Key players in NASCAR’s Silly Season

It's the offseason and Silly Season still is in full swing. This year is especially busy with multiple prestigious rides coming open. Here are the key players in this year's Silly Season, which we will update as those drivers make their 2018 plans known.

Danica Patrick

2017 ride: No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

2018 ride: No full-time ride, but plans to run 2018 Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500

Outlook: Patrick announced in September that she was not returning to SHR. In November at the season-finale in Miami, Patrick announced she would not drive full time in 2018, but will drive in the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500 in 2018. Patrick and GoDaddy, her iconic green sponsor, have reunited for those two races.

Matt Kenseth

2017 ride: No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

2018 ride: Not expected to have a full-time ride

Outlook: The 2003 champion said at Texas on Nov. 4 that he will step away from driving in 2018, and he realizes that might affect his future in NASCAR. 'I don't know if that's forever,' Kenseth told NBC Sports. 'I don't know if that's a month or I don't know if that's five months. I don't know if that's two years. Most likely when you're gone, you don't get the opportunity again. I just don't really feel it's in the cards.'

Darrell Wallace Jr.

2017 rides: Filled in for four starts in No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford, 12 starts in the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford (XFINITY Series), other one-off starts in XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series

2018 ride: No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet

Note: A strong four-race stint with RPM while Aric Almirola was sidelined laid the groundwork for this move. Wallace will run full-time in the No. 43 and compete for Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors in 2018. On Dec. 8, Richard Petty Motorsports announced its new alliance with Richard Childress Racing. RPM will field Chevrolets in 2018. The graduate of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program is the second African-American to win in a NASCAR national series.

Kasey Kahne

2017 ride: No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

2018 ride: No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet

Note: Kahne lands with another Chevrolet team after agreeing to a deal with Leavine Family Racing, ending a six-year tenure with Hendrick Motorsports. Leavine Family Racing has been faster on the track in recent races and made a driver change with Kahne on the free-agent market. Michael McDowell has driven the car since 2014 .

Aric Almirola

2017 ride: No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford

2018 ride: No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

Note: The team announced on Nov. 8 that Almirola will pilot the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, currently driven by Danica Patrick, in 2018. Almirola's longtime sponsor Smithfield comes with him to Stewart-Haas as a primary sponsor.

Kurt Busch

2017 ride: No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

2018 ride: No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

Note: Four months after SHR tweeted that Kurt Busch is expected to pilot a SHR Ford in 2018 after reports surfaced that his contract would not be renewed beyond this season, Busch confirmed that he would indeed return to the team in 2018. His name swirled around other openings, but Busch ultimately is returning to the No. 41, he said.

Christopher Bell

2017 ride: No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota, Camping World Truck Series

2018 ride: A Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in the XFINITY Series

Note: Bell's star has been on the rise for the past season or so as he has notched seven career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series wins (as of Oct. 13) and got his feet wet with some XFINITY Series starts in 2017.

Erik Jones

2017 ride: No. 77 Furniture Row Racing Toyota

2018 ride: No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Note: Jones was a hot commodity this entire season and was mentioned in three roles -- staying in the No. 77, moving to the No. 88 at Hendrick Motorsports or the No. 20 Toyota at Joe Gibbs Racing. On July 11, JGR announced Jones would drive the No. 20 in 2018, which was previously occupied by Matt Kenseth.

William Byron

2017 ride: No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, XFINITY Series

2018 ride: No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Note: Byron's meteoric rise through NASCAR's national series will reach another stratosphere in 2018 -- Hendrick Motorsports announced Byron will drive the No. 24 Chevrolet in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, as Chase Elliott shifts to the No. 9.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

2017 ride: No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

2018 ride: None as Junior will retire from full-time competition

Note: Earnhardt struck a multiyear deal with NBC Sports Group where he will be involved in the network's NASCAR coverage and possibly some other interests as well. He has said that he will make a handful of XFINITY Series starts for his JR Motorsports organization.

Alex Bowman

2017 ride: Testing for Hendrick Motorsports

2018 ride: No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Note: Bowman impressed Hendrick executives enough with his performance last year as a substitute driver for Dale Jr. and this year as a testing driver to earn a shot in the No. 88 in 2018.

Ryan Blaney

2017 ride: No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford

2018 ride: No. 12 Team Penske Ford

Note: There was early chatter about Blaney being a possibility in the No. 88 at Hendrick Motorsports. Roger Penske, though, had different plans for his budding superstar. Blaney will move to Team Penske in 2018 in a third car, teaming with Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano.

Paul Menard

2017 ride: No. 27 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

2018 ride: No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford

Note: Wood Brothers Racing announced that the veteran Monster Energy Series driver would join its team to pilot the No. 21 Ford in 2018, replacing Ryan Blaney.