Driver movement is coming fast and furious, providing a preview of the 2022 landscape that so far includes an Xfinity Series powerhouse wading into the Cup Series full time, a team in its first season purchasing a longtime organization, a championship crew chief stepping down from atop the pit box and plenty more rumors swirling as the season charges on.
Our 2022 Silly Season Tracker is below, listing what we know for full-time Cup Series teams in 2022. We’ll update this page often, as teams finalize their plans for next season. Anything highlighted in red indicates news on that driver and ride for beyond 2021, and clicking on the red line will give you more information on the move and its impact.
No.
Driver
Crew Chief
Team
Chastain lands in the second car at Trackhouse. He had been at Chip Ganassi Racing, which sold its NASCAR operations to Trackhouse in June. Crew chief Phil Surgen will also make the move over and remain teamed with Chastain.
Team Penske has announced that Austin Cindric will make the jump to the Cup Series full-time to pilot the No. 2 car in 2022.
Kyle Larson signed a contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports that goes through the 2023 season and includes majority sponsorship from HendrickCars.com.
Roush announced that Brad Keselowski will come on board in 2022 in a driver-ownership role and will drive the No. 6, a seat held by Ryan Newman in 2021. Matt McCall will be the team's crew chief.
The 2022 season will be Aric Almirola's final in the Cup ranks as he will retire at the conclusion of the season. Drew Blickensderfer will take the reins atop the pit box for the No. 10 team as Mike Bugarewicz shifts into the performance director role with the organization. Blickensderfer won the Daytona 500 in 2021 with Michael McDowell.
Todd Gordon, Blaney's crew chief, has announced he will retire from Team Penske at the end of the 2021 season. Jonathan Hassler, who has been the crew chief for the second half of the season on the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford team, will call the shots in '22.
Xfinity Series regulars AJ Allmendinger (14 races plus Busch Light Clash and All-Star Race), Daniel Hemric (8 races plus Daytona Duels) and Noah Gragson (14 races) will split the ride for the season. Allmendinger won Kaulig's first Cup race in this ride at the Indianapolis Road Course in 2021.
Graves was the crew chief for the final five races of 2021 for the No. 17 team. He will be in charge of that team for 2022. Buescher and Graves teamed for the 2015 Xfinity Series title.
Wood Brothers Racing has announced that Harrison Burton will be their full-time driver for the 2022 season in the No. 21 Ford Mustang. Brian Wilson moves over from Team Penske's Xfinity program to lead the team.
Barker entered the new role in September as Wallace's crew chief and guided the organization to its first win at Talladega Superspeedway, doubling as Wallace's first Cup Series victory.
Kaulig Racing has announced it will be running full time in the Cup Series in 2022, with Justin Haley piloting an entry. Owens was formerly the crew chief for Ryan Preece at JTG Daugherty Racing.
McDowell will return for his fifth season at Front Row. Drew Blickensderfer will not be back as the crew chief. Blake Harris, previously a car chief for the No. 19 team, will call the shots atop the box.
Gilliland will replace Anthony Alfredo who leaves after one season in the ride. Gilliland moves up following two seasons with Front Row's truck operation.
Dillon is back in the Cup ranks with new coalition Petty GMS Motorsports, joining Erik Jones in the two-car stable.
Erik Jones will return to his No. 43 Chevrolet in 2022 — but with a new team name after the Petty/GMS merger. Elenz will be the team's new crew chief coming over from JR Motorsports where he has was a two-time Xfinity Series champion crew chief. The majority interest of RPM was sold to GMS Racing owner Maury Gallagher and with that comes the charters that belong to them (the Nos. 43 and 51).
Busch will be heading to the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota for the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season as he will drive for the Michael Jordan-Denny Hamlin co-owned organization. Cup Series veteran Billy Scott, who spent the 2016-19 seasons with Stewart-Haas Racing, will be the crew chief. Busch and Scott got a win together in 2018.
Stenhouse confirmed at the end of September that he signed a one-year extension to return to the No. 47 in 2022. Team co-owner Brad Daugherty earlier revealed that the organization will be fielding only one car in 2022.
Alex Bowman signed a two-year contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports.
Ware will be back in the No. 51 for a second season in 2022. RWR will also field the No. 15 but with an assortment of drivers piloting that car.
Suarez will be back for a second year at Trackhouse, although he will have a teammate as the organization expands to two cars for the coming season.