Early look at eight candidates to watch for RCR’s No. 8 ride

With 23XI Racing and Tyler Reddick getting a way-too-early jump on shaking up the 2024 Cup Series driver roster, it's time for a similarly too-early look at the next domino to fall in the Silly Season chain. Reddick's surprising, impending departure creates a prime vacancy in Richard Childress Racing's No. 8 Chevrolet ride after the 2023 campaign. Many potential candidates could be in line to take the wheel of the No. 8, but here's assessing the likelihood of eight drivers in particular.

Noah Gragson

This connection makes sense on several levels, starting with Gragson's ability to win races with at least some regularity in the Xfinity Series the last three seasons. The JR Motorsports driver is already in the Chevy pipeline and is getting some Cup Series experience with RCR affiliate Kaulig Racing this season, plus Gragson has an established connection to Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris, a longtime Childress ally. Maybe there was more to Gragson's smiley-face emoji tweet in the wake of Reddick's announcement than he's letting on.

Austin Hill

In a search for drivers ripe for Cup Series promotions, RCR has the advantage of a pair of internal candidates in its own development program. Hill's resume has its own merits, including RCR's most recent win -- a dominant home-state triumph at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The 28-year-old driver has plenty of seasoning as well in the Truck Series, where he's an eight-time winner.

Sheldon Creed

Richard Childress Racing's other Xfinity Series prospect has something Hill doesn't -- a Truck Series championship (2020). But Creed's first full Xfinity Series season has been a more uneven affair, with five DNFs (three crash-related) in the last nine races and no top-five finishes halfway through the year. The 24-year-old has game, even if the results don't quite bear it out just yet.

Josh Berry

Another driver of car No. 8, why not? Josh Berry's rise from the Late Model ranks to an Xfinity Series title contender puts him firmly on the list of standouts. Were JR Motorsports to make the jump to Cup Series competition, it would make sense for the team to take the driver whose career it has cultivated for years along for the ride. Until then, he'll keep cropping up on lists like these based on his sheer driving talent.

Zane Smith

The current Truck Series points leader -- and series runner-up the last two seasons -- has turned heads at several points this year. Besides his three wins this season, he also impressed just last weekend with the clean nature of his intense battle with race winner Parker Kligerman at Mid-Ohio. He also filled in admirably for Chris Buescher on short notice in RFK Racing's No. 17 ride at Gateway for his Cup Series debut. It would take plenty for RCR and Chevrolet to pry him away from the Ford pipeline, but his performance to date merits the speculation.

Justin Haley

The only Cup Series race winner on this list, Haley has been a key cog in Kaulig Racing's move from Xfinity Series powerhouse to a Cup newcomer. It's early still in the 23-year-old driver's development, but he's shown he can win in NASCAR's other national series. Kaulig's existing partnership to RCR only reaffirms the connection.

Ty Dillon

Talk about putting the band back together. The possibility of Richard Childress making his two-car operation a two-grandson effort would seem to be enticing. Ty Dillon made his Cup Series debut with RCR in 2014, and after a journeyman-style season last year, he's back in the Chevy camp with Petty GMS. Family bonds run deep for Childress, and such a move would only strengthen them.

Corey LaJoie

Maybe LaJoie's inclusion has some recency bias based on his valiant underdog bid for a breakthrough victory last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but the well-traveled 30-year-old driver has made no secret of his aspirations for a ride in higher-tier equipment through the years. LaJoie famously broke out his cursive in a handwritten letter that expressed this desire to team owner Rick Hendrick a few years back. Might be time to warm up the fountain pen again before Childress' 2024 decisions are made.