guiding their efforts in the No. 16.
- Daniel Dye will be one of Haley’s teammates with Kaulig, making the switch from their Xfinity Series team. His Truck number will be 10, just like his Xfinity entry this past season. Dye’s rookie campaign on Saturdays in 2025 yielded eight top-10s and 20th in points. In his last Truck season, Dye made the 2024 Playoffs on the strength of nine top-10s.
- Reigning ARCA champion Brendan ‘Butterbean’ Queen rounds out Kaulig’s full-time driver lineup. The past CARS Tour champion and decorated late model star turned many heads in 2025, winning eight times in 20 starts. Queen’s limited NASCAR experience has also been fruitful, with two top-10s in five career Truck starts and ninth in the fall Kansas Xfinity Series race. At 28 years old, Queen is far from an inexperienced Truck rookie. ‘Butterbean’ could be a sleeper championship threat throughout the season in RAM No. 12.
- Less than two seconds away from the 2025 Truck title, Kaden Honeycutt gets maybe the biggest possible offseason promotion. The Texan will make the switch over to TRICON Garage, inheriting the No. 11 seat vacated by 2025’s dominant driver Corey Heim. This pairing could be something magical together. Honeycutt toughed it out between three different teams to make 2025’s Championship 4, all without winning a single race. Now taking the reigns of one of NASCAR’s most dominant teams, a banner 2026 may lie ahead for the short track ace. It may be very short time until Honeycutt calls himself a NASCAR winner, and the winning may not stop as seen with TRICON in 2025.
- Silly season plans remain largely TBD for Truck Series stalwart Niece Motorsports. One piece of their 2026 roster is official, though, with Tyler Reif moving into the No. 42 for most of the year. The Nevada driver graduates up the National Series level after competing in ARCA and ARCA East, where he was 2025 title runner-up. His Truck Series debut at Phoenix in November saw him record a top-10 in ninth, leading to this opportunity with Niece. 2026 will also see this team welcome new partial owners, but Niece Motorsports operations will remain largely unchanged.
- Perhaps 2026’s biggest Truck Series title threat is returning star Christian Eckes. Following a one-year foray in Xfinity, the nine-time winner returns to McAnally-Hilgemann Racing and the No. 91 Chevrolet. Eckes’ past Truck tenure with this team saw four wins apiece in 2023 and 2024, with a best points result of third. Now returning to familiar territory, Eckes will be chasing many trophies including the championship from the outset.
At this point, there is already great driver movement in all three National Series. Silly season still has a few cards left to fall in place, though for seats throughout the O’Reilly and Truck Series garages. As December soon shifts to January, these open rides will all be filled in due time and new contenders may emerge. Several of these teams are capable of championship-caliber efforts and may continue to make headlines in 2026.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credits to James Gilbert, Sean Gardner, and Meg Oliphant/Getty Images
