Ryan Blaney signed a long-term contract extension Wednesday to remain with Team Penske as driver of its No. 12 Ford, continuing what has been a calm start to NASCAR’s Silly Season in 2026.
Blaney joins Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick and Carson Hocevar as drivers to sign long-term re-ups this year with their current teams — Team Penske, Hendrick Motorsports, 23XI Racing and Spire Motorsports, respectively.
But just because free agency has started without any sexy team transfers doesn’t mean there aren’t any up for consideration.
MORE: Cup standings | Cup Series schedule
The biggest questions looming in NASCAR’s free agency revolve around Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 48 Chevrolet and Richard Childress Racing’s No. 8 Chevrolet.
Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 car, and Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 8, are both seeking respective new contracts for the 2027 NASCAR Cup Series season. Bowman is a multi-time winner at the powerhouse Hendrick team with consecutive top fives in his last two starts — a plus for the “What have you done for me lately?” column. Busch is a two-time Cup champion with an unfathomable 233 national series wins to his credit — including 63 Cup wins, ninth-most all-time — but is amid the most uncertain moment of his career.
Both drivers appear to have reached a crossroads with their respective organizations. Bowman has just two wins on his ledger since the start of 2022 and hasn’t reached Victory Lane since winning in July 2024 at the Chicago Street Course. He also has missed three or more races in three of the past five seasons due to injury: a concussion in 2022 (missed five races), a broken vertebra in 2023 (missed three races) and a bout with vertigo at the start of this season (missed four races).
At RCR, Busch won three times in the first 15 races of 2023 in his debut campaign with the team but has gone winless since, leaving the 41-year-old in a drought that has extended to a career-worst 104 races. Busch, who agreed to a one-year extension with RCR last spring, has finished inside the top 10 just once this year (10th, Talladega Superspeedway) and was in contention for a second last week at Texas Motor Speedway before late-race frustration with John Hunter Nemechek sank him to 20th.
So where do they go from here?
Bowman has done himself plenty of favors within the walls of Hendrick Motorsports by continuing to be a helpful teammate behind the scenes, as well as working diligently to return to action whenever he’s been sidelined.
Four-time Cup Series champion and Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon said Sunday he’d like to see Bowman continue his recent upward trend.
“Just continue to improve and contribute the way he has been, which goes deeper than just results,” Gordon said. “It’s all about the feedback that he has throughout the race, throughout the race weekend, Monday debriefs. He’s doing all those things.
“Alex is a great guy. He’s been a great asset to Hendrick. He’s had some misfortunes that were out of his control, but we think the world of Alex. He’s like family to us. We just want what’s best for him and what’s best for the team right now, and that’s where our focus is.”
If Bowman were to return for 2027, the organization would have at least one more year to assess the future of the No. 48 Chevrolet. The question then becomes whether that future includes another long-term commitment to Bowman or an opportunity to start anew, perhaps by promoting Corey Day, currently a NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driver for Hendrick Motorsports who earned his first career NOAPS win April 28 at Talladega.
The situation for Busch is less clear. Andy Street was named crew chief of the No. 8 team on April 30 to mark his second stint with Busch in seven months. Entering Texas, Busch and teammate Austin Dillon both emphasized Busch’s commitment to RCR.
“I feel like we’re in this together anyways,” Busch said. “I love Richard (Childress, team owner). I feel like we’ve worked really well together. Austin has been a phenomenal teammate that I’ve been able to work with. I feel like he’s one of the best that I’ve had. It’s been a joyful time working with him. It’s just the results aren’t there. We’ve got to line that up and try to be better in order to get those.”
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But the reality is that either side may choose to move on for fresh starts in 2027. Jesse Love is the defending O’Reilly Auto Parts Series champion and continues to drive for RCR in that series. With seven Cup starts to his name, the 21-year-old has stated he hopes to race full-time in the Cup Series sooner than later.
“Obviously, my goal is to race on Sundays, and when I do get there, not have to have a lot of growing pains,” Love said in February at EchoPark Speedway. “So the more I can do, the more different types of tracks that I can run, the better that’s going to shorten that learning curve for me.”
If either Busch or RCR opts to go separate ways, Love would seemingly be the easiest promotion possible. Where Busch goes, though, remains up for debate.
A number of rides remain in question for the 2027 season, but one that could make sense for Busch is with Spire Motorsports. Spire co-owner Jeff Dickerson previously worked as a spotter for Busch in the Cup Series, and Busch has made numerous Craftsman Truck Series starts for the organization since selling Kyle Busch Motorsports to Spire at the conclusion of 2023.
But is there any room at the inn? While Hocevar signed a long-term extension earlier this year, Daniel Suárez joined for the 2026 season on a one-year deal with options built in for more. Suárez has had an admirable start and sits 14th in the standings with one top five and three top 10s while tracking toward a career-best 15.2 average finish.
That raises questions around the No. 71 car, currently driven by Michael McDowell. McDowell, 41, joined Spire in 2025 on a multiyear deal and earned a career-best three top fives last season. He has one to his credit in early 2026 (fifth, COTA), but since placing ninth the next week at Phoenix, McDowell has finished 18th or worse in each of the last seven races. McDowell sits 23rd in points, 53 points beneath the provisional cutline to make The Chase, with an average finish of 21.5 that would mark his worst since 2019.
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Much of the landscape in Silly Season will depend on the fates of Bowman and Busch. The Hendrick No. 48 team and the RCR No. 8 offer high-profile opportunities to succeed at NASCAR’s top level. Those in charge of placing drivers behind the wheel must soon decide how they intend to shape the future of their respective companies — and in turn perhaps altering the landscape of the Cup Series as well.